For a much longer time; then, like an ass—

(Start not, kind reader, since great Homer thought This simile enough for Ajax, Juan

Perhaps may find it better than a new one);

XXX.

Then, like an ass, he went upon his way,

And, what was stranger, never look'd behind;
But seeing, flashing forward, like the day
Over the hills, a fire enough to blind
Those who dislike to look upon a fray,

He stumbled on, to try if he could find
A path, to add his own slight arm and forces
To corps, the greater part of which were corses.

XXXI.

Perceiving then no more the commandant

Of his own corps, nor even the corps, which had
Quite disappear'd-the gods know how! (I can't
Account for every thing which may look bad
In history; but we at least may grant

It was not marvellous that a mere lad,
In search of glory, should look on before,
Nor care a pinch of snuff about his corps :)—

XXXII.

Perceiving nor commander nor commanded,
And left at large, like a young heir, to make
His way to-where he knew not-single handed;
As travellers follow over bog and brake

An" ignis fatuus;" or as sailors stranded
Unto the nearest hut themselves betake;
So Juan, following honour and his nose,

Rush'd where the thickest fire announced most foes.(1)

XXXIII.

He knew not where he was, nor greatly cared,
For he was dizzy, busy, and his veins
Fill'd as with lightning-for his spirit shared

The hour, as is the case with lively brains;
And where the hottest fire was seen and heard,
And the loud cannon peal'd his hoarsest strains,
He rush'd, while earth and air were sadly shaken
By thy humane discovery, Friar Bacon! (2)

XXXIV.

And as he rush'd along, it came to pass he

Fell in with what was late the second column, Under the orders of the General Lascy,

But now reduced, as is a bulky volume Into an elegant extract (much less massy)

Of heroism, and took his place with solemn Air 'midst the rest, who kept their valiant faces And levell❜d weapons still against the glacis.

(1) [" N'appercevant plus le commandant du corps dont je faisais partie, et ignorant où je devais porter mes pas, je crus reconnoître le lieu où le rempart était situé; on y faisait un feu assez vif, que je jugeai être celui du général-major de Lascy." -Hist. de la N. R. p. 210.]

(2) Gunpowder is said to have been discovered by this friar. [N. B. Though Friar Bacon seems to have discovered gunpowder, he had the humanity not to record his discovery in intelligible language. — E.]

VOL. XVI.

XXXV.

Just at this crisis up came Johnson too,

Who had "retreated," as the phrase is when Men run away much rather than go through

Destruction's jaws into the devil's den; But Johnson was a clever fellow, who

Knew when and how " to cut and come again," And never ran away, except when running Was nothing but a valorous kind of cunning.

XXXVI.

And so, when all his corps were dead or dying,
Except Don Juan, a mere novice, whose
More virgin valour never dreamt of flying,
From ignorance of danger, which indues
Its votaries, like innocence relying

[thews,On its own strength, with careless nerves and Johnson retired a little, just to rally

Those who catch cold in " shadows of Death's valley."

XXXVII.

And there, a little shelter'd from the shot,
Which rain'd from bastion, battery, parapet,
Rampart, wall, casement, house-for there was not
In this extensive city, sore beset

By Christian soldiery, a single spot

Which did not combat like the devil, as yet,He found a number of Chasseurs, all scatter'd By the resistance of the chase they batter❜d.

XXXVIII.

And these he call'd on; and, what's strange, they came
Unto his call, unlike " the spirits from
The vasty deep," to whom you may exclaim,

Says Hotspur, long ere they will leave their Their reasons were uncertainty, or shame [home.(1) At shrinking from a bullet or a bomb,

And that odd impulse, which in wars or creeds
Makes men, like cattle, follow him who leads.

XXXIX.

By Jove! he was a noble fellow, Johnson,

And though his name, than Ajax or Achilles, Sounds less harmonious, underneath the sun soon We shall not see his likeness: he could kill his Man quite as quietly as blows the monsoon

Her steady breath (which some months the same still is):

Seldom he varied feature, hue, or muscle,

And could be very busy without bustle;

XL.

And therefore, when he ran away, he did so
Upon reflection, knowing that behind

He would find others who would fain be rid so
Of idle apprehensions, which like wind
Trouble heroic stomachs. Though their lids so

Oft are soon closed, all heroes are not blind,
But when they light upon immediate death,
Retire a little, merely to take breath.

(1) [Glendower. "I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
Hotspur. Why so can I, or so can any man :
But will they come when you do call for them ? "—
Henry IV.]

XLI.

But Johnson only ran off, to return

With many other warriors, as we said,
Unto that rather somewhat misty bourn,
Which Hamlet tells us is a pass of dread. (1)
To Jack howe'er 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, malgré 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 scythes, 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 thrash'd them like a flail
Or a good boxer, into a sad pickle
Putting the very bravest, who were knock'd
Upon the head, before their guns were cock'd.

["the dread of something after death,—

The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn

No traveller returns." - Hamlet.]