701 LXXV. Sooner & come place into the civil list, And champion him to the utmost»-he would keep it, Till duly disappointed or dismiss'd: Profit he cared not for, let others reap it; But should the day come when place ceased to exist, The country would have far more cause to weep it; For how could it go on? Explain who can! He gloried in the name of Englishman. LXXVI. He was as independent—ay, much more— Have in their several arts or parts ascendance Who do not give professional attendance. Thus on the mob all statesmen are as cager To prove their pride, as footmen to a beggar. LXXVII. All this (save the last stanza) Henry said, And thought. I say no more-I've said too much; For all of us have either heard or read Of or upon the hustings-some slight such Of the official candidate. I'll touch The squires familiarly formal, and My lords and ladies proudly condescending; The very servants puzzling how to hand Their plates-without it might be too much bending From their high places by the sideboard's standYet, like their masters, fearful of offending. deviation from the graces For any Might cost both men and masters too-their places. LXXX. Some deadly shot; too, Septembrisers, seen There were some country wags too,—and alas! I sate next that o'erwhelming son of Heaven, His jokes were sermons, and his sermons jokes; The poor priest was reduced to common sense, Or to coarse efforts very loud and long, To hammer a hoarse laugh from the thick throng. LXXXIV. There is a difference, says the song, “ between A beggar and a queen,» or was (of late The latter worse used of the two we 've seenBut we'll say nothing of affairs of state)A difference « 'twixt a bishop and a dean,» A difference between crockery-ware and plate, As between English beef and Spartan broth-. And yet great heroes have been bred by both LXXXV. But of all nature's discrepancies, none Upon the whole is greater than the difference Beheld between the country and the town, Of which the latter merits every preference From those who've few resources of their own, And only think, or act, or feel with reference To some small plan of interest or ambitionBoth which are limited to no condition. LXXXVI. But << en avant!» The light loves languish o'er To these the invention of champagne and truffles : LXXXVII. Dully pass'd o'er the dinner of the day; And Juan took his place he knew not where, Confused, in the confusion, and distrait, And sitting as if nail'd upon his chair; Though knives and forks clang'd round as in a fray, He seem'd unconscious of all passing there, Till some one, with a groan, express'd a wish (Unheeded twice) to have a fin of fish. LXXXVIII. On which, at the third asking of the banns, A wise man more than laughter from a dunce- LXXXIX. This was no bad mistake, as it occurr'd, They little knew, or might have sympathized, That one scarce knew at what to marvel most But what confused him more than smile or stare From all the squires and 'squiresses around, Who wonder'd at the abstraction of his air, Especially as he had been renown'd For some vivacity among the fair, Even in the country circle's narrow bound(For little things upon my lord's estate Were good small-talk for others still less great) XCVI. Though this was most expedient on the whole, And usual-Juan, when he cast a glance On Adeline while playing her grand role, Which she went through as though it were a dance (Betraying only now and then her soul By a look scarce perceptibly askance So well she acted all and every part By turns-with that vivacious versatility, Which many people take for want of heart. They err-t is merely what is call'd mobility, A thing of temperament and not of art, Though seeming so, from its supposed facility; And false-though true; for surely they're sincerest, Who 're strongly acted on by what is nearest. XCVIII. This makes your actors, artists, and romancers, Though all Exchequer Chancellors endeavour, Of late years, to dispense with Cocker's rigours, And grow quite figurative with their figures. XCIX. The poets of arithmetic are they Who, though they prove not two and two to be Five, as they would do in a modest way, Have plainly made it out that four are three, While Adeline dispensed her airs and graces, The fair Fitz-Fulke seem'd very much at ease; Though too well-bred to quiz men to their faces, Her laughing blue eyes with a glance could seize The ridicules of people in all places That honey of your fashionable bees- However, the day closed, as days must close; Their docile esquires also did the same, CI. Some praised her beauty; others her great grace; The warmth of her politeness, whose sincerity Was obvious in each feature of her face, Whose traits were radiant with the rays of verity. Yes, she was truly worthy her high place! No one could envy her deserved prosperity: And then her dress-what beautiful simplicity Draperied her form with curious felicity! 