England thy beauties are tame and domestic, To one who has rov'd on the mountains afar : MAID OF ATHENS, ERE WE PART Ζωή μου, σᾶς ἀγαπῶ This, perhaps the most popular of Byron's lyrics, was written at Athens in 1810, and addressed to a young girl, Theresa Macri, daughter of Byron's landlady, the widow of a former English vice consul. The Greek refrain means “My life, I love you.” I AID of Athens, ere we part, MAID Give, oh give me back my heart! Or, since that has left my breast, Keep it now, and take the rest! Ζωή μου, σᾶς ἀγαπῶ. II By those tresses unconfined, III By that lip I long to taste; By that zone-encircled waist; By all the token-flowers that tell Ζωή μου, σᾶς ἀγαπῶ. IV Maid of Athens! I am gone : Think of me, sweet! when alone. Athens holds my heart and soul: Ζωή μου, σᾶς ἀγαπῶ. H' MODERN GREECE (From The Giaour) E who hath bent him o'er the dead Ere the first day of Death is fled, The first dark day of Nothingness, The last of Danger and Distress, Have swept the lines where Beauty lingers,) The rapture of Repose that's there, And but for that sad shrouded eye, Appals the gazing mourner's heart, As if to him it could impart 1 Istambol: Constantinople. IO The doom he dreads, yet dwells upon; Some moments, aye, one treacherous hour, So fair, so calm, so softly sealed, 'Tis Greece, but living Greece no more! That parts not quite with parting breath; A gilded Halo hovering round decay, The farewell beam of Feeling past away! Spark of that flame, perchance of heavenly birth, 20 30 KNOW YE THE LAND? This introduction to The Bride of Abydos, written in 1813, was perhaps suggested by the opening lines of Goethe's Mignon: 66 Kennst du das Land wo die Citronen blühn?" NOW ye the land where the cypress and myrtle Where the rage of the vulture, the love of the turtle, Know ye the land of the cedar and vine, Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine; Where the light wings of Zephyr, oppressed with perfume, Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gúl1 in her bloom; And the purple of Ocean is deepest in dye; Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine, And all, save the spirit of man, is divine 'Tis the clime of the East - 't is the land of the Sun Can he smile on such deeds as his children have done? Oh! wild as the accents of lovers' farewell Are the hearts which they bear and the tales which they tell. SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY (From Hebrew Melodies) Byron, at the request of a friend, wrote a number of lyrics to be set to music. In April, 1815, these were published, with the music, under the title of Selections of Hebrew Melodies. Though the poet was, or pretended to be, ashamed of the volume, at least five of its twentythree poems have achieved immortality. Only fifteen are on Biblical themes; and the first in order, She Walks in Beauty, has for its subject Anne Horton, who married Byron's cousin, Robert Wilmot. This is perhaps Byron's most finished lyric poem, though written long before his poetic power reached its climax. I HE walks in Beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; 1 Gúl: the rose. SONG OF SAUL BEFORE HIS LAST BATTLE 7 II One shade the more, one ray the less, Or softly lightens o'er her face; III And on that cheek, and o'er that brow, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent! SONG OF SAUL BEFORE HIS LAST BATTLE The death of Saul is related in 1 Samuel xxxi; though Byron's Song is of course purely imaginary. I ARRIORS and Chiefs! should the shaft or the sword WA Pierce me in leading the host of the Lord, Heed not the corse, though a King's, in your path: II Thou who art bearing my buckler and bow, |