With gentle force her white arms he unwound,
And seated her all drooping by his side;
Then rising haughtily he glanced around,
And, looking coldly in her face, he cried,
"The prison'd eagle will not pair, nor I
Serve a sultana's sensual fantasy.

CXXVII.

"Thou ask'st, if I can love? be this the proof How much I have loved-that I love not thee! In this vile garb, the distaff, web, and woof,

Were fitter for me: Love is for the free! I am not dazzled by this splendid roof;

Whate'er thy power, and great it seems to be, Heads bow, knees bend, eyes watch around a throne, And hands obey-our hearts are still our own."

CXXVIII.

This was a truth to us extremely trite;

Not so to her, who ne'er had heard such things:
She deem'd her least command must yield delight,
Earth being only made for queens and kings.
If hearts lay on the left side or the right

She hardly knew: to such perfection brings
Legitimacy its born votaries, when
Aware of their due royal rights o'er men.
CXXIX.

Besides, as has been said, she was so fair
As even in a much humbler lot had made

A kingdom or confusion any where,

And also, as may be presumed, she laid Some stress on charms, which seldom are, if e'er, By their possessors thrown into the shade: She thought hers gave a double "right divine;" And half of that opinion's also mine.

CXXX.

Remember, or (if you cannot) imagine,

Ye! who have kept your chastity when young, While some more desperate dowager has been waging Love with you, and been in the dog-days stung (1) By your refusal, recollect her raging!

Or recollect all that was said or sung On such a subject; then suppose the face Of a young downright beauty in this case.

CXXXI.

Suppose, but you already have supposed,

The spouse of Potiphar, the Lady Booby, (2) Phædra, (3) and all which story has disclosed Of good examples; pity that so few by Poets and private tutors are exposed, To educate-ye youth of Europe-you by!

(I) In the MS.

"War with your heart-whom you, ingrates! have stung
By a refusal," etc.-L. E.

(2) In Fielding's novel of Joseph Andrews.-L. E.
(3) "But if my boy with virtue be endued,

What harm will beauty do him? Nay, what good? Say, what avail'd, of old, to Theseus' son The stern resolve? what to Bellerophon?-Oh, then did Phædra redden, then her pride Took fire, to be so stedfastly denied! Then, too, did Sthenobia glow with shame, And both burst forth with unextinguish'd flame!" Juv. The adventures of Hippolytus the son of Theseus, and Bellerophon, are well known. They were accused of incontinence, by the women whose inordinate passions they had

(4) In the MS.

"And this strong second cause (to tire no longer Your patience) shows the first must be still stronger."-LI (5) "By Heaven! methinks, it were an easy leap, To pluck bright honour from the pale-faced moon Henry IV-LL

(6) In the MS."Like natural Shakspeare on the immortal page."—L. K (7) "And when I have stolen upon these sons-in-law, Then kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!" Lear-LE

CXXXVII.

A storm it raged, and like the storm it pass'd,
Pass'd without words-in fact she could not speak;
And then her sex's shame (1) broke in at last,
A sentiment till then in her but weak,
But now it flow'd in natural and fast,

As water through an unexpected leak,
For she felt humbled—and humiliation
Is sometimes good for people in her station:

CXXXVIII.

It teaches them that they are flesh and blood,
It also gently hints to them that others,
Although of clay, are yet not quite of mud;

That urns and pipkins are but fragile brothers,
And works of the same pottery, bad or good,

Though not all born of the same sires and mothers:
It teaches-Heaven knows only what it teaches,
But sometimes it may mend, and often reaches. (2)
CXXXIX.

Her first thought was to cut off Juan's head;
Her second, to cut only his-acquaintance;
Her third, to ask him where he had been bred;
Her fourth, to rally him into repentance;
Her fifth, to call her maids and go to bed;

Her sixth, to stab herself; her seventh, to sentence
The lash to Baba:-but her grand resource
Was to sit down again, and cry of course.

CXL.

She thought to stab herself, but then she had
The dagger close at hand, which made it awkward;
For Eastern stays are little made to pad,

So that a poniard pierces if 'tis stuck hard: be thought of killing Juan-but, poor lad! Though he deserved it well for being so backward, he cutting off his head was not the art lost likely to attain her aim-his heart.

CXLI.

an was moved: he had made up his mind
To be impaled, or quarter'd as a dish
or dogs, or to be slain with pangs refined,
Or thrown to lions, or made baits for fish;
nd thus heroically stood resign'd,
Rather than sin--except to his own wish:
ut all his great preparatives for dying
issolved like snow before a woman crying.
CXLI.

s through his palms Bob Acres' valour oozed, (3)
So Juan's virtue ebb'd, I know not how;
nd first he wonder'd why he had refused;
And then, if matters could be made up now;

(1) "A woman scorn'd is pitiless as fate,

For, there, the dread of shame adds stings to hate." Gifford's Juvenal.-L. E. (2) In the MS.

