I have a counsel for thy gentler ear:
I do mistrust thee, Woman!
I do mistrust thee, Woman!
Byron
the day is thine; and on thy crest
Sits Triumph--Conrad taken--fall'n the rest! 1310
His doom is fixed--he dies; and well his fate
Was earned--yet much too worthless for thy hate:
Methinks, a short release, for ransom told[hy]
With all his treasure, not unwisely sold;
Report speaks largely of his pirate-hoard--
Would that of this my Pacha were the lord!
While baffled, weakened by this fatal fray--
Watched--followed--he were then an easier prey;
But once cut off--the remnant of his band
Embark their wealth, and seek a safer strand. " 1320
"Gulnare! --if for each drop of blood a gem
Where offered rich as Stamboul's diadem;
If for each hair of his a massy mine
Of virgin ore should supplicating shine;
If all our Arab tales divulge or dream
Of wealth were here--that gold should not redeem!
It had not now redeemed a single hour,
But that I know him fettered, in my power;
And, thirsting for revenge, I ponder still
On pangs that longest rack--and latest kill. " 1330
"Nay, Seyd! I seek not to restrain thy rage,
Too justly moved for Mercy to assuage;
My thoughts were only to secure for thee
His riches--thus released, he were not free:
Disabled--shorn of half his might and band,
His capture could but wait thy first command. "
"His capture _could! _--and shall I then resign
One day to him--the wretch already mine?
Release my foe! --at whose remonstrance? --thine!
Fair suitor! --to thy virtuous gratitude, 1340
That thus repays this Giaour's relenting mood,
Which thee and thine alone of all could spare--
No doubt, regardless--if the prize were fair--
My thanks and praise alike are due--now hear!
I have a counsel for thy gentler ear:
I do mistrust thee, Woman! and each word
Of thine stamps truth on all Suspicion heard. [hz]
Borne in his arms through fire from yon Serai--
Say, wert thou lingering there with him to fly?
Thou need'st not answer--thy confession speaks, 1350
Already reddening on thy guilty cheeks:
Then--lovely Dame--bethink thee! and beware:
'Tis not _his_ life alone may claim such care!
Another word and--nay--I need no more.
Accursed was the moment when he bore
Thee from the flames, which better far--but no--
I then had mourned thee with a lover's woe--
Now 'tis thy lord that warns--deceitful thing!
Know'st thou that I can clip thy wanton wing?
In words alone I am not wont to chafe: 1360
Look to thyself--nor deem thy falsehood safe! "
He rose--and slowly, sternly thence withdrew,
Rage in his eye, and threats in his adieu:
Ah! little recked that Chief of womanhood--
Which frowns ne'er quelled, nor menaces subdued;
And little deemed he what thy heart, Gulnare!
When soft could feel--and when incensed could dare!
His doubts appeared to wrong--nor yet she knew
How deep the root from whence Compassion grew--
She was a slave--from such may captives claim 1370
A fellow-feeling, differing but in name;
Still half unconscious--heedless of his wrath,
Again she ventured on the dangerous path,
Again his rage repelled--until arose
That strife of thought, the source of Woman's woes!
VI.
Meanwhile--long--anxious--weary--still the same
Rolled day and night: his soul could Terror tame--
This fearful interval of doubt and dread,
When every hour might doom him worse than dead;[ia]
When every step that echoed by the gate, 1380
Might entering lead where axe and stake await;
When every voice that grated on his ear
Might be the last that he could ever hear;
Could Terror tame--that Spirit stern and high
Had proved unwilling as unfit to die;
'Twas worn--perhaps decayed--yet silent bore
That conflict, deadlier far than all before:
The heat of fight, the hurry of the gale,
Leave scarce one thought inert enough to quail:
But bound and fixed in fettered solitude, 1390
To pine, the prey of every changing mood;
To gaze on thine own heart--and meditate
Irrevocable faults, and coming fate--
Too late the last to shun--the first to mend--
To count the hours that struggle to thine end,
With not a friend to animate and tell
To other ears that Death became thee well;
Around thee foes to forge the ready lie,
And blot Life's latest scene with calumny;
Before thee tortures, which the Soul can dare, 1400
Yet doubts how well the shrinking flesh may bear;
But deeply feels a single cry would shame,
To Valour's praise thy last and dearest claim;
The life thou leav'st below, denied above
By kind monopolists of heavenly love;
And more than doubtful Paradise--thy Heaven
Of earthly hope--thy loved one from thee riven.
