Page 554

George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron. (1788–1824) (continued)

5734

But we, who name ourselves its sovereigns, we,
Half dust, half deity, alike unfit
To sink or soar.

Manfred. Act i. Sc. 2.

5735

Think’st thou existence doth depend on time?
It doth; but actions are our epochs.

Manfred. Act ii. Sc. 1.

5736

The heart ran o’er
With silent worship of the great of old!
The dead but sceptred sovereigns, who still rule
Our spirits from their urns.

Manfred. Act iii. Sc. 4.

5737

Which makes life itself a lie,
Flattering dust with eternity.

Sardanapalus. Act i. Sc. 2.

5738

By all that ’s good and glorious.

Sardanapalus. Act i. Sc. 2.

5739

I am the very slave of circumstance
And impulse,—borne away with every breath!

Sardanapalus. Act iv. Sc. 1.

5740

The dust we tread upon was once alive.

Sardanapalus. Act iv. Sc. 1.

5741

For most men (till by losing rendered sager)
Will back their own opinions by a wager.

Beppo. Stanza 27.

5742

Soprano, basso, even the contra-alto,
Wished him five fathom under the Rialto.

Beppo. Stanza 32.

5743

His heart was one of those which most enamour us,—
Wax to receive, and marble to retain. 1

Beppo. Stanza 34.

5744

Besides, they always smell of bread and butter.

Beppo. Stanza 39.

5745

That soft bastard Latin,
Which melts like kisses from a female mouth.

Beppo. Stanza 44.

5746

Heart on her lips, and soul within her eyes,
Soft as her clime, and sunny as her skies.

Beppo. Stanza 45.

5747

O Mirth and Innocence! O milk and water!
Ye happy mixtures of more happy days.

Beppo. Stanza 80.

Note 1.
My heart is wax to be moulded as she pleases, but enduring as marble to retain.—Cervantes: The Little Gypsy. [back]