A crimson cloud it spreads and glows, Never yet was seen such lightning By the sainted Seer of old, II. The Chief has fallen, but not by you, With that youthful chief competed? Till lone Tyranny commanded? III. And thou, too, of the snow-white plume! Whose realm refused thee ev'n a tomb; Better hadst thou still been leading France o'er hosts of hirelings bleeding, 1 See Rev. Chap. viii. V. 7, etc., "The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood," etc. V. 8, "And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood," etc. V. 10, "And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters." V. "And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter." Murat's remains are said to have been torn from the grave and burnt. ["Poor dear Murat, what an end... His white plume used to be a rallying point in battle, like Henry the Fourth's. He refused a confessor and a bandage; so would neither suffer his soul or body to be bandaged." - Letter to Moore, November 4, 1815.] Than sold thyself to death and shame On thy war-horse through the ranks, Like a stream which burst its banks, While helmets cleft, and sabres clashing, Shone and shivered fast around thee Once as the Moon sways o'er the tide, It rolled in air, the warrior's guide -- And the battle's wreck lay thickest, Fell, or fled along the plain; Freedom, such as God hath given With their breath, and from their birth, Though guilt would sweep it from the earth; With a fierce and lavish hand V. But the heart and the mind, And who shall resist that proud union? [First published, Morning Chronicle, Before thee rose, and with thee grew, The tricolour. [The Siege of Corinth was written in the early spring of 1816 and was published (together with Parisina, which had been written in 1815) February 7, 1816.] 2 Napoli di Romania is not now the most considerable place in the Morea, but Tripolitza, where the Pacha resides, and maintains his government. Napoli is near Argos. I visited all three in 1810-11; and, in the course of journeying through the country from my first arrival in 1809, I crossed the Isthmus eight times in my way from Attica to the Morea, over the mountains; or in the other direction, when passing from the Gulf of Athens to that of Lepanto. Both the routes are picturesque and beautiful, though very different: that by sea has more sameness; but the voyage, being always within sight of land, and often very near it, presents many attractive views of the islands Salamis, Ægina, Poros, etc., and the coast of the Continent. ["Independently of the suitableness of such an event to the power of Lord Byron's genius, the Fall of Corinth afforded local attractions, by the intimate knowledge which the poet had of the place and surrounding objects. . . . Thus furnished with that topographical information which could not be well obtained from books and maps, he was admirably qualified to depict the various operations and progress of the siege Memoir of the Life and Writings of the Right Honourable Lord Byron, London, 1822, p. 222.] hold out such a place against so mighty a force, thought it fit to beat a parley: but while they were treating about the articles, one of the magazines in the Turkish camp, wherein they had six hundred barrels of powder, blew up by accident, whereby six or seven hundred men were killed; which so enraged the infidels, that they would not grant any capitulation, but stormed the place with so much fury, that they took it, and put most of the garrison, with Signior Minotti, the governor, to the sword. The rest, with Signior or Antonio Bembo, Proveditor Extraordinary, were made prisoners of war." - A Compleat History of the Turks [London, 1719], iii. 151. Toil and travel, but no sorrow. Nor find a motlier crew nor blither. But some are dead, and some are gone, And pays in blood Oppression's ills; 30 But never more, oh! never, we And bear my spirit back again 'Tis this that ever wakes my strain, 40 Stranger, wilt thou follow now, 60 As if their waters chafed to meet, Than yon tower-capped Acropolis, II. On dun Citharon's ridge appears Along the Moslem's leaguering lines; And there the Arab's camel kneels, Till waves grow smoother to the roar. Which crumbles with the ponderous ball; And from that wall the foe replies, 90 [Timoleon, who had saved the life of his brother Timophanes in battle, afterwards put him to death for aiming at the supreme power in Corinth.] [Turkish holders of military fiefs.] The life of the Turcomans is wandering and patriarchal: they dwell in tents. III. 100 But near and nearest to the wall |