Such were the thoughts that outlaw must sustain,
And govern pangs surpassing mortal pain:
And those sustained he--boots it well or ill?
Sits Triumph--Conrad taken--fall'n the rest! 1310
His doom is fixed--he dies; and well his fate
Was earned--yet much too worthless for thy hate:
Methinks, a short release, for ransom told[hy]
With all his treasure, not unwisely sold;
Report speaks largely of his pirate-hoard--
Would that of this my Pacha were the lord!
While baffled, weakened by this fatal fray--
Watched--followed--he were then an easier prey;
But once cut off--the remnant of his band
Embark their wealth, and seek a safer strand. " 1320
"Gulnare! --if for each drop of blood a gem
Where offered rich as Stamboul's diadem;
If for each hair of his a massy mine
Of virgin ore should supplicating shine;
If all our Arab tales divulge or dream
Of wealth were here--that gold should not redeem!
It had not now redeemed a single hour,
But that I know him fettered, in my power;
And, thirsting for revenge, I ponder still
On pangs that longest rack--and latest kill. " 1330
"Nay, Seyd! I seek not to restrain thy rage,
Too justly moved for Mercy to assuage;
My thoughts were only to secure for thee
His riches--thus released, he were not free:
Disabled--shorn of half his might and band,
His capture could but wait thy first command. "
"His capture _could! _--and shall I then resign
One day to him--the wretch already mine?
Release my foe! --at whose remonstrance? --thine!
Fair suitor! --to thy virtuous gratitude, 1340
That thus repays this Giaour's relenting mood,
Which thee and thine alone of all could spare--
No doubt, regardless--if the prize were fair--
My thanks and praise alike are due--now hear!
I have a counsel for thy gentler ear:
I do mistrust thee, Woman! and each word
Of thine stamps truth on all Suspicion heard. [hz]
Borne in his arms through fire from yon Serai--
Say, wert thou lingering there with him to fly?
Thou need'st not answer--thy confession speaks, 1350
Already reddening on thy guilty cheeks:
Then--lovely Dame--bethink thee! and beware:
'Tis not _his_ life alone may claim such care!
Another word and--nay--I need no more.
Accursed was the moment when he bore
Thee from the flames, which better far--but no--
I then had mourned thee with a lover's woe--
Now 'tis thy lord that warns--deceitful thing!
Know'st thou that I can clip thy wanton wing?
In words alone I am not wont to chafe: 1360
Look to thyself--nor deem thy falsehood safe! "
He rose--and slowly, sternly thence withdrew,
Rage in his eye, and threats in his adieu:
Ah! little recked that Chief of womanhood--
Which frowns ne'er quelled, nor menaces subdued;
And little deemed he what thy heart, Gulnare!
When soft could feel--and when incensed could dare!
His doubts appeared to wrong--nor yet she knew
How deep the root from whence Compassion grew--
She was a slave--from such may captives claim 1370
A fellow-feeling, differing but in name;
Still half unconscious--heedless of his wrath,
Again she ventured on the dangerous path,
Again his rage repelled--until arose
That strife of thought, the source of Woman's woes!
VI.
Meanwhile--long--anxious--weary--still the same
Rolled day and night: his soul could Terror tame--
This fearful interval of doubt and dread,
When every hour might doom him worse than dead;[ia]
When every step that echoed by the gate, 1380
Might entering lead where axe and stake await;
When every voice that grated on his ear
Might be the last that he could ever hear;
Could Terror tame--that Spirit stern and high
Had proved unwilling as unfit to die;
'Twas worn--perhaps decayed--yet silent bore
That conflict, deadlier far than all before:
The heat of fight, the hurry of the gale,
Leave scarce one thought inert enough to quail:
But bound and fixed in fettered solitude, 1390
To pine, the prey of every changing mood;
To gaze on thine own heart--and meditate
Irrevocable faults, and coming fate--
Too late the last to shun--the first to mend--
To count the hours that struggle to thine end,
With not a friend to animate and tell
To other ears that Death became thee well;
Around thee foes to forge the ready lie,
And blot Life's latest scene with calumny;
Before thee tortures, which the Soul can dare, 1400
Yet doubts how well the shrinking flesh may bear;
But deeply feels a single cry would shame,
To Valour's praise thy last and dearest claim;
The life thou leav'st below, denied above
By kind monopolists of heavenly love;
And more than doubtful Paradise--thy Heaven
Of earthly hope--thy loved one from thee riven.
Such were the thoughts that outlaw must sustain,
And govern pangs surpassing mortal pain:
And those sustained he--boots it well or ill?
