her wave-worn love had made their bower, Where nought upon their passion could intrude, And all the stars that crowded the blue space Saw nothing happier than her glowing face. 199 1585 Alas! the love of women! it is known 1590 To be a lovely and a fearful thing; For all of theirs upon that die is thrown, And if 'tis lost, life hath no more to bring To them but mockeries of the past alone, And their revenge is as the tiger's spring, Deadly, and quick, and crushing; yet, as real Torture is theirs, what they inflict they feel. 200 1595 1600 They are right; for man, to man so oft unjust, Is always so to women; one sole bond Awaits them, treachery is all their trust; Taught to conceal, their bursting hearts despond Over their idol, till some wealthier lust Buys them in marriage?and what rests beyond? A thankless husband, next a faithless lover, Then dressing, nursing, praying, and all's over. 201 1605Some take a lover, some take drams0 or prayers, Some mind their household, others dissipation, Some run away, and but exchange their cares, Losing the advantage of a virtuous station; Few changes e'er can better their affairs, Theirs being an unnatural situation, From the dull palace to the dirty hovel: Some play the devil, and then write a novel.1 drink 202 1610Haidee was Nature's bride, and knew not this; Haidee was Passion's child, born where the sun Showers triple light, and scorches even the kiss Of his gazelle-eyed daughters; she was one Made but to love, to feel that she was his Who was her chosen: what was said or done 1615 Elsewhere was nothing?She had nought to fear, Hope, care, nor love beyond, her heart beat here.
1. The impetuous Lady Caroline Lamb, having thrown herself at Byron and been after a time rejected, incorporated incidents from the affair in her novel Glenarvon (1816).
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716 / GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON
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And oh! that quickening of the heart, that beat! How much it costs us! yet each rising throb Is in its cause as its effect so sweet, 1620 That Wisdom, ever on the watch to rob Joy of its alchymy, and to repeat
Fine truths, even Conscience, too, has a tough job To make us understand each good old maxim, So good?I wonder Castlereagh2 don't tax 'em.
204
1625 And now 'twas done?on the lone shore were plighted Their hearts; the stars, their nuptial torches, shed Beauty upon the beautiful they lighted: Ocean their witness, and the cave their bed, By their own feelings hallow'd and united,
1630 Their priest was Solitude, and they were wed: And they were happy, for to their young eyes Each was an angel, and earth paradise.3
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But Juan! had he quite forgotten Julia? And should he have forgotten her so soon? I can't but say it seems to me most truly a 1660 Perplexing question; but, no doubt, the moon Does these things for us, and whenever newly a
Strong palpitation rises,'tis her boon, Else how the devil is it that fresh features Have such a charm for us poor human creatures?
209
1665 I hate inconstancy?I loathe, detest, Abhor, condemn, abjure the mortal made Of such quicksilver clay that in his breast No permanent foundation can be laid; Love, constant love, has been my constant guest,
1670 And yet last night, being at a masquerade, I saw the prettiest creature, fresh from Milan, Which gave me some sensations like a villain.
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But soon Philosophy came to my aid, And whisper'd 'think of every sacred tie!' 1675 'I will, my dear Philosophy!' I said, 'But then her teeth, and then, Oh heaven! her eye!
2. Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, detested which Castlereagh complained of 'an ignorant by Byron for the ruthlessness he had shown in impatience of taxation.'
1798 as the government's chief secretary for Ire-3. This episode rewrites Aeneid 4 in which, influ
land and for the foreign policy he later pursued as enced by the malicious goddess Juno's love spells,
foreign secretary (1812?22). His belligerence with the hero Aeneas and Dido, queen of Carthage,
political opponents contributed to his unpopular-consummate their union in the cave in which they
ity. Byron refers to a famously testy speech in have taken refuge from a storm.
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DON JOAN, CANTO 2 / 717
I'll just inquire if she be wife or maid,
Or neither?out of curiosity.'
'Stop!' cried Philosophy, with air so Grecian,
1680 (Though she was masqued then as a fair Venetian).
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'Stop!' so I stopp'd.?But to return: that which
Men call inconstancy is nothing more
Than admiration due where nature's rich
Profusion with young beauty covers o'er
1685 Some favour'd object; and as in the niche