7 CIII. Meanwhile sweet Adeline deserved their praises, For all her past exertion and soft phrases, In a most edifying conversation, Which turn'd upon their late guests' miens and faces, CIV. True, she said little-'t was the rest that broke Forth into universal epigram: But then 't was to the purpose what she spoke : Like Addison's « faint praise» so wont to damn, Her own but served to set off every joke, As music chimes in with a melo-drame. How sweet the task to shield an absent friend! I ask but this of mine, to--not defend. CV. There were but two exceptions to this keen And Juan too, iu general behind none 'Tis true he saw Aurora look as though But seldom pay the absent, nor would look Yet saw this much, which he was glad to see. CVII. The ghost at least had done him this much good, In making him as silent as a ghost, If in the circumstances which ensued He gain'd esteem where it was worth the most. And certainly Aurora had renew'd In him some feelings he had lately lost CVII. The love of higher things and better days; The unbounded hope, and heavenly ignorance Who would not sigh At αι ταν Κυθέρειαν That hath a memory, or that had a heart? Alas! her star must wane like that of Dian, Ray fades on ray, as years on years depart. Anacreon only had the soul to tie on Unwithering myrtle round the unblunted dart Of Eros; but, though thou hast play'd us many tricks, Still we respect thee, « Alma Venus Genitrix !» CX. And full of sentiments, sublime as billows CXI. The night was as before: he was undrest, Saving his night-gown, which is an undress : He sate, with feelings awkward to express And not in vain he listen'd-Hush! what 's that? Or tiptoe of an amatory miss, Gliding the first time to a rendezvous, And dreading the chaste echoes of her shoe. CXIII. Again what is 't? The wind? No, no,-this time With awful footsteps, regular as rhyme, Or (as rhymes may be in these days) much more. | Again, through shadows of the night sublime, When deep sleep fell on men, and the world wore The starry darkness round her like a girdle Spangled with gems-the monk made his blood curdle. CXIV. A noise like to wet fingers drawn on glass, 8 Which sets the teeth on edge; and a slight clatter, For immaterialism's a serious matter: CXV. Were his eyes open?--Yes! and his mouth too. Ilis eyes were open, and (as was before Stated) his mouth. What open'd next?—the door. CXVI. It open'd with a most infernal creak, Like that of hell. « Lasciate ogni speranza, CXVII. The door flew wide, not swiftly-but, as fly The sea-gulls, with a steady, sober flightAnd then swung back; nor close-but stood awry, Half letting in long shadows on the light, Which still in Juan's candlesticks burn'd high, For he had two, both tolerably bright,— And in the door-way, darkening darkness, stood The sable friar in his solemn hood. CXVIII. Don Juan shook, as erst he had been shaken Were odds against a disembodied soul. CXIX. And then his dread grew wrath, and his wrath fierce; Follow'd; his veins no longer cold, but heated, Juan put forth one arm-Eternal Powers! It touch'd no soul, nor body, but the wall, On which the moonbeams fell in silvery showers Chequer'd with all the tracery of the hall: He shudder'd, as no doubt the bravest cowers When he can't tell what 't is that doth appal. How odd, a single hobgoblin's non-entity Should cause more fear than a whole host's identity.9 CXXI But still the shade remain'd; the blue eyes glared, And rather variably for stony death; Yet one thing rather good the grave had sparedThe ghost had a remarkably sweet breath. A straggling curl show'd he had been fair-hair'd; A red lip, with two rows of pearl beneath, Gleam'd forth, as through the casement's ivy shroud The moon peep'd, just escaped from a grey cloud. CXXII. And Juan, puzzled, but still curious, thrust His other arm forth-Wonder upon wonder! It press'd upon a hard but glowing bust, Which beat as if there was a warm heart under. He found, as people on most trials must, That he had made at first a silly blunder, And that in his confusion he had caught Only the wall