CANTO THE THIRD.
"Come vedi -- ancor non m'abbandona." -- Dante.
I.
Slow sinks, more lovely ere his race be run,
Along Morea's hills the setting sun:
Not, as in northern climes, obscurely bright,
But one unclouded blaze of living light!
O'er the hush'd deep the yellow beam he throws
Gilds the green wave, that trembles as it glows.
On old Ægina's rock, and Idra's isle,
The god of gladness sheds his parting smile;
O'er his own regions lingering, loves to shine,
Though there his altars are no more divine.
Descending fast the mountain shadows kiss
Thy glorious gulf, unconquer'd Salamis!
Their azure arches through the long expanse
More deeply purpled meet his mellowing glance,
And tenderest tints, along their summits driven,
Mark his gay course, and own the hues of heaven;
Till, darkly shaded from the land and deep,
Behind his Delphian cliff he sinks to sleep.
On such an eye, his palest beam he cast,
When -- Athens! here thy Wisest look'd his last.
How watch'd thy better sons his farewell ray,
That closed their murder'd sage's[13] latest day!
Not yet -- not yet -- Sol pauses on the hill --
The precious hour of parting lingers still!
But sad his light to agonising eyes,
And dark the mountain's once delightful dyes:
Gloom o'er the lovely land he seem'd to pour,
The land, where Phoebus never frown'd before;
But ere he sank below Cithæron's head,
The cup of woe was quaff'd -- the spirit fled;
The soul of him who scorn'd to fear or fly --
Who lived and died, as none can live or die:
But lo! from high Hymettus to the plain,
The queen of night asserts her silent reign.[14]
No murky vapour, herald of the storm,
Hides her fair face, nor girds her glowing form;
With cornice glimmering as the moonbeams play,
There the white column greets her grateful ray,
And, bright around with quivering beams beset,
Her emblem sparkles o'er the minaret:
The groves of olive scatter'd dark and wide
Where meek Cephisus pours his scanty tide,
The cypress saddening by the sacred mosque,
The gleaming turret of the gay kiosk,[15]
And, dun and sombre 'mid the holy calm,
Near Theseus' fane yon solitary palm,
All tinged with varied hues, arrest the eye --
And dull were his that pass'd them heedless by.
Again the Ægean, heard no more afar,
Lulls his chafed breast from elemental war;
Again his waves in milder tints unfold
Their long array of sapphire and of gold,
Mix'd with the shades of many a distant isle,
That frown -- where gentler ocean seems to smile.[16]
II.
Not now my theme -- why turn my thoughts to thee?
Oh! who can look along thy native sea,
Nor dwell upon thy name, whate'er the tale,
So much its magic must o'er all prevail?
Who that beheld that Sun upon thee set,
Fair Athens! could thine evening face forget?
Not he -- whose heart nor time nor distance frees,
Spell-bound within the clustering Cyclades!
Nor seems this homage foreign to his strain,
His Corsair's isle was once thine own domain --
Would that with freedom it were thine again!
III.
The Sun hath sunk -- and, darker than the night,
Sinks with its beam upon the beacon height --
Medora's heart -- the third day's come and gone --
With it he comes not -- sends not -- faithless one!
The wind was fair though light; and storms were none.
Last eve Anselmo's bark return'd, and yet
His only tidings that they had not met!
Though wild as now, far different were the tale
Had Conrad waited for that single sail.
The night-breeze freshens -- she that day had pass'd
In watching all that Hope proclaim'd a mast;
Sadly she sate -- on high -- Impatience bore
At last her footsteps to the midnight shore,
And there she wander'd, heedless of the spray
That dash'd her garments oft, and warn'd away:
She saw not -- felt not this -- nor dared depart,
Nor deem'd it cold -- her chill was at her heart;
Till grew such certainty from that suspense --
His very sight had shock'd from life or sense!
It came at last -- a sad and shatter'd boat,
Whose inmates first beheld whom first they sought;
Some bleeding -- all most wretched -- these the few --
Scarce knew they how escaped -- /this/ all they knew.
In silence, darkling, each appear'd to wait
His fellow's mournful guess at Conrad's fate:
Something they would have said; but seem'd to fear
To trust their accents to Medora's ear.
She saw at once, yet sank not -- trembled not --
Beneath that grief, that loneliness of lot,
Within that meek fair form, where feelings high,
That deem'd not till they found their energy.
While yet was Hope -- they soften'd -- flutter'd -- wept --
All lost -- that softness died not -- but it slept;
And o'er its slumber rose that Strength which said,
"With nothing left to love -- there's nought to dread."
'Tis more than nature's; like the burning might
Delirium gathers from the fever's height.
"Silent you stand -- nor would I hear you tell
What -- speak not -- breathe not -- for I know it well --
Yet would I ask -- almost my lip denies
The -- quick your answer -- tell me where he lies."
"Lady! we know not -- scarce with life we fled;
But here is one denies that he is dead:
He saw him bound; and bleeding -- but alive."
