There's also nightly, to the uninitiated, Yclept the Great World; for it is the least, Although the highest: but, as swords have hilts, A peril-not indeed like love or marriage, By which their power of mischief is increased, But not the less for this to be depreciated: When man in battle or in quarrel tilts, Least, It is I meant and mean not to disparage Thus the low world, north, south, or west, or The show of virtue even in the vitiatedMust still obey the high-which is their handle, Their moon, their sun, their gas, their farthing candle. It adds an outward grace unto their carriageBut to denounce the amphibious sort of harlot, Couleur de rose, who's neither white nor scarlet. Though travell'd, I have never had the luck to A wife makes or takes love in upright earnest. But in old England, when a young bride errs, LXV. For 'tis a low, newspaper, humdrum, lawsuit Country, where a young couple of the same ages Can't form a friendship, but the world o'erawes it. A verdict-grievous foe to those who cause it !- LXVI. But they who blunder thus are raw beginners: LXVII. Juan, who did not stand in the predicament Of a mere novice, had one safeguard more ; For he was sick-no, 'twas not the word sick I meant But he had seen so much good love before, That he was not in heart so very weak :-I meant But this much, and no sneer against the shore Of white cliffs, white necks, blue eyes, bluer stockings, [knockings. Tithes, taxes, duns, and doors with double LXVIII. But coming young from lands and scenes ro- Where Geography finds no one to oblige her It is. I will not swear that black is white: Or, if I'm wrong, I'll not be ta'en aback: LXXII. But I'm relapsing into metaphysics, That labyrinth, whose clue is of the same And this reflection brings me to plain physics, LXXIII. Or say they are like virtuous mermaids, whose Who have a due respect for their own wishes Are they, at bottom virtuous even when vicces They warm into a scrape, but keep of course, As a reserve, a plunge into remorse. LXXIV. But this has nought to do with their outsides. The Russians, as is well known, run out from thee ht baths to plunge into the Neva; a pleasant practical antialisa which it seems does them no harm. At the first blush; for a fair Briton hides LXXV. She cannot step as does an Arab barb, Or Andalusian girl from mass returning, Nor wear as gracefully as Gauls her garb, Nor in her eye Ausonia's glance is burning: Her voice, though sweet, is not so fit to warble those bravuras (which I still am learning To like, though I have been seven years in Italy, And have, or had, an ear that served me prettily): LXXVI. She cannot do these things, nor one or two (A thing approved, as saving time and toil):But though the soil may give you time and Well cultivated, it will render double. [trouble, LXXVII. And if, in fact, she takes to a grande passion, But the tenth instance will be a tornado, And as for chastity, you'll never bind it By all the laws the strictest lawyer pleads, But aggravate the crine you've not prevented, By rendering desperate these who had else repented. LXXXI. But Juan was no casuist, nor had ponder'd Upon the moral lessons of mankind: Besides, he had not seen, of several hundred, A lady altogether to his mind. A little blasé-'tis not to be wonder'd At, that his heart had got a tougher rind ; And, though not vainer from his past success, No doubt his sensibilities were less. LXXXII. He also had been busy, seeing sights- To hear debates whose thunder roused (not rouses) The world to gaze upon those northern lights, Which flash'd as far as where the musk-bull* browses: He had also stood, at times, behind the throne; But Greyt was not arrived, and Chatham‡ gone. LXXXIII. He saw, however, at the closing session, That noble sight, when really free the nation, A king in constitutional possession Of such a throne as is the proudest station, Though despots know it not-till the progression Of freedom shall complete their education. For there's no saying what they will or may do. 'Tis not mere splendour makes the show august LXXVIII. The reason's obvious: if there's an éclat, Have fill'd the papers with their comments Perhaps this is as it should be ;—it is A comment on the Gospel's 'Sin no more, And be thy sins forgiven;'-but, upon this, I leave the saints to settle their own score. Abroad, though doubtless they do much amiss, An erring woman finds an opener door For her return to Virtue-as they call That lady who should be at home to all. LXXX. For me, I leave the matter where I find it, Knowing that such uneasy virtue leads People some ten times less, in fact, to mind it, And care but for discoveries, and not dee s; To eye or heart-it is the people's trust. LXXXIV. There, too, he saw (whate'er he may be now) A Prince, the prince of princes, at the time, With fascination in his very bow, And full of promise, as the spring of prime. Though royalty was written on his brow, He had then the grace, too, rare in every clime, Of being without alloy of fop or beau, A finish'd gentleman from top to toe. LXXXV. And Juan was received, as hath been said, Into the best society; and there Occurr'd what often happens, I'm afraid, However disciplined and debonnaire :-The talent and good humour he display'd, Besides the mark'd distinction of his air, Exposed him, as was natural, to temptation, Even though himself avoided the occasion. For a description and pr nt of this inhabitant of the Polar Region and native country of the Aurora Borealis, see Parry's Voyage in Search of a North-West Passage. f Charles, second Earl Grey, succeeded to the title in 1907. The first Lord Chatham died May, 1778. But what, and where, with whom, and when, And if my thunderbolt not always rattles, and why, Is not to be put hastily together; And as my object is morality (Whatever people say), I don't know whether I'll leave a single reader's eyelid dry, But harrow up his feelings, till they wither; And hew out a huge monument of pathos, As Philip's son proposed to do with Athos.* LXXXVII. Here the twelfth canto of our introduction I can't oblige you, reader, to read on : Remember, reader! you have had before The worst of tempests and the best of battles, That e'er were brew'd from elements or gore, Besides the most sublime of-Heaven knows what else: An usurer could scarce expect much moreBut my best canto, save one on astronomy, Will turn upon 'political economy." LXXXIX. That is your present theme for popularity: To show the people the best way to break. I'll not gainsay them; it is not my cue; • A sculptor projected to hew Mount Athos into a statue of Alexander, with a city in one hand, and I believe a river in his pocket, with various other similar devices. But Alexander is gone, and Athos remains. I trust ere long to look over a nation of freemen, The fair sex should be always fair; and no man, Till thirty, should perceive there's a plam woman. IV. And, after that serene and somewhat dull Epoch, that awkward corner turn'd, for days More quiet, when our moon's no more at full, Because indifference begins to lull We may presume to criticize or praise; Our passions, and we walk in wisdom's ways; Also because the figure and the face Hint that 'tis time to give the younger place. v. I know that some would fain postpone this era, VI. And is there not religion and reform, Peace, war, the taxes, and what's call'd the 'Nation'? The struggle to be pilots in a storm? The landed and the money'd speculation? The joys of mutual hate to keep them warm, Instead of love, that mere hallucination/ Now hatred is by far the longest pleasure: Men love in haste, but they detest at leisu |