XLI.

But Johnson only ran off, to return

With many other warriors; as we said,
Unto that somewhat rather misty bourn,
Which Hamlet tells us is a pass of dread.
To Jack however this gave but slight concern:
His soul (like Galvanism upon the dead)

Acted upon the living as on wire,

And led them back into the heaviest fire.

XLII.

Egad! they found the second time what they
The first time thought quite terrible enough
To fly from, malgrè all which people say
Of glory, and all that immortal stuff
Which fills a regiment (besides their pay,

That daily shilling which makes warriors tough-) They found on their return the self-same welcome, Which made some think, and others know, a Hell come.

XLIII.

They fell as thick as harvests beneath hail,
Grass before sithes, or corn below the sickle,
Proving that trite old truth, that life's as frail
As any other boon for which men stickle.
The Turkish batteries thrashed them like a flail
Or a good boxer, into a sad pickle,

Putting the very bravest, who were knocked
Upon the head, before their guns were cocked,

XLIV.

The Turks behind the traverses and flanks

Of the next bastion, fired away like devils,

And swept, as gales sweep foam away, whole ranks;

CANTO VIII.-B

However, Heaven knows how, the Fate who levels Towns, nations, worlds, in her revolving pranks,

So ordered it, amidst these sulphury revels, That Johnson and some few who had not scampered Reached the interior talus of the rampart.

XLV.

First one or two, then five, six, and a dozen
Came mounting quickly up, for it was now
All neck or nothing, as, like pitch or rosin,

Flame was showered forth above as well's below, So that you scarce could say who best had chosen, The gentlemen that were the first to show

Their martial faces on the parapet,

Or those who thought it brave to wait as yet.

XLVI.

But those who scaled, found out that their advance
Was favoured by an accident or blunder:
The Greek or Turkish Cohorn's ignorance
Had palisadoed in a way you'd wonder
To see in forts of Netherlands or France-

(Though these to our Gibraltar must knock under) Right in the middle of the parapet

Just named, these palisades were primly set:

XLVII.
So that on either side some nine or ten

Paces were left, whereon you could contrive
To march; a great convenience to our men,
At least to all those who were left alive,
Who thus could form a line and fight again;
And that which further aided them to strive
Was, that they could kick down the palisades,
Which scarcely rose much higher than grass blades.*
* They were but two feet high above the level.

XLVIII.

Among the first, I will not say the first,
For such precedence upon such occasions
Will oftentimes make deadly quarrels burst
Out between friends as well as allied nations:
The Briton must be bold who really durst

Put to such trial John Bull's partial patience,
As say that Wellington at Waterloo

Was beaten, though the Prussians say so too;

XLIX.

And that if Blücher, Bulow, Gneisenau,

And God knows who besides in "au" and "ou,"

Had not come up in time to cast an awe

Into the hearts of those who fought till now

As tigers combat with an empty craw,

The Duke of Wellington had ceased to show

His orders, also to receive his pensions,

Which are the heaviest that our history mentions.

L.

But never mind;-" God save the king!" and kings!
For if he don't, I doubt if men will longer-

I think a hear a little bird, who sings

The people by and by will be the stronger:
The veriest jade will wince whose harness wrings
So much into the raw as quite to wrong her
Beyond the rules of posting,-and the Mob
At last fall sick of imitating Job:

LI.

At first it grumbles, then it swe ars, and then,
Like David, flings smooth pebbles 'gainst a giant;
At last it takes to weapons such as men

Snatch when despair makes human hearts less pliant.

Then comes "the tug of war;"-'twill come again,

"fie on't,"

I rather doubt; and I would fain say
If I had not perceived that Revolution
Alone can save the earth from Hell's pollution.

LII.

But to continue;-I say not the first,

But of the first, our little friend Don Juan Walked o'er the walls of Ismail, as if nurst

Amidst such scenes-though this was quite a new one To him, and I should hope to most. The thirst

Of Glory, which so pierces through and through one, Pervaded him-although a generous creature, As warm in heart as feminine in feature.

LIII.

And here he was-who upon woman's breast,
Even from a child, felt like a child; howe'er
The man in all the rest might be confest,

To him it was Elysium to be there;

And he could even withstand that awkward test
Which Rousseau points out to the dubious fair,
"Observe your lover when he leaves your arms;"
But Juan never left them, while they had charms,

LIV.

Unless compelled by fate, or wave, or wind,
Or near relations, who are much the same.
But here he was!-where each tie that can bind
Humanity must yield to steel and flame:
And he whose very body was all Mind,

Flung here by Fate, or Circumstance, which tame 'The loftiest, hurried by the time and place,

Dashed on like a spurred blood-horse in a race.

LV.

So was his blood stirred while he found resistance,
As is the hunter's at the five-bar gate,
Or double post and rail, where the existence
Of Britain's youth depends upon their weight,
The lightest being the safest: at a distance
He hated cruelty, as all men hate

Blood, until heated-and even there his own
At times would curdle o'er some heavy groan.

LVI.

The General Lascy, who had been hard prest,
Seeing arrive an aid so opportune

As were some hundred youngsters all abreast,
Who came as if just dropped down from the moon,
To Juan, who was nearest him, addressed

His thanks, and hopes to take the city soon, Not reckoning him to be a " base Bezonian," (As Pistol calls it) but a young Livonian.

LVII.

Juan, to whom he spoke in German, knew
As much of German as of Sanscrit, and
In answer made an inclination to

The General who held him in command:
For seeing one with ribbons, black and blue,
Stars, medals, and a bloody sword in hand,
Addressing him in tones which seemed to thank,
He recognised an officer of rank.

LVIII.

Short speeches pass between two men who speak
No common language; and besides, in time
Of war and taking towns, when many a shriek