They come 'tis but to add to slaughterHis heart's best blood is on the water! XXV. Escaped from shot, unharm'd by steel, For her his eye but sought in vain? Hath doom'd his death, or fix'd his chain. Fast from his breast the blood is bubbling, XXVI. Morn slowly rolls the clouds away: Few trophies of the fight are there : The shouts that shook the midnight-bay Are silent; but some signs of fray That strand of strife may bear. And fragments of each shiver'd brand; Steps stamp'd; and dash'd into the sand The print of many a struggling hand May there be mark'd; nor far remote 'Tis rent in twain-one dark-red stain And cast on Lemnos' shore: The only heart, the only eye XXVII. By Helle's stream there is a voice of wail! Thy destined lord is come too late : The loud Wul-wulleh warn his distant ear?t Thy handmaids weeping at the gate, The Koran-chanters of the hymn of fate, The silent slaves with folded arms that wait, Sighs in the hall, and shrieks upon the gale, Tell him thy tale! Thou didst not view thy Selim fall! That fearful moment when he left the cave He was thy hope-thy joy-thy love-thine all- save Sufficed to kill; Burst forth in one wild cry-and all was still. Peace to thy broken heart, and virgin grave! Ah, happy! but of life to lose the worst! That grief-though deep-though fatal-was thy first! Thrice happy! ne'er to feel nor fear the force Of absence, shame, pride, hate, revenge, remorse! [lies! And, oh! that pang where more than madness The worm that will not sleep-and never dies; Thought of the gloomy day and ghastly night,. That dreads the darkness, and yet loathes the light, heart! That winds around, and tears the quivering Ah, wherefore not consume it-and depart! Woe to thee, rash and unrelenting chief! Vainly thou heap'st the dust upon thy head, Vainly the sackcloth o'er thy limbs doth spread; By that same hand Abdallah-Selim-bled. Now let it tear thy beard in idle grief: Thy pride of heart, thy bride for Osman's bed, She, whom thy sultan had but seen to wed, THE CORSAIR. 1814. -'I suoi pensieri in lui dormir non ponno.' TASSO, Gerusalemme Liberata, Canto x. MY DEAR MOORE, TO THOMAS MOORE, ESQ. I DEDICATE to you the last production with which I shall trespass on public patience, and your indulgence, for some years; and I own that I feel anxious to avail myself of this latest and only opportunity of adorning my pages with a name consecrated by unshaken public principle, and the most undoubted and various talents. While Ireland ranks you among the firmest of her patriots; while you stand alone the first of her bards in her estimation, and Britain repeats and ratifies the decree, permit one whose only regret, since our first acquaintance, has been the years he had lost before it commenced, to add the humble but sincere suffrage of friendship to the voice of more than one nation. It will at least prove to you that I have neither forgotten the gratification derived from your society, nor abandoned the prospect of its renewal, whenever your leisure or inclination allows you to atone to your friends for too long an absence. It is said among those friends, I trust truly, that you are engaged in the composition of a poem whose scene will be laid in the East; none can do those scenes so much justice. The wrongs of your own country, the magnificent and fiery spirit of her sons, the beauty and feeling of her daughters, may there be found; and Collins, when he denominated his Oriental his Irish Eclogues, was not aware how true, at least, was a part of his parallel. Your imagination will create a warmer sun, and less clouded sky; but wildness, tenderness, and originality are part of your national claim of Oriental descent, to which you have already thus far proved your title more clearly than the most zealous of your country's antiquarians. May I add a few words on a subject on which all men are supposed to be fluent, and none agreeable? Self. I have written much, and published more than enough to demand a longer silence than I now meditate; but, for some years to come, it is my intention to tempt no further the award of 'gods, men, nor columns.' In the present composition I have attempted not the most difficult, but perhaps the best adapted measure to our language, the good old and now neglected heroic couplet. The stanza of Spenser is perhaps too slow and dignified for narrative; though, I confess, it is the measure most after my own heart. Scott alone, of the present generation, has hitherto completely triumphed over the fatal facility of the octo-syllabic verse; and this is not the least victory of his fertile and