DON JUAN.

CANTO X.

DON JUAN.

CANTO X.

I.

WHEN Newton saw an apple fall, he found

In that slight startle from his contemplation

'Tis said (for I'll not answer above ground

For any sage's creed or calculation)——

A mode of proving that the earth turned round

In a most natural whirl called "Gravitation;" And this is the sole mortal who could grapple, Since Adam, with a fall, or with an apple.

II.

Man fell with apples, and with apples rose,

If this be true; for we must deem the mode

In which Sir Isaac Newton could disclose

Through the then unpaved stars the turnpike road,

A thing to counterbalance human woes;
For ever since immortal man hath glowed

With all kinds of mechanics, and full soon

Steam-engines will conduct him to the Moon.

III.

And wherefore this exordium ?-Why, just now,

In taking up this paltry sheet of paper,

My bosom underwent a glorious glow,

And my internal Spirit cut a caper:

And though so much inferior, as I know,

To those who, by the dint of glass and vapour,

Discover stars, and sail in the wind's eye,

I wish to do as much by Poesy.

IV.

In the Wind's Eye I have sailed, and sail; but for

The stars, I own my telescope is dim;

But at the least I have shunned the common shore,

And leaving land far out of sight, would skim The Ocean of Eternity: the roar

Of breakers has not daunted my slight, trim,

But still sea-worthy skiff; and she may float

Where ships have foundered, as doth many a boat.

V.

We left our hero, Juan, in the bloom

Of favouritism, but not yet in the blush ;

And far be it from my Muses to presume
(For I have more than one Muse at a push)
To follow him beyond the drawing-room:
It is enough that Fortune found him flush
Of youth, and vigour, beauty, and those things
Which for an instant clip Enjoyment's wings.