She heard no further -- 'twas in vain to strive --
So throbb'd each vein -- each thought -- till then withstood;
Her own dark soul -- these words at once subdued:
She totters -- falls -- and senseless had the wave
Perchance but snatch'd her from another grave;
But that with hands though rude, yet weeping eyes,
They yield such aid as Pity's haste supplies:
Dash o'er her death-like cheek the ocean dew,
Raise -- fan -- sustain -- till life returns anew;
Awake her handmaids, with the matrons leave
That fainting form o'er which they gaze and grieve;
Then seek Anselmo's cavern, to report
The tale too tedious -- when the triumph short.
IV.
In that wild council words wax'd warm and strange,
With thoughts of ransom, rescue, and revenge;
All, save repose or flight: still lingering there
Breathed Conrad's spirit, and forbade despair;
Whate'er his fate -- the breasts he form'd and led,
Will save him living, or appease him dead.
Woe to his foes! there yet survive a few,
Whose deeds are daring, as their hearts are true.
V.
Within the Haram's secret chamber sate
Stern Seyd, still pondering o'er his Captive's fate;
His thoughts on love and hate alternate dwell,
Now with Gulnare, and now in Conrad's cell;
Here at his feet the lovely slave reclined
Surveys his brow -- would soothe his gloom of mind:
While many an anxious glance her large dark eye
Sends in its idle search for sympathy,
/His/ only bends in seeming o'er his beads, [17]
But inly views his victim as he bleeds.
"Pacha! the day is thine; and on thy crest
Sits Triumph -- Conrad taken -- fall'n the rest!
His doom is fix'd -- he dies: and well his fate
Was earn'd -- yet much too worthless for thy hate:
Methinks, a short release for ransom told
With all his treasure, not unwisely sold;
Report speaks largely of his pirate-hoard --
Would that of this my Pacha were the lord!
While baffled, weaken'd by this fatal fray --
Watch'd -- follow'd -- he were then an easier prey;
But once cut off -- the remnant of his band
Embark their wealth, and seek a safer strand."
"Gulnare! -- if for each drop of blood a gem
Were offer'd rich as Stamboul's diadem;
If for each hair of his a massy mine
Of virgin ore should supplicating shine;
If all our Arab tales divulge or dream
Of wealth were here -- that gold should not redeem!
It had not now redeem'd a single hour,
But that I know him fetter'd, in my power;
And, thirsting for revenge, I ponder still
On pangs that longest rack, and latest kill."
"Nay, Seyd! -- I seek not to restrain thy rage,
Too justly moved for mercy to assuage;
My thoughts were only to secure for thee
His riches -- thus released, he were not free:
Disabled, shorn of half his might and band,
His capture could but wait thy first command."
"His capture /could!/ -- and shall I then resign
One day to him -- the wretch already mine?
Release my foe! -- at whose remonstrance? -- thine!
Fair suitor! -- to thy virtuous gratitude,
That thus repays this Giaour's relenting mood,
Which thee and thine alone of all could spare,
No doubt -- regardless if the prize were fair,
My thanks and praise alike are due -- now hear!
I have a counsel for thy gentler ear:
I do mistrust thee, woman! and each word
Of thine stamps truth on all Suspicion heard.
Borne in his arms through fire from yon Serai --
Say, wert thou lingering there with him to fly?
Thou need'st not answer -- thy confession speaks,
Already reddening on thy guilty cheeks;
Then, lovely dame, bethink thee! and beware:
'Tis not his life alone may claim such care!
Another word and -- nay -- I need no more.
Accursed was the moment when he bore
Thee from the flames, which better far -- but -- no --
I then had mourn'd thee with a lover's woe --
Now, 'tis thy lord that warns -- deceitful thing!
Know'st thou that I can clip thy wanton wing?
In words alone I am not wont to chafe:
Look to thyself -- nor deem thy falsehood safe!"
He rose -- and slowly, sternly thence withdrew,
Rage in his eye and threats in his adieu:
Ah! little recked that chief of womanhood --
Which frowns ne'er quell'd, nor menaces subdued;
And little deem'd he what thy heart, Gulnare!
When soft could feel, and when incensed could dare.
His doubts appear'd to wrong -- nor yet she knew
How deep the root from whence compassion grew --
She was a slave -- from such may captives claim
A fellow-feeling, differing but in name;
Still half unconscious -- heedless of his wrath,
Again she ventured on the dangerous path,
Again his rage repell'd -- until arose
That strife of thought -- the source of woman's woes!
VI.
Meanwhile -- long anxious -- weary -- still -- the same
Roll'd day and night -- his soul could never tame --
This fearful interval of doubt and dread,
When every hour might doom him worse than dead,
When every step that echo'd by the gate
Might entering lead where axe and stake await;
When every voice that grated on his ear
Might be the last that he could ever hear;
Could terror tame -- that spirit stern and high
Had proved unwilling as unfit to die;
'Twas worn -- perhaps decay'd -- yet silent bore
That conflict deadlier far than all before:
The heat of fight, the hurry of the gale,
Leave scarce one thought inert enough to quail;
But bound and fix'd in fetter'd solitude,
To pine, the prey of every changing mood;
To gaze on thine own heart; and meditate
Irrevocable faults, and coming fate --
Too late the last to shun -- the first to mend --
To count the hours that struggle to thine end,
With not a friend to animate, and tell
To other ears that death became thee well;
Around thee foes to forge the ready lie
And blot life's latest scene with calumny;
Before thee tortures, which the soul can dare,
Yet doubts how well the shrinking flesh may bear;
But deep feels a single cry would shame,
To valour's praise thy last and dearest claim;
The life thou leav'st below, denied above
By kind monopolists of heavenly love;
And more than doubtful paradise -- thy heaven
Of earthly hope -- thy loved one from thee riven.