mighty genius. In blank verse, Milton, Thomson, and our dramatists, are the beacons that shine along the deep, but warn us from the rough and barren rock on which they are kindled. The heroic couplet is not the most popular measure, certainly; but as I did not deviate into the other from a wish to flatter what is called public opinion, I shall quit it without further apology, and take my chance once more with that versification in which I have hitherto published nothing but compositions whose former circulation is part of my present, and will be of my future regret. With regard to my story, and stories in general, I should have been glad to have rendered my personages more perfect and amiable, if possible, inasmuch as I have been sometimes criticized, and considered no less responsible for their deeds and qualities than if all had been personal. Be it so. If I have deviated into the gloomy vanity of 'drawing from self,' the pictures are probably like, since they are unfavourable; and if not, those who know me are undeceived, and those who do not, I have little interest in undeceiving. I have no particular desire that any but my acquaintance should think the author better than the beings of his imagining; but I cannot help a little surprise, and perhaps amusement, at some odd critical exceptions in the present instance, when I see several bards (far more deserving, I allow) in very reputable plight, and quite exempted from all participation in the faults of those heroes, who, nevertheless, might be found with little more morality than 'The Giaour,' and perhaps-but no-I must admit Childe Harold to be a very repulsive personage; and as to his identity, those who like it must give him whatever alias they please. If, however, it were worth while to remove the impression, it might be of some service to me, that the man who is alike the delight of his readers and his friends, the poet of all circles, and the idol of his own, permits me here and elsewhere to subscribe myself, January 2, 1814. Most truly and affectionately, His obedient servant, BYRON. I. CANTO THE FIRST. nessun maggior dolore, Che ricordarsi del tempo felice O'ER the glad waters of the dark-blue sea,* Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free, Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam, Survey our empire, and behold our home! --DANTE. And cry, Remembrance saddening o'er each brow, How had the brave who fell exulted now!' II. Around the kindling watch-fire rang the while; along, These are our realms, no limits to their sway-Such were the notes that from the Pirate's isle, Oh, who can tell, save he whose heart hath tried, And where the feebler faint can only feel- No dread of death if with us die our foes- And unto ears as rugged seem'd a song! Select the arms-to each his blade assign, Come when it will-we snatch the life of life-With these he mingles not but to command; Ours-the fresh turf, and not the feverish bed. trol. His corse may boast its urn and narrow cave, Few are his words, but keen his eye and hand. roots, And scarce the summer luxury of fruits, prey,Now form and follow me!'--the spoil is won. The time in this poem may seem too short for the occur. rences, but the whole of the Agean isles are within a few hours' sail of the continent, and the reader must be kind enough to take the wind as I have often found it. III. 'A sail!-a sail !'—a promised prize to Hope! spray. How gloriously her gallant course she goes! 'Tis he-'tis Conrad-here, as wont-alone; When strange or uninvited steps intrude.' VII. Him Juan sought, and told of their intent: Her white wings flying-never from her foes-These Juan calls-they come to their salute Who would not brave the battle-fire-the wreck- Hoarse o'er her side the rustling cable rings; And gathering loiterers on the land discern V. He bends him slightly, but his lips are mute. spy, Who still proclaims our spoil or peril nigh: Wondering they turn, abash'd, while each to each Conjecture whispers in his muttering speech: In the anchor'd bark.' 'There let him stay-to him this order bear. The tidings spread, and gathering grows the Back to your duty-for my course prepare: crowd: The hum of voices, and the laughter loud, word: 'Oh! are they safe? we ask not of success; VI. Myself this enterprise to-night will share.' Where is our chief? for him we bear report-To tell us when the hour of stay's expired.' Yet thus sincere 'tis cheering, though so brief; Leap into life, and sparkling woo your thirst; cave, What lonely straggler looks along the wave? VIII. They make obeisance, and retire in haste, |