instead of what he sought. CXXIII. The ghost, if ghost it were, seem'd a sweet soul, A dimpled chin, a neck of ivory, stole Forth into something much like flesh and blood; Back fell the sable frock and dreary cowl, And they reveal'd (alas! that e'er they should!) In full, voluptuous, but not o'ergrown bulk, The phantom of her frolic grace-Fitz-Fulke! Note 3. Stanza Ixxii. A like gold bar, above her instep roll'd. The bar of gold above the instep is a mark of sovereign rank in the women of the families of the Deys, and is worn as such by their female relatives. Note 4. Stanza lxxiii. Her person if allow'd at large to run. This is no exaggeration; there were four women whom I remember to have seen, who possessed their hair in this profusion; of these, three were English, the other was a Levantine. Their hair was of that length and quantity that, when let down, it almost entirely shaded the person, so as nearly to render dress a superfluity. Of these, only one had dark hair; the Oriental's had, perhaps, the lightest colour of the four. Note 5. Stanza cvii. Oh Hesperus thou bringest all good things. Εσπερε, πάντα φέρεις; Φέρεις οίνον, φέρεις αιγα, Φέρεις ματέρι παιδα. Fragment of Sappho. Note 6. Stanza cviii. Soft hour! which wakes the wish and melts the heart. Era già l'ora che volge 'I disio, A' naviganti, e 'ntenerisce il cuore; Lo di ch han detto a' dolci amici addio, Punge, se ode Squilla di lontano, Che paja 'l giorno pianger che si muore. DANTR's Purgatory, Canto viii. company for some foreign theatre; embarked them at an Italian port, and, carrying them to Algiers, sold them all. One of the women, returned from her captivity, I heard sing, by a strange coincidence, in Rossini's opera of « L'Italiana in Algieri,» at Venice, in the beginning of 1817. Note 4. Stanza lxxxvi. From all the Pope makes yearly 't would perplex It is strange that it should be the pope and the sultan who are the chief encouragers of this branch of trade— women being prohibited as singers at St Peter's, and not deemed trust-worthy as guardians of the haram. Note 5. Stanza ciii. While weeds and ordure rankle round the base. The pillar which records the battle of Ravenna is about two miles from the city, on the opposite side of the river to the road towards Forli. Gaston de Foix, who gained the battle, was killed in it; there fell on both sides twenty thousand men. The present state of the pillar and its site is described in the text. THIS expression of Homer has been much criticised. It hardly answers to our Atlantic ideas of the occan, This last line is the first of Gray's Elegy, taken by him but is sufficiently applicable to the Hellespont, and the without acknowledgment. Note 7. Stanza cix. Some hands unseen strew'd flowers upon his tomb. See Suetonius for this fact. CANTO IV. Note 1. Stanza xii. Whom the gods love die young, was said of yore. See Herodotus. Note 2. Stanza lix. A vein bad burst. This is no very uncommon effect of the violence of conflicting and different passions. The Doge Francis Foscari, on his deposition, in 1457, hearing the bell of St Mark announce the election of his successor, << mourut subitement d'une hémorrhagie causée par une veine qui s'éclata dans sa poitrine,» (see Sismondi and Daru, vols. i and ii), at the age of eighty years, when a who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him?» Before I was sixteen years of age, I was witness to a melancholy instance of the same effect of mixed passions upon a young person; who, however, did not die in consequence, at that time, but fell a victim some years afterwards to a seizure of the same kind, arising from causes intimately connected with agitation of mind. Note 3. Stanza lxxx. But sold by the impresario at no high rate. This is a fact. A few years ago a man engaged a Bosphorus, with the Egean intersected with islands. Note 5. Stanza l:ii. Prepared for supper with a glass of rum. In Turkey nothing is more common than for the Mussulmans to take several glasses of strong spirits by way of appetizer. I have seen them take as many as six of raki before dinner, and swear that they dined the better for it; I tried the experiment, but was like the Scotchman, who having heard that the birds called kittiewiaks were admirable whets, ate six of them, and complained that «he was no hungrier than when he began.» Note 6. Stanza lv. Splendid but silent, save in one, where, dropping. A marble fountain echoes. A common furniture.-I recollect being received by |