Such were the thoughts that outlaw must sustain
And govern pangs surpassing mortal pain:
And those sustain'd he -- boots it well or ill?
Since not to sink beneath, is something still!
VII.
The first day pass'd -- he saw not her -- Gulnare --
The second -- third -- and still she came not there;
But what her words avouch'd, her charms had done,
Or else he had not seen another sun.
The fourth day roll'd along, and with the night
Came storm and darkness in their mingling might:
Oh! how he listen'd to the rushing deep,
That ne'er till now so broke upon his sleep;
And his wild spirit wilder wishes sent,
Roused by the roar of his own element!
Oft had he ridden on that winged wave,
And loved its roughness for the speed it gave;
And now its dashing echo'd on his ear,
A long known voice -- alas! too vainly near!
Loud sung the wind above; and, doubly loud,
Shook o'er his turret cell the thunder-cloud;
And flash'd the lightning by the latticed bar,
To him more genial than the midnight star:
Close to the glimmering grate he dragg'd his chain,
And hoped /that/ peril might not prove in vain.
He raised his iron hand to Heaven, and pray'd
One pitying flash to mar the form it made:
His steel and impious prayer attract alike --
The storm roll'd onward, and disdain'd to strike;
Its peal wax'd fainter -- ceased -- he felt alone,
As if some faithless friend had spurn'd his groan!
VIII.
The midnight pass'd -- and to the massy door
A light step came -- it paused -- it moved once more;
Slow turns the grating bolt and sullen key:
'Tis as his heart foreboded -- that fair she!
Whate'er her sins, to him a guardian saint,
And beauteous still as hermit's hope can paint;
Yet changed since last within that cell she came,
More pale her cheek, more tremulous her frame:
On him she cast her dark and hurried eye,
Which spoke before her accents -- "Thou must die!
Yes, thou must die -- there is but one resource,
The last -- the worst -- if torture were not worse."
"Lady! I look to none -- my lips proclaim
What last proclaim'd they -- Conrad still the same:
Why shouldst thou seek an outlaw's life to spare,
And change the sentence I deserve to bear?
Well have I earn'd -- nor here alone -- the meed
Of Seyd's revenge, by many a lawless deed."
"Why should I seek? because -- oh! I didst thou not
Redeem my life from worse than slavery's lot?
Why should I seek? -- hath misery made thee blind
To the fond workings of a woman's mind!
And must I say? albeit my heart rebel
With all that woman feels, but should not tell --
Because -- despite thy crimes -- that heart is moved:
It fear'd thee -- thank'd thee -- pitied -- madden'd -- loved.
Reply not, tell not now thy tale again,
Thou lov'st another -- and I love in vain;
Though fond as mine her bosom, form more fair,
I rush through peril which she would not dare.
If that thy heart to her were truly dear,
Were I thine own -- thou wert not lonely here:
An outlaw's spouse -- and leave her lord to roam!
What hath such gentle dame to do with home?
But speak not now -- o'er thine and o'er my head
Hangs the keen sabre by a single thread;
If thou hast courage still, and would be free,
Receive this poniard -- rise -- and follow me!"
"Ay -- in my chains! my steps will gently tread,
With these adornments, o'er each slumbering head!
Thou hast forgot -- is this a garb for flight?
Or is that instrument more fit for fight?"
"Misdoubting Corsair! I have gain'd the guard,
Ripe for revolt, and greedy for reward.
A single word of mine removes that chain:
Without some aid how here could I remain?
Well, since we met, hath sped my busy time,
If in aught evil, for thy sake the crime:
The crime -- 'tis none to punish those of Seyd.
That hated tyrant, Conrad -- he must bleed!
I see thee shudder -- but my soul is changed --
Wrong'd, spurn'd reviled -- and it shall be avenged --
Accused of what till now my heart disdain'd --
Too faithful, though to bitter bondage chain'd.
Yes, smile! -- but he had little cause to sneer,
I was not treacherous then -- nor thou too dear:
But he has said it -- and the jealous well,
Those tyrants, teasing, tempting to rebel,
Deserve the fate their fretting lips foretell.
I never loved -- he bought me -- somewhat high --
Since with me came a heart he could not buy.
I was a slave unmurmuring: he hath said,
But for his rescue I with thee had fled.
'Twas false thou know'st -- but let such augurs rue,
Their words are omens Insult renders true.
Nor was thy respite granted to my prayer;
This fleeting grace was only to prepare
New torments for thy life, and my despair.
Mine too he threatens; but his dotage still
Would fain reserve me for his lordly will;
When wearier of these fleeting charms and me,
There yawns the sack -- and yonder rolls the sea,
What, am I then a toy for dotard's play,
To wear but till the gilding frets away?
