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iv.

.

And Hope but shed a dying spark

Which more misled my lonely way;
In that deep midnight of the mind,

And that internal strife of heart,
When dreading to be deemed too kind,

The weak despair-the cold depart;
When Fortune changed-and Love fled far,

And Hatred's shafts flew thick and fast,
Thou wert the solitary star

Which rose and set not to the last."
Oh! blest be thine unbroken light !

That watched me as a Seraph's eye,
And stood between me and the night,

For ever shining sweetly nigh.
And when the cloud upon us came,'

Which strove to blacken o'er thy ray-
Then purer spread its gentle flame,"i.

And dashed the darkness all away.
Still may thy Spirit dwell on mine, vii.

And teach it what to brave or brook -
i. When Friendship shook -:-(.US. M.]
ii. Thine was the solitary star.-[MS. M.]
wi. Which rose above me to the last.-[MS. M.]
iv. And when the cloud between us came.-(MS. M.]

And when the cloud upon me came.-{Copy C. H.]
v. Which would have close i on that last ray.-IMS, M.]
vi. Then stiller stood the gentle Flame.-{MS. M.)

vii, Still may thy Spirit sit on mine. - [MS. M) parting tribute to her whose tenderness had been his sole consolation in the crisis of domestic misery-were, we believe, the last verses written by Lord Byron in England. In a note to Mr. Rogers, dated April 16 (1816), he says, My sister is now with me, and leaves town to-morrow; we shall not meet again for some time at all events—if ever! and under these circumstances I trust to stand excused to you and Mr. Sheridan, for being unable to wait upon him this evening."—Note to Edition of 1832, X. 193.

A fair copy, broken up into stanzas, is endorsed by Murray, “Given to me (and I believe composed by L! B.), Friday, April 12, 1816.")

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