XC.

Also arose about the self-same time,
Perhaps a little later, her great lord,
Master of thirty kingdoms so sublime,

And of a wife by whom he was abhorr'd; A thing of much less import in that climeAt least to those of incomes which afford The filling up their whole connubial cargo-Than where two wives are under an embargo.

XCI.

He did not think much on the matter, nor
Indeed on any other: as a man
He liked to have a handsome paramour

At hand, as one may like to have a fan,
And therefore of Circassians had good store,
As an amusement after the Divan;
Though an unusual fit of love, or duty,
Had made him lately bask in his bride's beauty.

XCII.

And now he rose; and after due ablutions
Exacted by the customs of the East,
And prayers and other pious evolutions,

He drank six cups of coffee at the least,
And then withdrew to hear about the Russians,
Whose victories had recently increased

In Catherine's reign, whom glory still adores
As greatest of all sovereigns and w- -S.

XCIII.

But oh, thou grand legitimate Alexander!

Her son's son, let not this last phrase offend Thine ear, if it should reach-and now rhymes wander Almost as far as Petersburgh, and lend

A dreadful impulse to each loud meander

Of murmuring Liberty's wide waves, which blend Their roar even with the Baltic's-so you be Your father's son, 't is quite enough for me.

XCIV.

To call men love-begotten, or proclaim

Their mothers as the antipodes of Timon, That hater of mankind, would be a shame,

A libel, or whate'er you please to rhyme on: But people's ancestors are history's game;

And if one lady's slip could leave a crime on All generations, I should like to know What pedigree the best would have to show?

XCV.

Had Catherine and the sultan understood
Their own true interests, which kings rarely know,
Until 'tis taught by lessons rather rude,

There was a way to end their strife, although
Perhaps precarious, had they but thought good,
Without the aid of prince or plenipo:
She to dismiss her guards and he his haram,
And for their other matters, meet and share 'em.

(1) Motraye, in describing the interior of the Grand Signior's palace, into which he gained admission as the assistant of a watch-maker, who was employed to regulate the clocks, says that the eunuch who received them at the entrance of the haram conducted them into a hall, which appeared to be the most agreeable apartment in the edifice:

Cette salle est incrustée de porcelaine fine; et le lambris doré et azuré qui orne le fond d'une coupole qui règne

XCVI.

But as it was, his Highness had to hold
His daily council upon ways and means
How to encounter with this martial scold,
This modern Amazon and queen of queans;
And the perplexity could not be told

Of all the pillars of the state, which leans
Sometimes a little heavy on the backs
Of those who cannot lay on a new tax.

XCVII.

Meantime Gulbeyaz, when her king was gone,
Retired into her boudoir, a sweet place
For love or breakfast; private, pleasing, lone,
And rich with all contrivances which grace
Those gay recesses:-many a precious stone

Sparkled along its roof, and many a vase Of porcelain held in the fetter'd flowers, Those captive soothers of a captive's hours.

XCVIII.

Mother-of-pearl, and porphyry, and marble,
Vied with each other on this costly spot;
And singing-birds without were heard to warble,
And the stain'd glass which lighted this fair grat
Varied each ray;-but all descriptions garble

The true effect, (1) and so we had better not
Be too minute; an outline is the best,-
A lively reader's fancy does the rest.

XCIX.

And here she summon'd Baba, and required
Don Juan at his hands, and information
Of what had pass'd since all the slaves retired

And whether he had occupied their station;
If matters had been managed as desired,

And his disguise with due consideration Kept up; and, above all, the where and how He had pass'd the night, was what she wish'd to know. C.

Baba, with some embarrassment, replied

To this long catechism of questions, ask'd More easily than answer'd,-that he had tried His best to obey in what he had been task'd; But there seem'd something that he wish'd to hide.

Which hesitation more betray'd than mask'd; He scratch'd his ear, the infallible resource To which embarrass'd people have recourse. CI.

Gulbeyaz was no model of true patience,

Nor much disposed to wait in word or deed; She liked quick answers in all conversations; And when she saw him stumbling like a steed In his replies, she puzzled him for fresh ones;

And as his speech grew still more broken-kneed, Her cheek began to flush, her eyes to sparkle, And her proud brow's blue veins to swell and dark.

au-dessus, est des plus riches. Une fontaine artificielle jaillissante, dont le bassin est d'un précieux marbre ved qui m'a paru serpentin on jaspé, s'élevoit directement milieu, sous le dome. Je me trouvai la tête si pleine d sophas, de précieux plafonds, de meubles superbes, en mot, d'une si grande confusion de matériaux magnifiques, qu'il seroit difficile d'en donner une idée claire." Foye tome i. p. 220.-L. E.