I saw thee -- loved thee -- owe thee all -- would save,
If but to shew how grateful is a slave.
But had he not thus menaced fame and life,
(And well he keeps his oaths pronounced in strife,)
I still had saved thee -- but the Pacha spared.
Now I am all thine own -- for all prepared:
Thou lov'st me not -- nor know'st -- or but the worst.
Alas! this love -- that hatred are the first --
Oh! couldst thou prove my truth, thou wouldst not start
Nor fear the fire that lights an Eastern heart,
'Tis now the beacon of thy safety -- now
It points within the port a Mainote prow:
But in one chamber, where our path must lead,
There sleeps -- he must not wake -- the oppressor Seyd!"
"Gulnare -- Gulnare -- I never felt till now
My abject fortune, wither'd fame so low:
Seyd is mine enemy: had swept my band
From earth with ruthless but with open hand,
And therefore came I, in my bark of war,
To smite the smiter with the scimitar;
Such is my weapon -- not the secret knife --
Who spares a woman seeks not slumber's life.
Thine saved I gladly, Lady, not for this --
Let me not deem that mercy shewn amiss.
Now fare thee well -- more peace be with thy breast!
Night wears apace -- my last of earthly rest!"
"Rest! rest! by sunrise must thy sinews shake,
And thy limbs writhe around the ready stake.
I heard the order -- saw -- I will not see --
If thou wilt perish, I will fall with thee.
My life -- my love -- my hatred -- all below
Are on this cast -- Corsair! 'tis but a blow!
Without it flight were idle -- how evade
His sure pursuit? my wrongs too unrepaid,
My youth disgraced -- the long, long wasted years,
One blow shall cancel with our future fears;
But since the dagger suits thee less than brand,
I'll try the firmness of a female hand.
The guards are gain'd -- one moment all were o'er --
Corsair! we meet in safety or no more;
If errs my feeble hand, the morning cloud
Will hover o'er thy scaffold, and my shroud."
IX.
She turn'd, and vanished ere he could reply,
But his glance follow'd far with eager eye;
And gathering, as he could, the links that bound
His form, to curl their length, and curb their sound,
Since bar and bolt no more his steps preclude,
He, fast as fetter'd limbs allow, pursued.
'Twas dark and winding, and he know not where
That passage led; nor lamp nor guard were there:
He sees a dusky glimmering -- shall he seek
Or shun that ray so indistinct and weak?
Chance guides his steps -- a freshness seems to bear
Full on his brow, as if from morning air --
He reach'd an open gallery -- on his eye
Gleam'd the last star of night, the clearing sky:
Yet scarcely heeded these -- another light
From a lone chamber struck upon his sight.
Towards it he moved; a scarcely closing door
Reveal'd the ray within, but nothing more.
With hasty step a figure outward pass'd,
Then paused -- and turn'd -- and paused -- 'tis She at last,
No poniard in that hand -- nor sign of ill --
"Thanks to that softening heart -- she could not kill!"
Again he look'd, the wildness of her eye
Starts from the day abrupt and fearfully.
She stopp'd -- threw back her dark far-floating hair
That dearly veil'd her face and bosom fair:
As if she late had bent her leaning head
Above some object of her doubt or dread.
They meet -- upon her brow -- unknown -- forgot --
Her hurrying hand had left -- 'twas but a spot --
Its hue was all he saw, and scarce withstood --
Oh! slight but certain pledge of crime -- 'tis blood!
X.
He had seen battle -- he had brooded lone
O'er promised pangs to sentenced guilt foreshown;
He had been tempted -- chasten'd -- and the chain
Yet on his arms might ever there remain:
But ne'er from strife -- captivity -- remorse --
From all his feelings in their inmost force --
So thrill'd -- so shudder'd every creeping vein,
As now they froze before that purple stain.
That spot of blood, that light but guilty streak,
Had banish'd all the beauty from her cheek.
Blood he had view'd -- could view unmoved -- but then
It flow'd in combat, or was shed by men!
XI.
"'Tis done -- he nearly waked -- but it is done.
Corsair! he perish'd -- thou art dearly won.
All words would now be vain -- away -- away!
Our bark is tossing -- 'tis already day.
The few gain'd over, now are wholly mine,
And these thy yet surviving band shall join:
Anon my voice shall vindicate my hand,
When once our sail forsakes this hated strand."
XII.
She clapp'd her hands -- and through the gallery pour,
Equipp'd for fight, her vassals -- Greek and Moor;
Silent but quick they stoop, his chains unbind;
Once more his limbs are free as mountain wind!
But on his heavy heart such sadness sate,
As if they there transferr'd that iron weight.
No words are utter'd -- at her sign, a door
Reveals the secret passage to the shore;
The city lies behind -- they speed, they reach
The glad waves dancing on the yellow beach;
And Conrad following, at her beck, obey'd,
Nor cared he now if rescued or betray'd;
Resistance was as useless as if Seyd
Yet lived to view the doom his ire decreed.
XIII.
Embark'd, the sail unfurl'd, the light breeze blew --
How much had Conrad's memory to review!
Sunk he in Contemplation, till the cape
Where last he anchor'd rear'd its giant shape.
