No More Learning

Ah! were thy beauties e'er so cold,
I care not--so my arms enfold
The all they ever wished to hold.
Alas! around a shadow prest
They shrink upon my lonely breast;
Yet still 'tis there! In silence stands,
And beckons with beseeching hands!
With braided hair, and bright-black eye-- 1300
I knew 'twas false--she could not die!
But _he_ is dead! within the dell
I saw him buried where he fell;
He comes not--for he cannot break
From earth;--why then art _thou_ awake?
They told me wild waves rolled above
The face I view--the form I love;
They told me--'twas a hideous tale! --
I'd tell it, but my tongue would fail:
If true, and from thine ocean-cave 1310
Thou com'st to claim a calmer grave,
Oh! pass thy dewy fingers o'er
This brow that then will burn no more;
Or place them on my hopeless heart:
But, Shape or Shade! whate'er thou art,
In mercy ne'er again depart!
Or farther with thee bear my soul
Than winds can waft or waters roll!

* * * * *

"Such is my name, and such my tale.
Confessor!
to thy secret ear 1320
I breathe the sorrows I bewail,
And thank thee for the generous tear
This glazing eye could never shed.
Then lay me with the humblest dead,[ew]
And, save the cross above my head,
Be neither name nor emblem spread,
By prying stranger to be read,
Or stay the passing pilgrim's tread. "[123]

He passed--nor of his name and race
He left a token or a trace, 1330
Save what the Father must not say
Who shrived him on his dying day:
This broken tale was all we knew[ex]
Of her he loved, or him he slew.
to

the right honourable

LORD HOLLAND,

this tale

is inscribed, with

every sentiment of regard

and respect,

by his gratefully obliged

and sincere friend,

BYRON. [ey]




THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. [124]



CANTO THE FIRST.

I.

Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtle[125]
Are emblems of deeds that are done in their clime?
Where the rage of the vulture, the love of the turtle,
Now melt into sorrow, now madden to crime?
Know ye the land of the cedar and vine,
Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine;
Where the light wings of Zephyr, oppressed with perfume,
Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gul[126] in her bloom;
Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit,
And the voice of the nightingale never is mute;[127] 10
Where the tints of the earth, and the hues of the sky,
In colour though varied, in beauty may vie,
And the purple of Ocean is deepest in dye;
Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine,
And all, save the spirit of man, is divine--
Tis the clime of the East--'tis the land of the Sun--
Can he smile on such deeds as his children have done? [128]
Oh! wild as the accents of lovers' farewell[ez]
Are the hearts which they bear, and the tales which they tell.

II. [fa]

Begirt with many a gallant slave, 20
Apparelled as becomes the brave,
Awaiting each his Lord's behest
To guide his steps, or guard his rest,
Old Giaffir sate in his Divan:
Deep thought was in his aged eye;
And though the face of Mussulman
Not oft betrays to standers by
The mind within, well skilled to hide
All but unconquerable pride,
His pensive cheek and pondering brow[fb] 30
Did more than he was wont avow.

III.

"Let the chamber be cleared.