"The lesson mends more rarely than it reaches."—L. E. (3) "Yes, my valour is certainly going! it is sneaking off! I feel it oozing, as it were, at the palms of my hands!" teridan's Rivals.-L. E.

(4) In the MS.

"Or all the stuff which utter'd by the Blues' is."”—L. E. 5) In the MS.

it may be too soonBut your sublime attention they are worth."-L. E. (6) "The public style and title of the Sultan abound in siatic hyperbole. He is called Governor of the Earth,

And next his savage virtue he accused,

Just as a friar may accuse his vow, Or as a dame repents her of her oath, Which mostly ends in some small breach of both. CXLIII.

So he began to stammer some excuses;

But words are not enough in such a matter, Although you borrow'd all that e'er the Muses Have sung, or even a dandy's dandiest chatter, Or all the figures Castlereagh abuses; (4)

Just as a languid smile began to flatter
His peace was making, but before he ventured
Further, old Baba rather briskly enter'd:

"Is it," exclaim'd Gulbeyaz, "as you say? I wish to Heaven he would not shine till morning.! But bid my women form the milky way. (ing-(7)

Hence, my old comet! give the stars due warnAnd, Christian! mingle with them as you may,

And as you'd have me pardon your past scornHere they were interrupted by a humming [ingSound, and then by a cry, "The Sultan's coming!" CXLVI.

First came her damsels, a decorous file,

And then his Highness' eunuchs, black and white: The train might reach a quarter of a mile:

His majesty was always so polite

As to announce his visits a long while
Before he came, especially at night;
For being the last wife of the Emperor,
She was of course the favourite of the four.

CXLVII.

His Highness was a man of solemn port,
Shawl'd to the nose, and bearded to the eyes,
Snatch'd from a prison to preside at court,
His lately bowstrung brother caused his rise;
He was as good a sovereign of the sort

As any mention'd in the histories
Of Cantemir, or Knollès, where few shine
Save Solyman, the glory of their line. (8)

Lord of three Continents and Two Seas,' and very frequently
'Hunkier, the Slayer of Men.'" Dallaway.-L. E.
(7) In the MS.-

"But prithee-get my women in the way,

That all the stars may gleam with due adorning."—L. E. (8) It may not be unworthy of remark, that Bacon, in his essay on Empire, hints that Solyman was the last of his line; on what authority, I know not. These are his words: "The destruction of Mustapha was so fatal to Solyman's line, as the succession of the Turks from Soliman, until this day, is suspected to be untrue, and of strange blood; for that Selymus the second was thought to be supposititious." But Bacon, in his historical authorities, is often inaccurate. I could give half a dozen instances from his Apophthegms only. [See Appendix to this Canto, p. 677, post.-P. E.]

CXLVIII.

He went to mosque in state, and said his prayers With more than "Oriental scrupulosity;" (1) He left to his vizier all state affairs,

And show'd but little royal curiosity: I know not if he had domestic cares

No process proved connubial animosity;
Four wives and twice five hundred maids, unseen,
Were ruled as calmly as a Christian queen. (2)
CXLIX.

If now and then there happen'd a slight slip,
Little was heard of criminal or crime;
The story scarcely pass'd a single lip-

The sack and sea had settled all in time,
From which the secret nobody could rip:

The public knew no more than does this rhyme; No scandals made the daily press a curseMorals were better, and the fish no worse. (3)

CL.

He saw with his own eyes the moon was round,
Was also certain that the earth was square,
Because he had journey'd fifty miles, and found
No sign that it was circular any where;
His empire also was without a bound:

'Tis true, a little troubled here and there,

By rebel pachas, and encroaching giaours,

Meantime the education they went through

Was princely, as the proofs have always shown: So that the heir-apparent still was found No less deserving to be hang'd than crown'd. CLIV.

His Majesty saluted his fourth spouse

With all the ceremonies of his rank, Who clear'd her sparkling eyes and smooth'd her brows, As suits a matron who has play'd a prank; These must seem doubly mindful of their vows,

To save the credit of their breaking bank:
To no men are such cordial greetings given
As those whose wives have made them fit for heave
CLV.

His Highness cast around his great black eyes,
And looking, as he always look'd, perceived
Juan amongst the damsels in disguise,
At which he seem'd no whit surprised nor grieved,
But just remark'd with air sedate and wise,
While still a fluttering sigh Gulbeyaz heaved,
"I see you've bought another girl; 'tis pity
That a mere Christian should be half so pretty."
CLVI.

This compliment, which drew all eyes upon
The new-bought virgin, made her blush and shake.

"Because he kept them wrapt up in his closet, he Ruled four wives and twelve hundred whores, unseen, More easily than Christian kings one queen."-L. E. (3) In the MS.

