The Suabian sued, and now the Austrian reigns- From power's high pinnacle, when they have felt Th' octogenarian chief, Byzantium's conquering foe. Before St. Mark still glow his steeds of brass, Their gilded collars glittering in the sun; But is not Doria's menace come to pass? Are they not bridled?-Venice, lost and won, Her thirteen hundred years of freedom done, Sinks, like a sea-weed, into whence she rose ! Better be whelm'd beneath the waves, and shun, Even in destruction's depth, her foreign foes, From whom submission wrings an infamous repose. THE SAME. (CHILDE HAROLD, Canto iv. Stanza 18.) I LOVED her from my boyhood—she to me Rising like water-columns from the sea, Than when she was a boast, a marvel, and a show. AN AUGUST EVENING IN ITALY. (CHILDE HAROLD, Canto iv. Stanzas 27-29.) THE moon is up, and yet it is not night— While, on the other hand, meek Dian's crest Floats through the azure air—an island of the blest! A single star is at her side, and reigns With her o'er half the lovely heaven; but still Which streams upon her stream, and glass'd within it glows, Fill'd with the face of heaven, which, from afar, Comes down upon the waters; all its hues, Their magical variety diffuse : And now they change; a paler shadow strews Its mantle o'er the mountains; parting day Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues The last still loveliest, till-'tis gone-and all is gray. THE AVE MARIA. (DON JUAN, Canto iii. Stanzas 102-109.) AVE Maria! blessed be the hour! The time, the clime, the spot, where I so oft Have felt that moment in its fullest power Sink o'er the earth so beautiful and soft, And not a breath crept through the rosy air, Ave Maria! 'tis the hour of prayer! Ave Maria! 'tis the hour of love! Ave Maria! may our spirits dare Look up to thine and to thy Son's above! Ave Maria! oh, that face so fair! Those downcast eyes beneath the Almighty dove—– What though 'tis but a pictured image ?—strike— That painting is no idol-'tis too like. Sweet hour of twilight !—in the solitude Of the pine forest, and the silent shore And Dryden's lay made haunted ground to me, The shrill cicalas, people of the pine, Making their summer lives one ceaseless song, Were the sole echoes, save my steed's and mine, And vesper bell's that rose the boughs along ; The spectre huntsman of Onesti's line, His hell-dogs, and their chase, and the fair throng Which learn'd from this example not to fly From a true lover,-shadow'd my mind's eye. Oh, Hesperus! thou bringest all good things— Whate'er our household gods protect of dear, Are gather'd round us by thy look of rest; Soft hour! which wakes the wish and melts the heart When they from their sweet friends are torn apart ; When Nero perish'd by the justest doom Amidst the roar of liberated Rome, Of nations freed, and the world overjoy'd, Some hand unseen strew'd flowers upon his tomb : Perhaps the weakness of a heart not void Of feeling for some kindness done, when power Had left the wretch an uncorrupted hour. ARQUA. (CHILDE HAROLD, Canto iv. Stanzas 30-32.) THERE is a tomb in Arqua ;-rear'd in air, Pillar'd in their sarcophagus, repose The bones of Laura's lover; here repair Many familiar with his well-sung woes, The pilgrims of his genius. He arose To raise a language, and his land reclaim From the dull yoke of her barbaric foes: Watering the tree which bears his lady's name With his melodious tears, he gave himself to fame. They keep his dust in Arqua, where he died; The mountain-village where his latter days Went down the vale of years; and 'tis their prideAn honest pride—and let it be their praise, To offer to the passing stranger's gaze His mansion and his sepulchre; both plain And venerably simple, such as raise A feeling more accordant with his strain Than if a pyramid form'd his monumental fane. And the soft quiet hamlet where he dwelt And sought a refuge from their hopes decay'd |