Spark of that flame, perchance of heavenly birth, Which gleams, but warms no more its cherish'd earth!

105

110

Clime of the unforgotten brave!
Whose land from plain to mountain-cave
Was Freedom's home or Glory's grave!
Shrine of the mighty! can it be,
That this is all remains of thee?
Approach thou craven crouching slave:

Say, is not this Thermopylæ ?
These waters blue that round you lave,

Oh servile offspring of the free-
Pronounce what sea, what shore is this?
The gulf, the rock of Salamis !
These scenes, their story not unknown,
Arise, and make again your own;
Snatch from the ashes of your sires
The embers of their former fires;
And he who in the strife expires
Will add to theirs a name of fear
That Tyranny shall quake to hear,
And leave his sons a hope, a fame,
They too will rather die than shame:
For Freedom's battle once begun,
Bequeath'd by bleeding Sire to Son,
Though baffled oft is ever won.
Bear witness, Greece, thy living page,
Attest it many a deathless age!

115

120

125 130

While kings, in dusty darkness hid,
Have left a nameless pyramid,
Thy heroes, though the general doom
Hath swept the column from their tomb,
A mightier monument command,
The mountains of their native land !
There points thy Muse to stranger's eye
The
graves

of those that cannot die!
"Twere long to tell, and sad to trace,
Each step from splendour to disgrace;
Enough-no foreign foe could quell
Thy soul till from itself it fell;
Yes! Self-abasement paved the way
To villain-bonds and despot-sway.

135

140

145

What can he tell who treads thy shore?

No legend of thine olden time,
No theme on which the muse might soar,
High as thine own in days of yore,

When man was worthy of thy clime.
The hearts within thy valleys bred,
The fiery souls that might have led

Thy sons to deeds sublime,
Now crawl from cradle to the grave,
Slaves-nay, the bondsmen of a slave, (6)

And callous, save to crime;
Stain'd with each evil that pollutes
Mankind, where least above the brutes;

150 155

160

Without even savage virtue blest,
Without one free or valiant breast.
Still to the neighbouring ports they waft
Proverbial wiles, and ancient craft;
In this the subtle Greek is found,
For this, and this alone, renown'd.
In vain might Liberty invoke
The spirit to its bondage broke,
Or raise the neck that courts the yoke:
No more her sorrows I bewail,
Yet this will be a mournful tale,
And they who listen may believe,
Who heard it first had cause to grieve.

165

170

Far, dark, along the blue sea glancing,
The shadows of the rocks advancing,
Start on the fisher's eye like boat
Of island-pirate or Mainote;
And fearful for his light caique,
He shuns the near but doubtful creek :
Though worn and weary with his toil,
And cumber'd with his scaly spoil,
Slowly, yet strongly, plies the oar,
Till Port Leone's safer shore
Receives him by the lovely light
That best becomes an Eastern night.

175

Who thundering comes on blackest steed, 180 With slacken'd bit and hoof of speed ? Beneath the clattering iron's sound The cavern'd echoes wake around In lash for lash, and bound for bound; The foam that streaks the courser's side 185 Seems gather'd from the ocean-tide: Though weary waves are sunk to rest, There's none within his rider's breast: And though to-morrow's tempest lower, "Tis calmer than thy heart, young Giaour!(7) 190 I know thee not, I loathe thy race, But in thy lineaments I trace What time shall strengthen, not efface : Though young and pale, that sallow front Is scathed by fiery passion's brunt;

195 Though bent on earth thine evil eye, As meteor like thou glidest by, Right well I view and deem thee one Whom Othman's sons should slay or shun.

200

On-on he hasten'd, and he drew
My gaze of wonder as he flew :
Though like a demon of the night
He pass'd and vanish'd from my sight,
His aspect and his air impress'd
A troubled memory on my breast,
And long upon my startled ear
Rung his dark courser's hoofs of fear,

205

He

spurs his steed; he nears the steep, That, jutting, shadows o'er the deep; He winds around; he hurries by;

210 The rock relieves him from mine eye; For well I ween unwelcome he Whose glance is fix'd on those that flee; And not a star but shines too bright On him who takes such timeless flight.

215 He wound along; but ere he pass’d One glance he snatch'd, as if his last, A moment check'd his wheeling steed, A moment breathed him from his speed, A moment on his stirrup stood

220 Why looks he o'er the olive wood ? The crescent glimmers on the hill, The Mosque's high lamps are quivering still : Though too remote for sound to wake In echoes of the far tophaike, (8)

225 The flashes of each joyous peal Are seen to prove the Moslem's zeal. To-night, set Rhamazani's sun; To-night, the Bairam feast's begun; To-night-but who and what art thou Of foreign garb and fearful brow? And what are these to thine or thee, That thou should'st either pause or flee? He stood-some dread was on his face, Soon Hatred settled in its place:

235 It rose not with the reddening flush Of transient Anger's darkening blush,

230