"There ended many a fair sultana's trip:

The public knew no more than does this rhyme;
No printed scandals flew-the fish, of course,

Were better-while the morals were no worse."-L. E. (4) "The state prison of Constantinople, in which the Porte shuts up the ministers of hostile powers who are di latory in taking their departure, under pretence of protecting them from the insults of the mob."-Hope.

"We attempted to visit the Seven Towers, but were stopped at the entrance, and informed that without a firman it was inaccessible to strangers. It was supposed that Count Bulukoff, the Russian minister, would be the last of the Moussafirs, or imperial hostages, confined in this fortress; but since the year

Oh! Mahomet! that his Majesty should take Such notice of a giaour, while scarce to one Of them his lips imperial ever spake! There was a general whisper, toss, and wriggle, But etiquette forbade them all to giggle.

CLVII.

The Turks do well to shut—at least, sometimeThe women up-because, in sad reality, Their chastity in these unhappy climes

Is not a thing of that astringent quality Which in the North prevents precocious crimes, And makes our snow less pure than our morality, The sun, which yearly melts the polar ice, Has quite the contrary effect on vice.

CLVIII.

Thus in the East they are extremely strict,
And wedlock and a padlock mean the same;
Excepting only when the former's pick'd

It ne'er can be replaced in proper frame;
Spoilt, as a pipe of claret is when prick'd:

But then their own polygamy 's to blame; Why don't they knead two virtuous souls for life Into that moral centaur, man and wife? (6)

1784, M. Ruffin and many of the French have been imprisoned || in the same place; and the dungeons were gaping, it see for the sacred persons of the gentlemen composing his Erttannic Majesty's mission, previous to the rupture between Great Britain and the Porte, in 1809." Hobhouse,-LE

(5) "The princess" (Sulta Asma, daughter of Achmet 11 "exclaimed against the barbarity of the institution whic at six years old, had put her in the power of a decreția old man, who, by treating her like a child, had only in spired disgust." De Tott.-L. E.

(6) This stanza-which Lord Byron composed in bed, Feb. 2 IS21, is not in the first edition. On discovering the omiss he thus remonstrated with Mr. Murray:-"Upon what yo ciple have you omitted one of the concluding stanzas as an addition?—because it ended, I suppose, with— And do not link two virtuous souls for life Into that moral centaur, man and wife?' Now, I must say, once for all, that I will not permit any

CANTO V.

CLIX.

human being to take such liberties with my writings because I am absent. I desire the omission to be replaced. I have read over the poem carefully, and I tell you, it is poetry. The little envious knot of parson-poets may say what they please: time will show that I am not, in this instance, mis taken."-L. E.

(1) Blackwood says, in No. LXV., for June, 1822, "These three Cantos (III. IV. V.) are, like all Byron's poems, and, by the way, like every thing in this world, partly good and partly bad. In the particular descriptions they are not so naughty as their predecessors: indeed, his lordship has been so pretty and well-behaved on the present occasion, that we should not be surprised to hear of the work being detected among the thread-cases, flower-pots, and cheap tracts that litter the drawing-room tables of some of the best regulated families. By those, however, who suspect him of a strange design

Against the creed and morals of the land,
And trace it in this poem every line,'

it will be found as bad as ever. He shows his knowledge of the world too openly; and it is no extenuation of this freedom that he does it playfully. Only infants can be shown naked in company; but his lordship pulls the very robe-de-chambre from both men and women, and goes on with his exposure as smirkingly as a barrister cross-questioning a chamber-maid in a case of crim. con. This, as nobody can approve, we must confess is very bad. Still, it is harsh

158.

162.

164.

This was not said by Antigonus, but by a Spartan, previously to the battle of Thermopyla.

This happened under Augustus Cæsar, and not during the reign of Adrian.

to ascribe to wicked motives what may be owing to the temptations of circumstances, or the headlong impulse of passion. Even the worst habits should be charitably considered, for they are often the result of the slow but irresistible force of nature, over the artificial manners and discipline of society-the flowing stream that wastes away its embankments. Man towards his fellow-man should be at least compassionate; for he can be no judge of the instincts and the impulses of action,-he can only see effects.

Tremble, thou wretch,

That hast within thee undivulged crimes,
Unwhipp'd of justice: Hide thee, thou bloody hand;-
Thou perjured, and thou simular man of virtue,
Thou art incestuous: Caitiff, to pieces shake,
That under covert and convenient seeming
Hast practised on man's life!-Close pent-up guilts,
Rive your concealing continents, and cry

These dreadful summoners grace.'" Lear.-L. E.

(2) "Ordered Fletcher (at four o'clock this afternoon) to copy out seven or eight apophthegms of Bacon, in which I have detected such blunders as a schoolboy might detect, rather than commit. Such are the sages! What must they be, when such as I can stumble on their mistakes or misstatements? I will go to bed, for I find that 1 grow cynical." B. Diary, Jan. 5, 1821.-L. E.

(3)

"If parts allure thee, think how Bacon shined, The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind." Pope.-L. E.