CANTO VI.

CII.

When Baba saw these symptoms, which he knew
To bode him no great good, he deprecated
Her anger, and beseech'd she'd hear him through-

He could not help the thing which he related:
Then out it came at length, that to Dudù

Juan was given in charge, as hath been stated;
But not by Baba's fault, he said, and swore on
The holy camel's hump, besides the Koran.

CIII.

The chief dame of the Oda, upon whom
The discipline of the whole haram bore,
As soon as they re-enter'd their own room,
For Baba's function stopp'd short at the door,
Had settled all; nor could he then presume
(The aforesaid Baba) just then to do more,
Without exciting such suspicion as

Might make the matter still worse than it was.

CIV.

He hoped, indeed he thought, he could be sure
Juan had not betray'd himself; in fact
Twas certain that his conduct had been pure,
Because a foolish or imprudent act
Would not alone have made him insecure,

But ended in his being found out and sack'd,
And thrown into the sea.-Thus Baba spoke
Of all save Dudu's dream, which was no joke.

CV.

This he discreetly kept in the back-ground,

And talk'd away-and might have talk'd till now, For any further answer that he found,

So deep an anguish wrung Gulbeyaz' brow;
Her cheek turn'd ashes, ears rung, brain whirl'd round,
As if she had received a sudden blow,
And the heart's dew of pain sprang fast and chilly
O'er her fair front, like Morning's on a lily.
CVI.

Although she was not of the fainting sort,
Baba thought she would faint, but there he err❜d—
It was but a convulsion, which, though short,
Can never be described; we all have heard,
And some of us have felt thus "all amort," (1)
When things beyond the common have occurr'd;-
Gulbeyaz proved in that brief agony
What she could ne'er express-then how should I?
CVII.

She stood a moment as a Pythoness
Stands on her tripod, agonised, and full
Of inspiration gather'd from distress,

When all the heart-strings like wild horses pull The heart asunder;-then, as more or less

Their speed abated or their strength grew dull, She sunk down on her seat by slow degrees, And bow'd her throbbing head o'er trembling knees.

CVIII.

Her face declined and was unseen; her hair Fell in long tresses like the weeping willow,

But such precipitation may end ill,

Even at your own imperative expense: I do not mean destruction and exposure, In case of any premature disclosure;

CXV.

"But your own feelings. Even should all the rest Be hidden by the rolling waves, which hide Already many a once love-beaten breast

Deep in the caverns of the deadly tideYou love this boyish, new, seraglio guest,

And if this violent remedy be triedExcuse my freedom, when I here assure you, That killing him is not the way to cure you." CXVI.

"What dost thou know of love or feeling?-Wretch! Begone!" she cried, with kindling eyes-" and do My bidding!" Baba vanish'd, for to stretch

His own remonstrance further he well knew Might end in acting as his own "Jack Ketch;"

And though he wish'd extremely to get through This awkward business without harm to others, He still preferr'd his own neck to another's.

CXVII.

Away he went then upon his commission, Growling and grumbling in good Turkish phrase Against all women of whate'er condition,

Especially sultanas and their ways; Their obstinacy, pride, and indecision,

Their never knowing their own mind two days, The trouble that they gave, their immorality, Which made him daily bless his own neutrality. CXVIII.

And then he call'd his brethren to his aid,
And sent one on a summons to the pair,
That they must instantly be well array'd,

And above all be comb'd even to a hair,
And brought before the empress, who had made
Inquiries after them with kindest care:
At which Dudù look'd strange, and Juan silly;
But go they must at once, and will I nill I.
CXIX.

And here I leave them at their preparation
For the imperial presence, wherein whether
Gulbeyaz show'd them both commiseration,

Or got rid of the parties altogether,
Like other angry ladies of her nation,-

Are things the turning of a hair or feather May settle; but far be't from me to anticipate In what way feminine caprice may dissipate. CXX.

