71 0 / GEORG E GORDON , LOR D BYRON 1375To her, as 'twere, the kind of being sent, Of whom these two years she had nightly dream'd, A something to be loved, a creature meant To be her happiness, and whom she deem'd To render happy; all who joy would win Must share it,?Happiness was born a twin. 173 1380It was such pleasure to behold him, such Enlargement of existence to partake Nature with him, to thrill beneath his touch, To watch him slumbering, and to see him wake: To live with him for ever were too much; But then the thought of parting made her quake: He was her own, her ocean-treasure, cast Like a rich wreck?her first love, and her last. 174 13851390 And thus a moon? roll'd on, and fair HaideePaid daily visits to her boy, and took Such plentiful precautions, that still he Remain'd unknown within his craggy nook; At last her father's prows put out to sea, For certain merchantmen upon the look, Not as of yore to carry off an Io,3 But three Ragusan vessels, bound for Scio.4 month 175 13951400Then came her freedom, for she had no mother, So that, her father being at sea, she was Free as a married woman, or such other Female, as where she likes may freely pass, Without even the encumbrance of a brother, The freest she that ever gazed on glass:0I speak of christian lands in this comparison, Where wives, at least, are seldom kept in garrison. in a mirror 176 1405Now she prolong'd her visits and her talk (For they must talk), and he had learnt to say So much as to propose to take a walk,? For little had he wander'd since the day On which, like a young flower snapp'd from the stalk, Drooping and dewy on the beach he lay,? And thus they walk'd out in the afternoon, And saw the sun set opposite the moon. 177 1410It was a wild and breaker-beaten coast, With cliffs above, and a broad sandy shore,
3. A mistress of Zeus who was persecuted by his 4. The Italian name for Chios, an island near Turjealous wife, Hera, and kidnapped by Phoenician key. 'Ragusan': Ragusa (or Dubrovnik) is an Adri
merchants. atic port located in what is now Croatia.
.
DO N JOAN, CANT O 2 / 71 1 1415With here and there a creek, whose aspect wore A better welcome to the tempest-tost; And rarely ceas'd the haughty billow's roar, Save on the dead long summer days, which make The outstretch'd ocean glitter like a lake. 178 1420And the small ripple spilt upon the beach Scarcely o'erpass'd the cream of your champagne, When o'er the brim the sparkling bumpers reach, That spring-dew of the spirit! the heart's rain! Few things surpass old wine; and they may preach Who please,?the more because they preach in vain,? Let us have wine and woman, mirth and laughter, Sermons and soda water the day after. 179 1425 Man, being reasonable, must get drunk; The best of life is but intoxication: 1430 Glory, the grape, love, gold, in these are sunk The hopes of all men, and of every nation; Without their sap, how branchless were the trunk Of life's strange tree, so fruitful on occasion: But to return,?Get very drunk; and when You wake with head-ache, you shall see what then. 180 1435 1440 Ring for your valet?bid him quickly bring Some hock and soda-water, then you'll know A pleasure worthy Xerxes' the great king; For not the blest sherbet, sublimed with snow, Nor the first sparkle of the desert-spring, Nor Burgundy in all its sunset glow, After long travel, ennui, love, or slaughter, Vie with that draught of hock and soda-water. 181 The coast?I think it was the coast that I 1445Was just describing?Yes, it was the coast? Lay at this period quiet as the sky, The sands untumbled, the blue waves untost, And all was stillness, save the sea-bird's cry, And dolphin's leap, and little billow crost By some low rock or shelve, that made it fret Against the boundary it scarcely wet. 182 1450And forth they wandered, her sire being gone, As I have said, upon an expedition; And mother, brother, guardian, she had none, Save Zoe, who, although.with due precision
She waited on her lady with the sun,
5. The 5th-century Persian king was said to have offered a reward to anyone who could discover a new kind of pleasure.
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712 / GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON
Thought daily service was her only mission,
Bringing warm water, wreathing her long tresses,
And asking now and then for cast-off dresses.
183
It was the cooling hour, just when the rounded
Red sun sinks down behind the azure hill,
Which then seems as if the whole earth it bounded,
Circling all nature, hush'd, and dim, and still,
With the far mountain-crescent half surrounded
On one side, and the deep sea calm and chill
Upon the other, and the rosy sky,
With one star sparkling through it like an eye.
184
And thus they wander'd forth, and hand in hand,
Over the shining pebbles and the shells,
Glided along the smooth and harden'd sand,
And in the worn and wild receptacles
Work'd by the storms, yet work'd as it were plann'd,
In hollow halls, with sparry roofs and cells,
They turn'd to rest; and, each clasp'd by an arm,
Yielded to the deep twilight's purple charm.
185. They look'd up to the sky, whose floating glow
Spread like a rosy ocean, vast and bright;
They gazed upon the glittering sea below,