Ah! -- since that fatal night, though brief the time
Had swept an age of terror, grief, and crime.
As its far shadow frown'd above the mast,
He veil'd his face, and sorrow'd as he pass'd;
He thought of all -- Gonsalvo and his band,
His fleeting triumph and his failing hand;
He thought on her afar, his lonely bride:
He turn'd and saw -- Gulnare, the homicide!
XIV.
She watch'd his features till she could not bear
Their freezing aspect and averted air,
And that strange fierceness foreign to her eye,
Fell quench'd in tears, too late to shed or dry.
She knelt beside him and his hand she press'd.
"Thou may'st forgive though Allah's self detest;
But for that deed of darkness what wert thou?
Reproach me -- but not yet -- O! spare me /now!/
I am not what I seem -- this fearful night
My brain bewilder'd -- do not madden quite!
If I had never loved -- though less my guilt,
Thou hadst not lived to -- hate me -- if thou wilt."
XV.
She wrongs his thoughts, they more himself upbraid
Than her, though undesign'd, the wretch he made;
But speechless all, deep, dark, and unexprest,
They bleed within that silent cell -- his breast.
Still onward, fair the breeze, nor rough the surge,
The blue waves sport around the stern they urge;
Far on the horizon's verge appears a speck,
A spot -- a mast -- a sail -- an armed deck!
Their little bark her men of watch descry,
And ampler canvas woos the wind from high;
She bears her down majestically near,
Speed on her prow, terror in her tier;
A flash is seen -- the ball beyond their bow
Booms harmless, hissing to the deep below.
Up rose keen Conrad from his silent trance,
A long, long absent gladness in his glance:
"'Tis mine -- my blood-red flag! again -- again --
I am not all deserted on the main!"
They own the signal, answer to the hail,
Hoist out the boat at once, and slacken sail.
"'Tis Conrad! Conrad!" shouting from the deck,
Command nor duty could their transport check!
With light alacrity and gaze of pride,
They view him mount once more his vessel's side;
A smile relaxing in each rugged face,
Their arms can scarce forbear a rough embrace.
He, half forgetting danger and defeat,
Returns their greeting as a chief may greet,
Wrings with a cordial grasp Anselmo's hand,
And feels he yet can conquer and command!
XVI.
These greetings o'er, the feelings that o'erflow,
Yet grieve to win him back without a blow;
They sail'd prepared for vengeance -- had they known
A woman's hand secured that deed her own,
She were their queen -- less scrupulous are they
Than haughty Conrad how they win their way.
With many an asking smile, and wondering stare,
They whisper round, and gaze upon Gulnare;
And her, at once above -- beneath her sex,
Whom blood appall'd not, their regards perplex.
To Conrad turns her faint imploring eye,
She drops her veil, and stands in silence by;
Her arms are meekly folded on that breast,
Which -- Conrad safe -- to fate resign'd the rest.
Though worse than frenzy could that bosom fill,
Extreme in love or hate, in good or ill,
The worst of crimes had left her woman still!
XVII.
This Conrad mark'd -- and felt -- ah! could he less? --
Hate of that deed -- but grief for her distress;
What she has done no tears can wash away,
And Heaven must punish on its angry day:
But -- it was done: he knew, whate'er her guilt,
For him that poniard smote, that blood was spilt;
And he was free! -- and she for him had given
Her all on earth, and more than all in heaven!
And now he turn'd him to that dark-eyed slave,
Whose brow was bow'd beneath the glance he gave,
Who now seem'd changed and humbled: -- faint and meek,
But varying oft the colour of her cheek
To deeper shades of paleness -- all its red
That fearful spot which stain'd it from the dead!
He took that hand -- it trembled -- now too late --
So soft in love -- so wildly nerved in hate;
He clasp'd that hand -- it trembled -- and his own
Had lost its firmness, and his voice its tone.
"Gulnare!" -- but she replied not -- "dear Gulnare!"
She raised her eye -- her only answer there --
At once she sought and sunk in his embrace:
If he had driven her from that resting place,
His had been more or less than mortal heart,
But -- good or ill -- it bade her not depart.
Perchance, but for the bodings of his breast,
His latest virtue then had join'd the rest.
Yet even Medora might forgive the kiss
That ask'd from form so fair no more than this,
The first, the last that Frailty stole from Faith --
To lips where Love had lavish'd all his breath,
To lips -- whose broken sighs such fragrance fling
As he had fann'd them freshly with his wing!
XVIII.
They gain by twilight's hour their lonely isle.
To them the very rocks appear to smile;
The haven hums with many a cheering sound,
The beacons blare their wonted stations round,
The boats are darting o'er the curly bay,
And sportive dolphins bend them through the spray;
Even the hoarse sea-bird's shrill, discordant shriek,
Greets like the welcome of his tuneless beak!
Beneath each lamp that through its lattice gleams,
Their fancy paints the friends that trim the beams.
Oh! what can sanctify the joys of home,
Like Hope's gay glance from Ocean's troubled foam!
XIX.
The lights are high on beacon and from bower,
And 'midst them Conrad seeks Medora's tower:
He looks in vain -- 'tis strange -- and all remark,
Amid so many, hers alone is dark.
