STANZAS TO AUGUSTA. (1) ["WHEN ALL AROUND," &c.] I. WHEN all around grew drear and dark, II. In that deep midnight of the mind, III. When fortune changed-and love fled far, Which rose and set not to the last. the part (1) [His sister, the Honourable Mrs. Leigh. These stanzasing tribute to her, whose unshaken tenderness had been the author's sole consolation during 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 16th, 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." On the 25th, the poet took a last leave of his native country.-E] VOL. X. IV. Oh! blest be thine unbroken light! V. And when the cloud upon us came, VI. Still may thy spirit dwell on mine, And teach it what to brave or brook — There's more in one soft word of thine Than in the world's defied rebuke. VII. Thou stood'st, as stands a lovely tree, Still waves with fond fidelity Its boughs above a monument. VIII. The winds might rend—the skies might pour, But there thou wert-and still would'st be Devoted in the stormiest hour To shed thy weeping leaves o'er me. IX. But thou and thine shall know no blight, For heaven in sunshine will requite X. Then let the ties of baffled love Be broken-thine will never break; Thy heart can feel—but will not move; Thy soul, though soft, will never shake. XI. And these, when all was lost beside, STANZAS TO AUGUSTA. (1) ["THOUGH THE DAY OF MY DESTINY 's," &c.] I. THOUGH the day of my destiny's over, The faults which so many could find; Though thy soul with my grief was acquainted, It shrunk not to share it with me, And the love which my spirit hath painted II. Then when nature around me is smiling, I do not believe it beguiling, Because it reminds me of thine; (1) [These beautiful verses, so expressive of the writer's wounded feelings at the moment, were written in July, at the Campagne Diodati, near Geneva, and transmitted to England for publication, with some other pieces. "Be careful," he says, "in printing the stanzas beginning, Though the day of my destiny's,' &c., which I think well of as a composition."-E] (2) [In the original MS. — "Though the days of my glory are over, And the sun of my fame hath declined."-E] |