I leave them for the present with good wishes, Though doubts of their well doing, to arrange Another part of history; for the dishes

Of this our banquet we must sometimes change;

(1) "The seventh and eighth Cantos contain a full detail (like the storm in Canto second) of the siege and assault of Ismail, with much of sarcasm on those butchers in large business, your mercenary soldiers. With these things and these fellows it is necessary, in the present clash of philo. sophy and tyranny, to throw away the scabbard. I know it is against fearful odds; but the battle must be fought; and it will be eventually for the good of mankind, whatever it may be for the individual who risks himself." B. Letters, Aug. 8, 1822.-L. E.

Socrates said, our only knowledge was (2) "To know that nothing could be known; a pleasant Science enough, which levels to an ass

Each man of wisdom, future, past, or present. Newton (that proverb of the mind), alas!

Declared, with all his grand discoveries recent, That he himself felt only "like a youth Picking up shells by the great ocean-Truth." (3)

(2) "Scrawled this additional page of life's log-bo One day more is over of it, and of me;-but which is be life or death, the gods only know,' as Socrates said to l judges, on the breaking up of the tribunal. Two thousand years, since that sage's declaration of ignorance, have enlightened us more upon this important point." B. D

1821.-L. E.

(3) A short time before his death, he uttered this ment rable sentiment:-"I do not know what I may appest the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy

Within the extent of this fortification

A borough is comprised along the height
pon the left, which from its loftier station
Commands the city, and upon its site
Greek had raised around this elevation
A quantity of palisades upright,

aying on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and en finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordiy, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered fore me."-"What a lesson to the vanity and presumption philosophers; to those, especially, who have never even and the smoother pebble or the prettier shell! What a eparation for the latest inquiries, and the last views, of e decaying spirit,-for those inspired doctrines which one can throw a light over the dark ocean of undiscovered ath!" Sir David Brewster.-L. E.

(1) See Miscellaneous Poems, "Inscription on the Monuent of a Newfoundland Dog."-L. E.

(2) An. 1790. Le 30 de novembre on s'approcha de la ace; les troupes de terre formaient un total de vingt mille mes, indépendamment de sept à huit mille Kozaks." 1. de la Nouvelle Russie, tome ii. p. 201.-L. E. (3) "Ismaël est situé sur la rive gauche du bras gauche Danube." Ibid.-L. E.

(4)--"A peu près à quatre-vingts verstes de la mer: le a près de trois mille toises de tour." Ibid.-L. E.

5) "On a compris dans ces fortifications un faubourg oldave, situé à la gauche de la ville, sur une hauteur qui domine: l'ouvrage a été terminé par un Grec. Pour onner une idée des talents de cet ingénieur, il suffira de

So placed as to impede the fire of those
Who held the place, and to assist the foe's. (5)
XI.

This circumstance may serve to give a notion
Of the high talents of this new Vauban :
But the town ditch below was deep as ocean,

The rampart higher than you'd wish to hang: But then there was a great want of precaution (Prithee, excuse this engineering slang), Nor work advanced, nor cover'd-way was there, (6) To hint at least "Here is no thoroughfare."

XII.

But a stone bastion, with a narrow gorge,

And walls as thick as most skulls born as yet;
Two batteries, cap-à-pie, as our St. George,
Case-mated (7) one, and t'other "à barbette," (8)
Of Danube's bank took formidable charge;

While two-and-twenty cannon, duly set,
Rose over the town's right side in bristling tier,
Forty feet high, upon a cavalier. (9)

XIII.

But from the river the town's open quite,
Because the Turks could never be persuaded
A Russian vessel e'er would heave in sight; (10)
And such their creed was, till they were invaded,
When it grew rather late to set things right.

But as the Danube could not well be waded,
They look'd upon the Muscovite flotilla,
And only shouted, "Allah!" and "Bis Millah !"
XIV.

The Russians now were ready to attack;
But oh, ye goddesses of war and glory!
How shall I spell the name of each Cossacque
Who were immortal, could one tell their story?
Alas! what to their memory can lack?

Achilles' self was not more grim and gory
Than thousands of this new and polish'd nation,
Whose names want nothing but-pronunciation.
XV.

Still I'll record a few, if but to increase

Our euphony: there was Strongenoff, and Strokonoff, Meknop, Serge Lwow, Arsniew of modern Greece,

And Tschitsshakoff, and Roguenoff, and Chokenoff,

dire qu'il fit placer les palissades perpendiculairement sur le parapet, de manière qu'elles favorisaient les assiégeants, et arrêtaient le feu des assiégés." Ibid. p. 202.-L. E.

