1035 But like conveying to the cat the mouse,
Or people in a trance into their grave; Because the good old man had so much 'vovg, '8 Unlike the honest Arab thieves so brave,
He would have hospitably cured the stranger,
1040 And sold him instantly when out of danger.
?31 And therefore, with her maid, she thought it best
(A virgin always on her maid relies)
To place him in the cave for present rest:
And when, at last, he open'd his black eyes,
1045 Their charity increased about their guest;
And their compassion grew to such a size,
It open'd half the turnpike-gates to heaven?
(St. Paul says 'tis the toll which must be given).9
* # 5. A group of islands in the Aegean Sea. nounced so as to rhyme with mouse. 6. In the playful sense: wicked. 9. 1 Corinthians 13.13: 'And now abideth faith, 7. Cf. Matthew 25.35: 'I was a stranger, and ye hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these took me in.' is charity.'
8. Nous, intelligence (Greek); in England pro
708 /
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H40
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Bent, with hush'd lips, that drank his scarce-drawn breath.
GEORG E GORDON , LOR D BYRO N 141 And Haidee met the morning face to face; Her own was freshest, though a feverish flush Had dyed it with the headlong blood, whose race From heart to cheek is curb'd into a blush, Like to a torrent which a mountain's base, That overpowers some Alpine river's rush, Checks to a lake, whose waves in circles spread; Or the Red Sea?but the sea is not red. 142 And down the cliff the island virgin came, And near the cave her quick light footsteps drew, While the sun smiled on her with his first flame, And young Aurora0 kiss'd her lips with dew, Taking her for a sister; just the same Mistake you would have made on seeing the two, Although the mortal, quite as fresh and fair, Had all the advantage too of not being air. dawn 143 And when into the cavern Haidee stepp'd All timidly, yet rapidly, she saw That like an infant Juan sweetly slept; And then she stopp'd, and stood as if in awe, (For sleep is awful)0 and on tiptoe creptAnd wrapt him closer, lest the air, too raw, Should reach his blood, then o'er him still as death awe-inspiring
148
And she bent o'er him, and he lay beneath,
Hush'd as the babe upon its mother's breast,
Droop'd as the willow when no winds can breathe,
Lull'd like the depth of ocean when at rest,
Fair as the crowning rose of the whole wreath, Soft as the callow0 cygnet0 in its nest; young/swanIn short, he was a very pretty fellow,
Although his woes had turn'd him rather yellow.
149
He woke and gazed, and would have slept again,
But the fair face which met his eyes forbade
Those eyes to close, though weariness and pain
Had further sleep a further pleasure made;
For woman's face was never form'd in vain
For Juan, so that even when he pray'd
He turn'd from grisly saints, and martyrs hairy,
To the sweet portraits of the Virgin Mary.
150
And thus upon his elbow he arose,