'Tis strange -- of yore its welcome never fail'd
Nor now, perchance, extinguish'd, only veil'd.
With the first boat descends he to the shore,
And looks impatient on the lingering oar.
Oh for a wing beyond the falcon's flight,
To bear him like an arrow to that height!
With the first pause the resting rowers gave,
He waits not -- looks not -- leaps into the wave,
Strives through the surge, bestrides the beach, and high
Ascends the path familiar to his eye.
He reach'd his turret door -- he paused -- no sound
Broke from within; and all was night around.
He knock'd, and loudly -- footstep nor reply
Announced that any heard or deem'd him nigh;
He knock'd -- but faintly -- for his trembling hand
Refused to aid his heavy heart's demand.
The portal opens -- 'tis a well-known face --
But not the form he panted to embrace.
Its lips are silent -- twice his own essay'd,
And fail'd to frame the question they delay'd;
He snatch'd the lamp -- its light will answer all --
It quits his grasp, expiring in the fall.
He would not wait for that reviving ray --
As soon could he have linger'd there for day;
But, glimmering through the dusky corridore,
Another chequers o'er the shadow'd floor;
His steps the chamber gain -- his eyes behold
All that his heart believed not -- yet foretold!
XX.
He turn'd not -- spoke not -- sunk not -- fix'd his look,
And set the anxious frame that lately shook:
He gazed -- how long we gaze despite of pain,
And know but dare not own, we gaze in vain!
In life itself she was so still and fair,
That death with gentler aspect wither'd there;
And the cold flowers her colder hand contain'd, [18]
In that last grasp as tenderly were strain'd
As if she scarcely felt, but feign'd a sleep,
And made it almost mockery yet to weep:
The long dark lashes fringed her lids of snow,
And veil'd -- thought shrinks from all that lurk'd below.
Oh! o'er the eye death most exerts his might,
And hurls the spirit from her throne of light!
Sinks those blue orbs in that long last eclipse,
But spares, as yet, the charm around her lips --
Yet, yet they seem as they forbore to smile,
And wish'd repose -- but only for a while;
But the white shroud, and each extended tress,
Long -- fair -- but spread in utter lifelessness,
Which, late the sport of every summer wind,
Escaped the baffled wreath that strove to bind;
These -- and the pale pure cheek, became the bier --
But she is nothing -- wherefore is he here?
XXI.
He ask'd no question -- all were answer'd now
By the first glance on that still -- marble brow,
It was enough -- she died -- what reck'd it how?
The love of youth, the hope of better years,
The source of softest wishes, tenderest fears,
The only living thing he could not hate,
Was reft at once -- and he deserved his fate,
But did not feel it less; -- the good explore,
For peace, those realms where guilt can never soar!
The proud -- the wayward -- who have fix'd below
Their joy, and find this earth enough for woe,
Lose in that one their all -- perchance a mite --
But who in patience parts with all delight?
Full many a stoic eye and aspect stern
Mask hearts where grief hath little left to learn;
And many a withering thought lies hid, not lost,
In smiles that least befit who wear them most.
XXII.
By those, that deepest feel, is ill exprest
The indistinctness of the suffering breast;
Where thousand thoughts begin to end in one,
Which seeks from all the refuge found in none;
No words suffice the secret soul to show,
For Truth denies all eloquence to Woe.
On Conrad's stricken soul exhaustion prest,
And stupor almost lull'd it into rest;
So feeble now -- his mother's softness crept
To those wild eyes, which like an infant's wept:
It was the very weakness of his brain,
Which thus confess'd without relieving pain.
None saw his trickling tears -- perchance, if seen,
That useless flood of grief had never been:
Nor long they flow'd -- he dried them to depart
In helpless -- hopeless -- brokenness of heart:
The sun goes forth -- but Conrad's day is dim;
And the night cometh -- ne'er to pass from him.
There is no darkness like the cloud of mind,
On Grief's vain eye -- the blindest of the blind!
Which may not -- dare not see -- but turns aside
To blackest shade -- nor will endure a guide!
XXIII.
His heart was form'd for softness -- warp'd to wrong;
Betray'd too early, and beguiled too long;
Each feeling pure -- as falls the dropping dew
Within the grot; like that had harden'd too;
Less clear, perchance, its earthly trials pass'd,
But sunk, and chill'd, and petrified at last.
Yet tempests wear, and lightning cleaves the rock;
If such his heart, so shatter'd it the shock.
There grew one flower beneath its rugged brow,
Though dark the shade -- it shelter'd -- saved till now.
The thunder came -- that bolt hath blasted both,
The Granite's firmness and the Lily's growth:
The gentle plant hath left no leaf to tell
Its tale, but shrunk and wither'd where it fell;
And of its cold protector, blacken round
But shiver'd fragments on the barren ground!
XXIV.
'Tis morn -- to venture on his lonely hour
Few dare; though now Anselmo sought his tower.
He was not there -- nor seen along the shore;
Ere night, alarm'd, their isle is traversed o'er:
Another morn -- another bids them seek,
And shout his name till echo waxeth weak;
Mount -- grotto -- cavern -- valley search'd in vain,
They find on shore a seaboat's broken chain:
Their hope revives -- they follow o'er the main.
