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CHILDE HAROLD'S SONG.

"Adieu, adieu! my native shore
Fades o'er the waters blue;
The night-winds sigh, the breakers roar,
And shrieks the wild sea-mew.
Yon sun that sets upon the sea
We follow in his flight;
Farewell awhile to him and thee,
My native land-Good Night!

"A few short hours and he will rise
To give the morrow birth;
And I shall hail the main and skies,
But not my mother earth.
Deserted is my own good hall,

Its hearth is desolate,

Wild weeds are gathering on the wall, My dog howls at the gate.

"Come hither, hither, my little page!
Why dost thou weep and wail?
Or dost thou dread the billows' rage,
Or tremble at the gale?

But dash the tear-drop from thine eye;

Our ship is swift and strong: Our fleetest falcon scarce can fly

More merrily along."

"Let winds be shrill, let waves roll high,

I fear not wave nor wind:

Yet marvel not, Sir Childe, that I

Am sorrowful in mind;

For I have from my father gone,

A mother whom I love,

And have no friend save these alone,
But thee-and One above.

"My father bless'd me fervently,
Yet did not much complain;
But sorely will my mother sigh
Till I come back again."
Enough, enough, my little lad!
Such tears become thine eye;
If I thy guileless bosom had,

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Mine own would not be dry.

"Come hither, hither, my staunch yeoman! Why dost thou look so pale?

Or dost thou dread a French foeman?
Or shiver at the gale?"

"Deem'st thou I tremble for my life?

Sir Childe, I'm not so weak;

But thinking on an absent wife

Will blanch a faithful cheek.

"My spouse and boys dwell near thy hall, Along the bordering lake,

And when they on their father call,
What answer shall she make?"
"Enough, enough! my yeoman good,
Thy grief let none gainsay;
But I who am of lighter mood,
Will laugh to flee away.

"For who would trust the seeming sighs

Of wife or paramour?

Fresh feres will dry the bright blue eyes

We late saw streaming o'er.

For pleasures past I do not grieve,
Nor perils gathering near;
My greatest grief is that I leave
No thing that claims a tear.

"And now I'm in the world alone,
Upon the wide, wide sea:

But why should I for others groan,
When none will sigh for me?
Perchance my dog will whine in vain,
Till fed by stranger hands;

But long ere I come back again

He'd tear me where he stands.

"With thee, my bark, I'll swiftly go Athwart the foaming brine;

Nor care what land thou bear'st me to, So not again to mine.

Welcome, welcome, ye dark-blue waves!
And when you fail my sight,
Welcome, ye deserts, and ye caves!

My native land-Good Night!”

BYRON

THE PASSIONS.

When Music, heavenly maid, was young.
While yet in early Greece she sung,
The Passions oft, to hear her shell,
Throng'd around her magic cell,
Exulting, trembling, raging, fainting,
Possest beyond the Muse's painting ;
By turns they felt the glowing mind,
Disturbed, delighted, rais'd, refin’d,
Till once, 'tis said, when all were fir'd,
Fill'd with fury, rapt, inspir'd,
From the supporting myrtles round
They snatch'd her instruments of sound:
And as they oft had heard apart
Sweet lessons of her forceful art,
Each (for madness rul'd the hour)
Would prove his own expressive pow'r.

First FEAR his hand, its skill to try,
Amid the cords bewilder'd laid,
And back recoil'd, he knew not why,
E'en at the sound himself had made.

Next ANGER rush'd, his eyes on fire,
In lightnings own'd his secret stings,
In one rude clash he struck the lyre,
And swept with hurried hand the strings.

With woeful measures wan DESPAIR-
Low sullen sounds his grief beguil❜d,
A solemn, strange, and mingled air,
'Twas sad by fits, by starts 'twas wild.

But thou, O HOPE, with eyes so fair,
What was thy delighted measure!
Still it whisper'd promis'd pleasure,
And bade the lovely scenes at distance hail!
Still would her touch the scene prolong,

And from the rocks, the woods, the vale,
She call'd on Echo still through all the song ;
And where her sweetest theme she chose,

A soft responsive voice was heard at every close, And Hope enchanted smil'd, and wav'd her golden hair:

And longer had she sung-but, with a frown,
REVENGE impatient rose;

He threw his blood-stain'd sword in thunder down,
And with a withering look,

The war-denouncing trumpet took,

And blew a blast so loud and dread,

Were ne'er prophetic sounds so full of woe;

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