XVI. When Athens' armies fell at Syracuse, And fetter'd thousands bore the yoke of war, Of the o'ermaster'd victor stops, the reins Fall from his hands his idle scimitar Starts from its belt-he rends his captive's chains, And bids him thank the bard for freedom and his strains. XVII. 95 Thus, Venice, if no stronger claim were thine, 100 Were all thy proud heroic deeds forgot, Thy choral memory of the Bard divine, Thy love of Tasso, should have cut the knot Of Venice think of thine, despite thy watery wall. XVIII. 105 I loved her from my boyhood—she to me And Otway, Radcliffe, Schiller, Shakespeare's art, 115 Than when she was a boast, a marvel, and a show. [CASCATA DEL MARMORE.] CHILDE HAROLD, CANTO IV. THE roar of waters! LXIX from the headlong height Velino cleaves the wave-worn precipice; LXX. And mounts in spray the skies, and thence again Is an eternal April to the ground, Making it all one emerald: - how profound The gulf! and how the giant element From rock to rock leaps with delirious bound, Crushing the cliffs, which, downward worn and rent, With his fierce footsteps, yield in chasms a fearful vent LXXI. 5 IO 15 To the broad column which rolls on, and shows 20 Torn from the womb of mountains by the throes With many windings through the vale: Look back! As if to sweep down all things in its track, 25 Charming the eye with dread, - a matchless cataract, LXXII. Horribly beautiful! but on the verge, From side to side, beneath the glittering morn, 3c Like Hope upon a death-bed, and, unworn Its steady dyes, when all around is torn By the distracted waters, bears serene Its brilliant hues with all their beams unshorn: Resembling, 'mid the torture of the scene, 35 Love watching Madness with unalterable mien. [THE COLISEUM.] CHILDE HAROLD, CANTO IV. CXL. I SEE before me the Gladiator lie: He leans upon his hand-his manly brow Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hail'd the wretch 5 who won. CXLI. He heard it, but he heeded not- - his eyes ΙΟ 15 All this rush'd with his blood-Shall he expire, CXLII. But here, where murder breathed her bloody steam; Here where the Roman million's blame or praise My voice sounds much—and fall the stars' faint rays - And galleries, where my steps seem echoes strangely loud. 20 25 CXLIII. A ruin-yet what ruin! from its mass Walls, palaces, half-cities, have been rear'd; Yet oft the enormous skeleton ye pass, And marvel where the spoil could have appear'd. When the colossal fabric's form is near'd; It will not bear the brightness of the day, Which streams too much on all years, man, have reft away. 330 35 CXLIV. But when the rising moon begins to climb Its topmost arch, and gently pauses there; When the stars twinkle through the loops of time, And the low night-breeze waves along the air The garland-forest, which the gray walls wear, Like laurels on the bald first Cæsar's head; When the light shines serene but doth not glare, Heroes have trod this spot-'tis on their dust ye tread. 40 45 CXLV. "While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand; When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; 50 And when Rome falls- the World." From our own land Thus spake the pilgrims o'er this mighty wall In Saxon times, which we are wont to call Ancient; and these three mortal things are still On their foundations, and unalter'd all; Rome and her Ruin past Redemption's skill, The World, the same wide den - of thieves, or what ye will. [THE COLISEUM BY MOONLIGHT.] MANFRED, ACT III., SCENE 4. THE stars are forth, the moon above the tops - Beautiful! I linger yet with Nature, for the night I learn'd the language of another world. When I was wandering―upon such a night Some cypresses beyond the time-worn breach 5 ΙΟ 15 20 |