'Tis idle all -- moons roll on moons away,
And Conrad comes not -- came not since that day:
Nor trace, nor tidings of his doom declare
Where lives his grief, or perish'd his despair!
Long mourn'd his band whom none could mourn beside;
And fair the monument they gave his bride:
For him they raise not the recording stone --
His death yet dubious, deeds too widely known;
He left a Corsair's name to other times,
Link'd with one virtue, and a thousand crimes. (19)
____________________
Byron's Notes.
1. The time in this poem may seem too short for the occurrences, but the whole of the Ægean isles are within a few hours' sail of the continent, and the reader must be kind enough to take the /wind/ as I have often found it.
2. "Orlando Furioso," Canto 10.
3. By night, particularly in a warm latitude, every stroke of the oar, every motion of the boat or ship, is followed by a slight flash like sheet-lightning from the water.
4. Coffee.
5. Pipe.
6. Dancing girls.
7. It has been objected that Conrad's entering disguised as a spy is out of nature; -- perhaps so. I find something not unlike it in history.
"Anxious to explore with his own eyes the state of the Vandals, Majorian ventured, after disguising the colour of his hair, to visit Carthage in the character of his own ambassador; and Genseric was afterwards mortified by the discovery that he had entertained and dismissed the Emperor of the Romans. Such an anecdote may be rejected as an improbable fiction; but it is a fiction which would not have been imagined unless in the life of a hero." -- /Gibbon, Decline and Fall,/ vol. vi., p. 180.
That Conrad is a character not altogether out of nature, I shall attempt to prove by some historical coincidences which I have met with since writing "The Corsair."
"Eccelin prisonnier," dit Rolandini, "s'enfermoit dans an silence menaçant, il fixoit sur la terre son visage féroce, et ne donnoit point d'essor à sa profonde indignation. -- De toutes parts cependant les soldats et les peoples accouroient; ils vouloient voir cet homme, jadis si puissant, et la joie universelle éclatoit de toutes parts . . . . . Eccelin étoit d'une petite taille; mais tout l'aspect de sa personne, tous ses mouvemens, indiquoient un soldat. -- Son langage étoit amer, son déportement superbe -- et par son seul égard, il faisoit trembler les plus hardis." -- /Sismondi,/ tome iii., pp. 219, 220.
"Gizericus (Genseric, king of the Vandals, the conqueror of both Carthage and Rome,) staturâ mediocris, et equi casu claudicans, animo profundus, sermone rarus, luxuriæ contemptor, irâ turbidus, habendi cupidus, ad solicitandas gentes providentissimus," &c. &c. -- /Jornandes de Rebus Geticis,/ c. 33.
I beg leave to quote these gloomy realities to keep in countenance my Giaour and Corsair.
8. The dervises are in colleges and of different orders, as the monks.
9. Satan.
10. A common and not very novel effect of Mussulman anger. See "Prince Eugene's Memoirs," p. 24. "The Seraskier received a wound in the thigh; he plucked up his beard by the roots, because he was obliged to quit the field."
11. Gulnare, a female name. It means, literally, the flower of the pomegranate.
12. In Sir Thomas More, for instance, on the scaffold, and Anne Boolean in the Tower, when, grasping her neck, she remarked, that it "was too slender to trouble the headsman much." During one part of the French Revolution, it became a fashion to leave some "mot" as a legacy; and the quantity of facetious last words spoken during that period would form a melancholy jest-book of a considerable size.
13. Socrates drank the hemlock a short time before sunset, (the hour of execution,) notwithstanding the entreaties of his disciples to wait till the sun went down.
14. The twilight in Greece is much shorter than in our own country; the days in winter are longer, but in summer of shorter duration.
15. The kiosk is a Turkish summerhouse; the palm is without the present walls of Athens, not far from the temple of Theseus, between which and the tree the wall intervenes. Cephisus' stream is indeed scanty, and Ibises has no stream at all.
16. The opening lines, as far as section ii., have, perhaps, little business here, and were annexed to an unpublished (though printed) poem; but they were written on the spot in the spring of 1811, and -- I scarce know why -- the reader must excuse their appearance here if he can.
17. The Combolcio, or Mohammedan rosary. The beads are in number ninety.
18. In the Levant it is the custom to strew flowers on the bodies of the dead, and in the hands of young persons to place a nosegay.
