NAPOLEON'S FAREWELL (From the French) This poem was written in London in 1815, soon after the battle of Waterloo. It is one of several productions concerned with Napoleon, “the great Emperor who with the great poet divided the wonder of Europe." The anapæstic meter employed in this and several other of Byron's most popular poems is one that lends itself easily to spirited effects. It was a great favorite with Tom Moore, whose influence is clearly seen both here and elsewhere, as in the Stanzas for Music and Stanzas written between Florence and Pisa. I AREWELL to the Land where the gloom of my Glory FAR Arose and o'ershadowed the earth with her name She abandons me now- but the page of her story, I have warred with a World which vanquished me only I have coped with the nations which dread me thus lonely, II Farewell to thee, France! when thy diadem crowned me, In strife with the storm, when their battles were won III Farewell to thee, France! but when Liberty rallies Once more in thy regions, remember me then, The Violet still grows in the depth of thy valleys; us, Then turn thee and call on the Chief of thy choice! STANZAS FOR MUSIC (Written in England, March, 1816) TH I HERE be none of Beauty's daughters And like music on the waters Is thy sweet voice to me: The waves lie still and gleaming, II And the Midnight Moon is weaving Her bright chain o'er the deep; So the spirit bows before thee, To listen and adore thee; With a full but soft emotion, Like the swell of Summer's ocean. 1 The violet when Napoleon was banished to Elba, in April, 1814, it was predicted by his partisans that he would return to France with the violets in the following spring. For this reason the violet was taken as the Napoleonic emblem. Now, though defeated and exiled, Napoleon is represented in the poem as hoping to return from St. Helena, as he did from Elba. FARE THEE WELL The sincerity of this poem, which was written in March, 1816, soon after the separation from Lady Byron and shortly before the poet's final departure from England, has been seriously questioned. It seems almost incredible that any man, even one so spectacular as Byron, could lay bare to the world such emotions. Yet, according to Byron, as quoted by Moore, the verses were written under stress of profound feeling, were not intended for publication, and were given to the public only" through the injudicious zeal of a friend whom he suffered to take a copy." Alas! they had been friends in youth; ARE thee well! and if forever, FARE thee well! and if Still forever, fare thee well: Even though unforgiving, never 'Gainst thee shall my heart rebel. Would that breast were bared before thee Where thy head so oft hath lain, While that placid sleep came o'er thee Every inmost thought could show ! 'Twas not well to spurn it so. 20 Though the world for this commend thee - Even its praises must offend thee, Though my many faults defaced me, Than the one which once embraced me, To inflict a cureless wound? Still must mine, though bleeding, beat; Think of him whose prayer shall bless thee - Should her lineaments resemble Those thou never more may'st see, Then thy heart will softly tremble All my faults perchance thou knowest All 40 3390 All my hopes where'er thou goest Pride which not a world could bow Bows to thee by thee forsaken, Even my soul forsakes me now. 50 and blighted 60 More than this I scarce can die. SONNET ON CHILLON This sonnet, one of the noblest of its kind, though prefixed to The Prisoner of Chillon, was in fact written later than that poem as an especial tribute to the Swiss patriot, Bonnivard. François de Bonnivard was born near Geneva, in 1496, and succeeded in 1510 to the priory of St. Victor, just outside the walls of the city. As an ardent republican, he espoused the cause of Geneva against the Duke of Savoy, on whose entrance into the city in 1519 Bonnivard was seized and imprisoned for two years at Grolée. Again, in 1530, he was captured by robbers and handed over to the Duke, who this time imprisoned him in the famous Castle of Chillon. Here Bonnivard remained for six years, until liberated by the Bernese and Genevese. By this time Geneva had established her freedom, and the patriot was honored and pensioned by the people for whom he had suffered so long. Bonnivard lived in peace through the remainder of his life, wrote a history of Geneva, and, when he died, either in 1570 or in 1571, left his books as a legacy to the city. E TERNAL Spirit of the chainless Mind! Brightest in dungeons, Liberty! thou art: For there thy habitation is the heart The heart which love of thee alone can bind ; |