Remember
the moment when Previsa fell,[173][32.
Byron
who is more brave than a dark Suliote,
In his snowy camese[171] and his shaggy capote?
To the wolf and the vulture he leaves his wild flock,
And descends to the plain like the stream from the rock.
3.
Shall the sons of Chimari, who never forgive[fn]
The fault of a friend, bid an enemy live?
Let those guns so unerring such vengeance forego?
What mark is so fair as the breast of a foe? [172]
4.
Macedonia sends forth her invincible race;
For a time they abandon the cave and the chase:
But those scarfs of blood-red shall be redder, before
The sabre is sheathed and the battle is o'er.
5.
Then the Pirates of Parga that dwell by the waves,
And teach the pale Franks what it is to be slaves,
Shall leave on the beach the long galley and oar,
And track to his covert the captive on shore.
6.
I ask not the pleasures that riches supply,
My sabre shall win what the feeble must buy;
Shall win the young bride with her long flowing hair,[fo]
And many a maid from her mother shall tear.
7.
I love the fair face of the maid in her youth,[fp]
Her caresses shall lull me, her music shall soothe;[fq]
Let her bring from the chamber her many-toned lyre,
And sing us a song on the fall of her Sire.
8.
Remember the moment when Previsa fell,[173][32. B. ]
The shrieks of the conquered, the conquerors' yell;
The roofs that we fired, and the plunder we shared,
The wealthy we slaughtered, the lovely we spared.
9.
I talk not of mercy, I talk not of fear;
He neither must know who would serve the Vizier:
Since the days of our Prophet the Crescent ne'er saw
A chief ever glorious like Ali Pashaw.
10.
Dark Muchtar his son to the Danube is sped,[174]
Let the yellow-haired[175] Giaours[176]
view his horse-tail[177] with dread;
When his Delhis[178] come dashing in blood o'er the banks,
How few shall escape from the Muscovite ranks!
11.
Selictar! [179] unsheathe then our chief's Scimit? r;
Tambourgi! thy 'larum gives promise of War. [fr]
Ye Mountains, that see us descend to the shore,
Shall view us as Victors, or view us no more!
LXXIII.
Fair Greece! sad relic of departed Worth!
In his snowy camese[171] and his shaggy capote?
To the wolf and the vulture he leaves his wild flock,
And descends to the plain like the stream from the rock.
3.
Shall the sons of Chimari, who never forgive[fn]
The fault of a friend, bid an enemy live?
Let those guns so unerring such vengeance forego?
What mark is so fair as the breast of a foe? [172]
4.
Macedonia sends forth her invincible race;
For a time they abandon the cave and the chase:
But those scarfs of blood-red shall be redder, before
The sabre is sheathed and the battle is o'er.
5.
Then the Pirates of Parga that dwell by the waves,
And teach the pale Franks what it is to be slaves,
Shall leave on the beach the long galley and oar,
And track to his covert the captive on shore.
6.
I ask not the pleasures that riches supply,
My sabre shall win what the feeble must buy;
Shall win the young bride with her long flowing hair,[fo]
And many a maid from her mother shall tear.
7.
I love the fair face of the maid in her youth,[fp]
Her caresses shall lull me, her music shall soothe;[fq]
Let her bring from the chamber her many-toned lyre,
And sing us a song on the fall of her Sire.
8.
Remember the moment when Previsa fell,[173][32. B. ]
The shrieks of the conquered, the conquerors' yell;
The roofs that we fired, and the plunder we shared,
The wealthy we slaughtered, the lovely we spared.
9.
I talk not of mercy, I talk not of fear;
He neither must know who would serve the Vizier:
Since the days of our Prophet the Crescent ne'er saw
A chief ever glorious like Ali Pashaw.
10.
Dark Muchtar his son to the Danube is sped,[174]
Let the yellow-haired[175] Giaours[176]
view his horse-tail[177] with dread;
When his Delhis[178] come dashing in blood o'er the banks,
How few shall escape from the Muscovite ranks!
11.
Selictar! [179] unsheathe then our chief's Scimit? r;
Tambourgi! thy 'larum gives promise of War. [fr]
Ye Mountains, that see us descend to the shore,
Shall view us as Victors, or view us no more!
LXXIII.
Fair Greece! sad relic of departed Worth!
