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ON THIS DAY I COMPLETE MY THIRTY-SIXTH YEAR.[133]
1.
'T IS time this heart should be unmoved, Since others it hath ceased to move: Yet, though I cannot be beloved, Still let me love!
2.
My days are in the yellow leaf; The flowers and fruits of Love are gone; The worm, the canker, and the grief Are mine alone!
3.
The fire that on my bosom preys Is lone[iii] as some Volcanic isle; No torch is kindled at its blaze-- A funeral pile.
4.
The hope, the fear, the jealous care, The exalted portion of the pain And power of love, I cannot share, But wear the chain.
5.
But 't is not _thus_--and 't is not _here_--[iv]
Such thoughts should shake my soul, nor now Where Glory decks the hero's bier,[v]
Or binds his brow.
6.
The Sword, the Banner, and the Field,[vi]
Glory and Greece, around me see!
The Spartan, borne upon his s.h.i.+eld,[134]
Was not more free.
7.
Awake! (not Greece--she _is_ awake!) Awake, my spirit! Think through _whom_ Thy life-blood tracks its parent lake,[vii]
And then strike home!
8.
Tread those reviving pa.s.sions down,[viii]
Unworthy manhood!--unto thee Indifferent should the smile or frown Of Beauty be.
9.
If thou regret'st thy youth, _why live_?
The land of honourable death Is here:--up to the Field, and give Away thy breath!
10.
Seek out--less often sought than found-- A soldier's grave, for thee the best; Then look around, and choose thy ground, And take thy Rest.
Missolonghi, _Jan_. 22, 1824.
[First published, _Morning Chronicle_, October 29, 1824.]
FOOTNOTES:
[133] ["This morning Lord Byron came from his bedroom into the apartment where Colonel Stanhope and some friends were a.s.sembled, and said with a smile--'You were complaining, the other day, that I never write any poetry now:--this is my birthday, and I have just finished something, which, I think, is better than what I usually write.' He then produced these n.o.ble and affecting verses, which were afterwards found written in his journals, with only the following introduction: 'Jan. 22; on this day I complete my 36^th^ year.'"--_A Narrative of Lord Byron's Last Journey to Greece_, 1825, p. 125, by Count Gamba. In the _Morning Chronicle_, October 29, 1824, the lines are headed, "Lord Byron's Latest Verses," and are prefaced by the following note: "We have been indebted to a friend for the following immortal verses, the last he ever composed. Four of the lines have already appeared in an article in the _Westminster Review_" ("Lord Byron in Greece," July, 1824, vol. ii. p.
227).]
[iii] _Is like to_----.--[M.C.]
[iv] ----_it is not here_.--[M.C.]
[v] ----_seals the hero's bier_.--[M.C.]
[vi] _The steed--the Banner--and the Field.--_[MS. B.M.]
[134] I. [The slain were borne on their s.h.i.+elds. Witness the Spartan mother's speech to her son, delivered with his buckler: "either _with_ this _or on_ this" (B.M. Addit. MS. 31,038).]
[vii] _My life-blood tastes_----.--[M.C.]
[viii] _I tread reviving_----.--[M.C.]
A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SUCCESSIVE EDITIONS AND TRANSLATIONS OF LORD BYRON'S _POETICAL WORKS_.
COLLECTED EDITIONS.
I.
The/ Poetical Works/ of/ Lord Byron./ In Two Volumes./ Vol. I./ [Vol. II.] From the last London Edition./ Philadelphia:/ Published by Moses Thomas,/ No. 52, Chesnut Street./ William Fry, Printer./ 1813./ [16.
[A bound copy: smooth blue calf, lettered "LORD BYRON."]
_Collation_--
Vol. I.--t.i.tle, one leaf; Cont.; Half-t.i.tle; Dedication; and Text, pp.
_1_-203.
Vol. II--t.i.tle, one leaf; Cont.; Half-t.i.tle; Preface, etc, pp. i.-xii.; Text, pp. _1_-261.
_Contents_--
Vol. I.:--Poems, Original and Translated p. 1 English Bards, etc. p. 137 Vol. II.:--Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto I. p. 13 (xciii. stanzas) Canto II. (lx.x.xviii. stanzas) p. 9 Notes p. 99 Poems (xx.) p. 156 The Giaour (1215 lines) p. 205 Note p. 261