19. That the point of honour which is represented in one instance of Conrad's character has not been carried beyond the bounds of probability, may perhaps be in some degree confirmed by the following anecdote of a brother buccaneer in the year 1814: --
"Our readers have all seen the account of the enterprise against the pirates of Barrataria; but few, we believe, were informed of the situation, history, or nature of that establishment. For the information of such as were unacquainted with it, we have procured from a friend the following interesting narrative of the main facts, of which he has personal knowledge, and which cannot fail to interest our readers: --
"Barrataria is a bay, or a narrow arm of the Gulf of Mexico; it runs through a rich but very flat country, until it reaches within a mile of the Mississippi river, fifteen miles below the city of New Orleans. The bay has branches almost innumerable, in which persons can lie concealed from the severest scrutiny. It communicates with three lakes which lie on the southwest side, and these with the lake of the same name, and which lies contiguous to the sea, where there is an island formed by the two arms of this lake and the sea. The east and west points of this island were fortified in the year 1811 by a band of pirates, under the command of one Monsieur La Fitte. A large majority of these outlaws are of that class of the population of the state of Louisiana who fled from the island of St Domingo during the troubles there, and took refuge in the island of Cuba; and when the last war between France and Spain commenced, they were compelled to leave that island with the short notice of a few days. Without ceremony, they entered the United States, the most of them the state of Louisiana, with all the negroes they had possessed in Cuba. They were notified by the governor of that state of the clause in the constitution which forbade the importation of slaves; but, at the same time, received the assurance of the governor that he would obtain, if possible, the approbation of the general government for their retaining this property.
"The island of Barrataria is situated about lat. 29 deg. 15 min., long. 92 deg. 30 min., and is as remarkable for its health as for the superior scale and shell fish with which its waters abound. The chief of this horde, like Charles de Moor, had mixed with his many vices some virtues. In the year 1813, this party had, from its turpitude and boldness, claimed the attention of the governor of Louisiana; and to break up the establishment, he thought proper to strike at the head. He therefore offered a reward of 500 dollars for the head of Monsieur La Fitte, who was well known to the inhabitants of the city of New Orleans, from his immediate connexion, and his once having been a fencing-master in the city, of great reputation, which art he learnt in Buonaparte's army, where he was a captain. The reward which was offered by the governor for the head of La Fitte was answered by the offer of a reward from the latter of 15,000 dollars for the head of the governor. The governor ordered out a company to march from the city to La Fitte's Island, and to burn and destroy all the property, and to bring to the city of New Orleans all his banditti. This company, under the command of a man who had been the intimate associate of this bold captain, approached very near to the fortified island before he saw a man, or heard a sound, until he heard a whistle, not unlike a boatswain's call. Then it was he found himself surrounded by armed men, who had emerged from the secret avenues which led into Bayou. Here it was that the modern Charles de Moor developed his few noble traits; for to this man, who had come to destroy his life and all that was dear to him, he not only spared his life, but offered him that which would have made the honest soldier easy for the remainder of his days, which was indignantly refused. He then, with the approbation of his captor, returned to the city. This circumstance, and some concomitant events, proved that this band of pirates was not to be taken by land. Our naval force having always been small in that quarter, exertions for the destruction of this illicit establishment could not be expected from them until augmented; for an officer of the navy, with most of the gun-boats on that station, had to retreat from an overwhelming force of La Fitte's. So soon as the augmentation of the navy authorised an attack, one was made; and, now this almost invulnerable point and key to New Orleans is clear of an enemy, it is to be hoped the government will hold it by a strong military force." -- /From an American Newspaper./
In Noble's continuation of "Granger's Biographical Dictionary," there is a singular passage in his account of Archbishop Blackbourne; and as in some measure connected with the profession of the hero of the foregoing poem, I cannot resist the temptation of extracting it: --
"There is something mysterious in the history and character of Dr Blackbourne. The former is but imperfectly known; and report has even asserted he was a buccaneer; and that one of his brethren in that profession having asked, on his arrival in England, what had become of his old chum Blackbourne, was answered, he is Archbishop of York. We are informed that Blackbourne was installed sub-dean of Exeter in 1694, which office he resigned in 1702; but after his successor Lewis Barnet's death, in 1704, he regained it. In the following year he became dean; and, in 1714, held with it the archdeanery of Cornwall. He was consecrated Bishop of Exeter, February 94, 1716; and translated to York, November 28, 1724, as a reward, according to court scandal, for uniting George I. to the Duchess of Munster. This, however, appears to have been an unfounded calumny. As archbishop he behaved with great prudence, and was equally respectable as the guardian of the revenues of the see. Rumour whispered he retained the vices of his youth, and that a passion for the fair sex formed an item in the list of his weaknesses; but so far from being convicted by seventy witnesses, he does not appear to have been directly criminated by one. In short, I look upon these aspersions as the effects of mere malice. How is it possible a buccaneer should have been so good a scholar as Blackbourne certainly was? He who had so perfect a knowledge of the classics, (particularly of the Greek tragedians,) as to be able to read them with the same ease an he could Shakespeare, must have taken great pains to acquire the learned languages, and have had both leisure and good masters. But he was undoubtedly educated at Christ Church College, Oxford. He is allowed to have been a pleasant man: this, however, was turned against him, by its being said, 'he gained more hearts than souls.'"
"The only voice that could soothe the passions of the savage (Alphonse III.) was that of an amiable and virtuous wife, the sole object of his love; the voice of Donna Isabella, the daughter of the Duke of Savoy, and the grand-daughter of Philip II., King of Spain. Her dying words sunk deep into his memory; his fierce spirit melted into tears; and after the last embrace, Alphonse retired into his chamber to bewail his irreparable loss, and to meditate on the vanity of human life." -- /Miscellaneous Works of Gibbon,/ New Edit., 8vo, vol iii., p. 473.
