The Works of Lord Byron Volume III Part 34

Peace to thy broken heart--and virgin grave!

Ah! happy! but of life to lose the worst!

That grief--though deep--though fatal--was thy first!

Thrice happy! ne'er to feel nor fear the force Of absence--shame--pride--hate--revenge--remorse!

And, oh! that pang where more than Madness lies The Worm that will not sleep--and never dies; Thought of the gloomy day and ghastly night, That dreads the darkness, and yet loathes the light, 1130 That winds around, and tears the quivering heart!

Ah! wherefore not consume it--and depart!

Woe to thee, rash and unrelenting Chief!

Vainly thou heap'st the dust upon thy head, Vainly the sackcloth o'er thy limbs dost spread:[188]

By that same hand Abdallah--Selim bled.

Now let it tear thy beard in idle grief: Thy pride of heart, thy bride for Osman's bed, She, whom thy Sultan had but seen to wed,[hf]

Thy Daughter's dead! 1140 Hope of thine age, thy twilight's lonely beam, The Star hath set that shone on h.e.l.le's stream.

What quenched its ray?--the blood that thou hast shed!

Hark! to the hurried question of Despair:[189]

"Where is my child?"--an Echo answers--"Where?"[190]

XXVIII.

Within the place of thousand tombs That s.h.i.+ne beneath, while dark above The sad but living cypress glooms[hg]

And withers not, though branch and leaf Are stamped with an eternal grief, 1150 Like early unrequited Love, One spot exists, which ever blooms, Ev'n in that deadly grove-- A single rose is shedding there Its lonely l.u.s.tre, meek and pale: It looks as planted by Despair-- So white--so faint--the slightest gale Might whirl the leaves on high; And yet, though storms and blight a.s.sail, And hands more rude than wintry sky 1160 May wring it from the stem--in vain-- To-morrow sees it bloom again!

The stalk some Spirit gently rears, And waters with celestial tears; For well may maids of h.e.l.le deem That this can be no earthly flower, Which mocks the tempest's withering hour, And buds unsheltered by a bower; Nor droops, though Spring refuse her shower, Nor woos the Summer beam: 1170 To it the livelong night there sings A Bird unseen--but not remote: Invisible his airy wings, But soft as harp that Houri strings His long entrancing note!

It were the Bulbul; but his throat, Though mournful, pours not such a strain: For they who listen cannot leave The spot, but linger there and grieve, As if they loved in vain! 1180 And yet so sweet the tears they shed, 'Tis sorrow so unmixed with dread, They scarce can bear the morn to break That melancholy spell, And longer yet would weep and wake, He sings so wild and well!

But when the day-blush bursts from high[hh]

Expires that magic melody.

And some have been who could believe,[hi]

(So fondly youthful dreams deceive, 1190 Yet harsh be they that blame,) That note so piercing and profound Will shape and syllable[191] its sound Into Zuleika's name.

'Tis from her cypress summit heard, That melts in air the liquid word: 'Tis from her lowly virgin earth That white rose takes its tender birth.

There late was laid a marble stone; Eve saw it placed--the Morrow gone! 1200 It was no mortal arm that bore That deep fixed pillar to the sh.o.r.e; For there, as h.e.l.le's legends tell, Next morn 'twas found where Selim fell; Lashed by the tumbling tide, whose wave Denied his bones a holier grave: And there by night, reclined, 'tis said.

Is seen a ghastly turbaned head:[192]

And hence extended by the billow, 'Tis named the "Pirate-phantom's pillow!" 1210 Where first it lay that mourning flower Hath flourished; flourisheth this hour, Alone and dewy--coldly pure and pale; As weeping Beauty's cheek at Sorrow's tale![hj][193]

NOTE TO _THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS_.

CANTO II. STANZA XX.

After the completion of the fair copy of the MS. of the _Bride of Abydos_, seventy lines were added to stanza xx. of Canto II. In both MSS. the rough and fair copies, the stanza ends with the line, "The Dove of peace and promise to mine ark!"

Seven MS. sheets are extant, which make up the greater portion of these additional lines.

The _First Addition_ amounts to eight lines, and takes the narrative from line 880 to line 893, "Wait--wave--defend--destroy--at thy command!"

Lines 884-889 do not appear in the first MS. Fragment, but are given in three variants on separate sheets. Two of these are dated December 2 and December 3, 1813.

The _Second Fragment_ begins with line 890, "For thee in those bright isles is built a bower," and, numbering twenty-two lines, ends with a variant of line 907, "Blend every thought, do all--but disunite!" Two lines of this addition, "With thee all toils are sweet," find a place in the text as lines 934, 935.

The _Third Fragment_ amounts to thirty-six lines, and may be taken as the first draft of the whole additions--lines 880-949.

