LXXV. She cannot step as does an Arab barb, Nor in her eye Ausonia's glance is burning; LXXVI. She cannot do these things, nor one or two Nor settles all things in one interview, (A thing approv'd, as saving time and toil:)— But though the soil may give you time and trouble, Well cultivated, it will render double. LXXVII. And if, in fact, she takes to a "grande passion," Nine times in ten 'tis but caprice, or fashion, The pride of a mere child with a new sash on, For there's no saying what they will or may do. LXXVIII. The reason's obvious: if there's an éclat, They lose their caste, at once, as do the Parias; And, when the delicacies of the law Have fill'd their papers with their comments various, Society, that china without flaw, (The hypocrite!) will banish them, like Marius, To sit amidst the ruins of their guilt: For Fame's a Carthage not so soon rebuilt. LXXIX. Perhaps this is as it should be:-it is A comment on the Gospel's "Sin no more, I leave the saints to settle their own score. 75 76 77 78 79 80 LXXX. For me, I leave the matter where I find it ; By all the laws the strictest lawyer pleads; But aggravate the crime you have not prevented, By rendering desperate those who had else repented. LXXXI. But Juan was no casuist, nor had ponder'd A littleblase"-'tis not to be wonder'd At, that his heart had got a tougher rind: And, though not vainer from his past success, No doubt his sensibilities were less. LXXXII. He also had been busy, seeing sights The Parliament and all the other houses; Had sat beneath the gallery, at nights, To hear debates whose thunder rous'd (not rouses) The world to gaze upon those northern lights, Which flash'd as far as where the musk-bull browses; He had also stood, at times, behind the throne- LXXXIII. He saw, however, at the closing session, That noble sight, when really free the nation, Of such a throne as is the proudest station, LXXXIV. There, too, he saw (whate'er he may be now) And full of promise, as the spring of prime. Though royalty was written on his brow, He had then the grace, too, rare in every clime, 81 82 88 84 LXXXV. And Juan was receiv'd, as hath been said, However disciplin'd and debonnaire :- Besides the mark'd distinction of his air, Expos'd him, as was natural, to temptation, Even though himself avoided the occasion. LXXXVI. 85 But what, and where, with whom, and when, and why, 86 Is not to be put hastily together; And, as my object is morality, (Whatever people say), I don't know whether I'll leave a single reader's eyelid dry, But harrow up his feelings, till they wither; LXXXVII. Here the twelfth canto of our introduction From what some people say 'twill be, when done: That's your affair, not mine: a real spirit LXXXVIII. And, if my thunderbolt not always rattles, Besides the most sublime of-Heaven knows what else: Will turn upon "political economy." LXXXIX, That is your present theme for popularity: It grows an act of patriotic charity, To show the people the best way to break. My plan (but I, if but for singularity, Reserve it) will be very sure to take. Meantime, read all the national-debt sinkers, 87 88 89 Don Juan. CANTO THE THIRTEENTH. I. I NOW mean to be serious-it is time; Since laughter now-a-days is deem'd too serious. A jest at Vice, by Virtue's call'd a crime, Besides, the sad's a source of the sublime; II. The Lady Adeline Amundeville ('Tis an old Norman name, and to be found In pedigrees, by those who wander still Along the last fields of that Gothic ground) Was high-born, wealthy by her father's will," And beauteous, even where beauties most abound, III. I'll not gainsay them: it is not my cue: I'll leave them to their taste, no doubt the best : An eye's an eye, and whether black or blue "Tis nonsense to dispute about a hue- The fair sex should be always fair; and no man, IV. And, after that serene and somewhat dull Epoch, that awkward corner turn'd, for days More quiet, when our moon's no more at full, We may presume to criticise or praise; Because indifference begins to lull Our passions, and we walk in wisdom's ways; Also because the figure and the face Hint that 'tis time to give the younger place. 1 2 3 V. I know that some would fain postpone this era, And county meetings, and the parliament, VI. 5 And is there not religion, and reform, в Peace, war, the taxes, and what's call'd the "Nation ?" The struggle to be pilots in a storm? The landed and the monied speculation P The joys of mutual hate to keep them warm, VII. Rough Johnson, the great moralist, profess'd, Within these latest thousand years or later. VIII. But neither love nor hate in much excess; Though 'twas not once so. If I sneer sometimes, It is because I cannot well do less, And now and then it also suits my rhymes. I should be very willing to redress Men's wrongs, and rather check than punish crimes, Had not Cervantes, in that too true tale Of Quixote, shown how all such efforts fail. IX. Of all tales 'tis the saddest-and more sad, |