who hath power of
charming?
Byron
should the shaft or the sword
Pierce me in leading the host of the Lord,
Heed not the corse, though a King's, in your path:[lp]
Bury your steel in the bosoms of Gath!
II.
Thou who art bearing my buckler and bow,[lq]
Should the soldiers of Saul look away from the foe,
Stretch me that moment in blood at thy feet!
Mine be the doom which they dared not to meet.
III.
Farewell to others, but never we part,
Heir to my Royalty--Son of my heart! [lr]
Bright is the diadem, boundless the sway,
Or kingly the death, which awaits us to-day!
Seaham, 1815.
"ALL IS VANITY, SAITH THE PREACHER"
I.
Fame, Wisdom, Love, and Power were mine,
And Health and Youth possessed me;
My goblets blushed from every vine,
And lovely forms caressed me;
I sunned my heart in Beauty's eyes,
And felt my soul grow tender;
All Earth can give, or mortal prize,
Was mine of regal splendour.
II.
I strive to number o'er what days[ls]
Remembrance can discover,
Which all that Life or Earth displays
Would lure me to live over.
There rose no day, there rolled no hour
Of pleasure unembittered;[298]
And not a trapping decked my Power
That galled not while it glittered.
III. [lt]
The serpent of the field, by art
And spells, is won from harming;
But that which coils around the heart,
Oh!
who hath power of charming?
It will not list to Wisdom's lore,
Nor Music's voice can lure it;
But there it stings for evermore
The soul that must endure it.
Seaham, 1815.
WHEN COLDNESS WRAPS THIS SUFFERING CLAY.
I.
When coldness wraps this suffering clay,[lu]
Ah! whither strays the immortal mind?
It cannot die, it cannot stay,
But leaves its darkened dust behind.
Then, unembodied, doth it trace
By steps each planet's heavenly way? [lv]
Or fill at once the realms of space,
A thing of eyes, that all survey?
II.
Eternal--boundless,--undecayed,
A thought unseen, but seeing all,
All, all in earth, or skies displayed,[lw]
Shall it survey, shall it recall:
Each fainter trace that Memory holds
So darkly of departed years,
In one broad glance the Soul beholds,
And all, that was, at once appears.
III.
Before Creation peopled earth,
Its eye shall roll through chaos back;
And where the farthest heaven had birth,
The Spirit trace its rising track.
And where the future mars or makes,
Its glance dilate o'er all to be,
While Sun is quenched--or System breaks,
Fixed in its own Eternity.
IV.
Pierce me in leading the host of the Lord,
Heed not the corse, though a King's, in your path:[lp]
Bury your steel in the bosoms of Gath!
II.
Thou who art bearing my buckler and bow,[lq]
Should the soldiers of Saul look away from the foe,
Stretch me that moment in blood at thy feet!
Mine be the doom which they dared not to meet.
III.
Farewell to others, but never we part,
Heir to my Royalty--Son of my heart! [lr]
Bright is the diadem, boundless the sway,
Or kingly the death, which awaits us to-day!
Seaham, 1815.
"ALL IS VANITY, SAITH THE PREACHER"
I.
Fame, Wisdom, Love, and Power were mine,
And Health and Youth possessed me;
My goblets blushed from every vine,
And lovely forms caressed me;
I sunned my heart in Beauty's eyes,
And felt my soul grow tender;
All Earth can give, or mortal prize,
Was mine of regal splendour.
II.
I strive to number o'er what days[ls]
Remembrance can discover,
Which all that Life or Earth displays
Would lure me to live over.
There rose no day, there rolled no hour
Of pleasure unembittered;[298]
And not a trapping decked my Power
That galled not while it glittered.
III. [lt]
The serpent of the field, by art
And spells, is won from harming;
But that which coils around the heart,
Oh!
who hath power of charming?
It will not list to Wisdom's lore,
Nor Music's voice can lure it;
But there it stings for evermore
The soul that must endure it.
Seaham, 1815.
WHEN COLDNESS WRAPS THIS SUFFERING CLAY.
I.
When coldness wraps this suffering clay,[lu]
Ah! whither strays the immortal mind?
It cannot die, it cannot stay,
But leaves its darkened dust behind.
Then, unembodied, doth it trace
By steps each planet's heavenly way? [lv]
Or fill at once the realms of space,
A thing of eyes, that all survey?
II.
Eternal--boundless,--undecayed,
A thought unseen, but seeing all,
All, all in earth, or skies displayed,[lw]
Shall it survey, shall it recall:
Each fainter trace that Memory holds
So darkly of departed years,
In one broad glance the Soul beholds,
And all, that was, at once appears.
III.
Before Creation peopled earth,
Its eye shall roll through chaos back;
And where the farthest heaven had birth,
The Spirit trace its rising track.
And where the future mars or makes,
Its glance dilate o'er all to be,
While Sun is quenched--or System breaks,
Fixed in its own Eternity.
IV.