Lines 908-925 and 936-945 of the text are still later additions, but a fourth MS. fragment supplies lines 920-925 and lines 936-945. (A fair copy of this fragment gives text for Revise of November 13.) Between November 13 and November 25 no less than ten revises of the _Bride_ were submitted to Lord Byron. In the earliest of these, dated November 13, the thirty-six lines of the Third Fragment have been expanded into forty lines--four lines of the MS. being omitted, and twelve lines, 908-919, "Once free,"--"social home," being inserted. The text pa.s.sed through five revises and remained unaltered till November 21, when eighteen lines were added to the forty, viz.: (4) "Mark! where his carnage,"--"sabre's length;" (6) "There ev'n thy soul,"--"Zuleika's name;" and (8) "Aye--let the loud winds,"--"bars escape." Of these the two latter additions belong to the _Fourth Fragment_. The text in this state pa.s.sed through three more revises, but before the first edition was issued two more lines were added--lines 938, 939,

"The deepest murmur of this lip shall be, No sigh for safety, but a prayer for thee!"

Even then the six lines, "Blest--as the Muezzin's,"--"endears," are wanting in the text; but the four lines, "Soft--as the melody,"--"endears," are inserted in MS. in the margin. The text as it stands first appears in the Seventh Edition.

[_First_ Draft of 880, _sq_., of Canto II. Stanz xx.

of the _Bride of Abydos_.]

For thee in those bright isles is built a bower Aden, in its earliest hour Blooming as {-Eden--guarded like a tower-} A thousand swords--thy Selim's soul and hand Wait on thy voice, and bow to thy command pair No Danger daunts--the {-souls-} that Love hath blest steps still roving With {-feet long-wandering-}--but with hearts at rest.

{-For thee my blade shall s.h.i.+ne--my hand shall toil-} With thee all toils were sweet--each clime hath charms {line 934} Earth--sea--alike--one World within our arms {line 935} Girt by my hand--Zuleika at my side-- The Spoil of nations shall bedeck my bride slumbring The Haram's sluggish life of listless ease Is well exchanged for cares and joys like these {-Mine be the lot to know where'er I rove-} {-A thousand perils wait where-er I rove,-} Not blind to fate I view where-er I rove A thousand perils--but one only love-- Yet well my labor shall fond breast repay When Fortune frowns or falser friends betray How dear the thought in darkest hours of ill Should all be changed to find thee faithful still Be but thy soul like Selim's firmly shown {-mine in firmness-} {-Firm as my own I deem thy tender heart-} To thee be Selim's tender as thine own Exchange, or mingle every thought with his And all our future days unite in this.

Man I may lead--but trust not--I may fall By those now friends to me--yet foes to all-- In this they follow but the bent a.s.signed fatal Nature By {-savage Nature-} to our warning kind _But there--oh, far be every thought of fear_ Life is but peril at the best--and here No more remains to win and much to fear Yes fear--the doubt the dread of losing thee-- That dread must vanish.

FOOTNOTES:

[ey]

To the Right Hon^ble^ Henry Richard Va.s.sal Lord Holland This Tale Is inscribed with Every sentiment of the Most affectionate respect by his gratefully obliged serv^t.

And sincere Friend Byron.

[_Proof and Revise._--See _Letters to Murray_, November 13, 17, 1813.]

[124] {157} ["Murray tells me that Croker asked him why the thing was called the _Bride_ of Abydos? It is a cursed awkward question, being unanswerable. _She_ is not a _bride_, only about to become one. I don't wonder at his finding out the _Bull_; but the detection ... is too late to do any good. I was a great fool to make it, and am ashamed of not being an Irishman."--_Journal_, December 6, 1813; _Letters_, 1898, ii.

365.

Byron need not have been dismayed. "The term is particularly applied on the day of marriage and during the 'honeymoon,' but is frequently used from the proclamation of the banns.... In the debate on Prince Leopold's allowance, Mr. Gladstone, being criticized for speaking of the Princess Helena as the 'bride,' said he believed that colloquially a lady when engaged was often called a 'bride.' This was met with 'Hear! Hear!' from some, and 'No! No!' from others."--_N. Engl. Dict_., art. "Bride."]

[125] [The opening lines were probably suggested by Goethe's--

"Kennst du das Land wo die citronen bluhn?"]

[126] "Gul," the rose.

[127] {158} ["'Where the Citron,' etc. These lines are in the MS., and _omitted_ by the _Printer_, whom I _again_ request to look over it, and see that no others are _omitted_.--B." (Revise No. 1, November 13, 1813.)

"I ought and do apologise to Mr.---- the Printer for charging him with an omission of the lines which I find was my own--but I also wish _he_ would not print such a stupid word as _finest_ for fairest." (Revise, November 15, 1813.)

The lines, "Where the Citron," etc., are absent from a fair copy dated November 11, but are inserted as an addition in an earlier draft.]

[128]

"Souls made of fire, and children of the Sun, With whom revenge is virtue."

Young's _Revenge_, act v. sc. 2 (_British Theatre_, 1792, p. 84).

[ez] _For wild as the moment of lovers' farewell_.--[MS.]