1809.
Concluded Canto 2. Smyrna.
March 28th, 1810.MS. D.]
Canto the Second
I.113
Come, blue-eyed Maid of Heaven!—but Thou, alas!
Didst never yet one mortal song inspire—
Goddess of Wisdom! here thy temple was,
And is, despite of War and wasting fire, 1.B. And years, that bade thy worship to expire: But worse than steel, and flame, and ages slow, 2.B. Is the dread sceptre and dominion dire Of men who never felt the sacred glow That thoughts of thee and thine on polished breasts bestow.
II.
Ancient of days! august Athena! where,do Where are thy men of might? thy grand in soul? Gone—glimmering through the dream of things that were:dp First in the race that led to Glory's goal, They won, and passed away—is this the whole? A schoolboy's tale, the wonder of an hour! The Warrior's weapon and the Sophist's stole114 Are sought in vain, and o'er each mouldering tower, Dim with the mist of years, gray flits the shade of power.dq
III.
Son of the Morning, rise! approach you here!
Come—but molest not yon defenceless Urn:
Look on this spot—a Nation's sepulchre!
Abode of Gods, whose shrines no longer burn.dr Even Gods must yield—Religions take their turn: 'Twas Jove's—'tis Mahomet's—and other Creeds Will rise with other years, till Man shall learn Vainly his incense soars, his victim bleeds; Poor child of Doubt and Death, whose hope is built on reeds.ds
IV.
Bound to the Earth, he lifts his eye to Heaven—
Is't not enough, Unhappy Thing! to know
Thou art? Is this a boon so kindly given,
That being, thou would'st be again, and go,
Thou know'st not, reck'st not to what region, so115 On Earth no more, but mingled with the skies? Still wilt thou dream on future Joy and Woe?dt Regard and weigh yon dust before it flies: That little urn saith more than thousand Homilies.
V.
Or burst the vanished Hero's lofty mound;
Far on the solitary shore he sleeps: 3.B. He fell, and falling nations mourned around; But now not one of saddening thousands weeps, Nor warlike worshipper his vigil keeps Where demi-gods appeared, as records tell.du116 Remove yon skull from out the scattered heaps: Is that a Temple where a God may dwell? Why ev'n the Worm at last disdains her shattered cell!
VI.
Look on its broken arch, its ruined wall,
Its chambers desolate, and portals foul:
Yes, this was once Ambition's airy hall,
The Dome of Thought, the Palace of the Soul:
Behold through each lack-lustre, eyeless hole,
The gay recess of Wisdom and of Wit117 And Passion's host, that never brooked control: Can all Saint, Sage, or Sophist ever writ, People this lonely tower, this tenement refit?
VII.
Well didst thou speak, Athena's wisest son!118 "All that we know is, nothing can be known." Why should we shrink from what we cannot shun? Each hath its pang, but feeble sufferers groan With brain-born dreams of Evil all their own. Pursue what Chance or Fate proclaimeth best; Peace waits us on the shores of Acheron: There no forced banquet claims the sated guest, But Silence spreads the couch of ever welcome Rest.
VIII.119
Yet if, as holiest men have deemed, there bedv A land of Souls beyond that sable shore, To shame the Doctrine of the Sadducee And Sophists, madly vain of dubious lore; How sweet it were in concert to adore With those who made our mortal labours light! To hear each voice we feared to hear no more! Behold each mighty shade revealed to sight, The Bactrian, Samian sage, and all who taught the Right!
IX.120
There, Thou!—whose Love and Life together fled,
Have left me here to love and live in vain—
Twined with my heart, and can I deem thee dead
When busy Memory flashes on my brain?
Well—I will dream that we may meet again,
And woo the vision to my vacant breast:
If aught of young Remembrance then remain,
Be as it may Futurity's behest,dw For me 'twere bliss enough to know thy spirit blest!
X.
Here let me sit upon this massy stone,
The marble column's yet unshaken base;
Here, son of Saturn! was thy favourite throne: 4.B. Mightiest of many such! Hence let me trace The latent grandeur of thy dwelling-place. It may not be: nor ev'n can Fancy's eye Restore what Time hath laboured to deface. Yet these proud Pillars claim no passing sigh; Unmoved the Moslem sits, the light Greek carols by.
XI.
But who, of all the plunderers of yon Fane121 On high—where Pallas linger'd, loth to flee The latest relic of her ancient reign— The last, the worst, dull spoiler, who was he?dx Blush, Caledonia! such thy son could be!