(6) "Le rempart en terre est prodigieusement élevé, à cause de l'immense profondeur du fossé; il est cependant absolument rasant; il n'y a ni ouvrage avancé, ni chemin couvert." Ibid.-L. E.

(7) "Casemate is a work made under the rampart, like a cellar or cave, with loop-holes to place guns in it, and is bomb-proof." Milit. Dict.-L. E.

(8) "When the breastwork of a battery is only of such height that the guns may fire over it without being obliged to make embrasures, the guns are said to fire in barbet." Ibid.-L. E.

(9) "Un bastion de pierres, ouvert par une gorge trèsétroite, et dont les murailles sont fort épaisses, a une batterie casematée et une à barbette; il défend la rive du Danube. Du côté droit de la ville est un cavalier de quarante pieds d'élévation à pic, garni de vingt-deux pièces de canon, et qui défend la partie gauche." Hist. de la N. R. t. ii. p. 202.-L. E.

(10) “Du côté du fleuve, la ville est absolument ouverte ; les Turcs ne croyaient pas que les Russes pussent jamais avoir une flotille dans le Danube." Ibid. p. 203.-L. E.

(I) "La première attaque était composée de trois colonnes, commandées par les lieutenants-généraux Paul Potiemkin, Serge Lwow, les généraux-majors Lascy, Théodore Meknop. Trois autres colonnes avaient pour chefs le Comte Samoilow, les généraux Elie de Bezborodko, Michel Koutousow; les brigadiers Orlow, Platow, Ribaupierre. La troisième attaque par eau n'avait que deux colonnes, sous les ordres des généraux-majors Ribas et Arseniew, des brigadiers Markoff et Tchépéja," etc. Hist. de la Nouvelle Russie, t. ii. p. 207.-L. E.

(2) See the farce of Love Laughs at Locksmiths.-L. E. (3) "On s'était proposé deux buts également avantageux, par la construction de deux batteries sur l'ile qui avoisine Ismaël: le premier, de bombarder la place, d'en abattre les principaux édifices avec du canon de quarante-huit, effet

XXI.

I wonder (although Mars no doubt's a god I
Praise) if a man's name in a bulletin
May make up for a bullet in his body?

I hope this little question is no sin,
Because, though I am but a simple noddy,

I think one Shakspeare puts the same thought in The mouth of some one in his plays so doting, Which many people pass for wits by quoting.

XXII.

Then there were Frenchmen, gallant, young, and gay:
But I'm too great a patriot to record
Their Gallic names upon a glorious day;

I'd rather tell ten lies than say a word
Of truth; such truths are treason; they betray
Their country; and as traitors are abhorr'd
Who name the French in English, save to show
How Peace should make John Bull the Frenchman's for
XXIII.

The Russians, having built two batteries on
An isle near Ismail, had two ends in view;
The first was to bombard it, and knock down
The public buildings and the private too,
No matter what poor souls might be undone.

The city's shape suggested this, 'tis true;
Form'd like an amphitheatre, each dwelling
Presented a fine mark to throw a shell in. (3)
XXIV.

The second object was to profit by

The moment of the general consternation, To attack the Turks' flotilla, which lay nigh Extremely tranquil, anchor'd at its station: But a third motive was as probably

To frighten them into capitulation; (4)

A fantasy which sometimes seizes warriors, Unless they are game as bull-dogs and fox-terriers.

XXV.

A habit rather blameable, which is

That of despising those we combat with, Common in many cases, was in this

The cause (5) of killing Tchitchitzkoff and Smith One of the valorous "Smiths" whom we shall miss Out of those nineteen who late rhymed to "pith;" But 'tis a name so spread o'er "Sir" and "Madan That one would think the first who bore it "Adam" XXVI.

The Russian batteries were incomplete,

Because they were constructed in a hurry;(6) Thus the same cause which makes a verse want feet, And throws a cloud o'er Longman and John Marray,

d'autant plus probable, que la ville étant bâtie en amp théâtre, presque aucun coup ne serait perdu." Hist. Nouvelle Russie, t. ii. p. 203.-L. E.

(4) "Le second objet était de profiter de ce moment d'e larme pour que la flotille, agissant en même temps, pit détruire celle des Turcs. Un troisième motif, et vraisema blement le plus plausible, était de jeter la consternati parmi les Turcs, et de les engager à capituler." I

-L. E.

(5) "Une habitude blåmable, celle de mépriser son ent mi, fut la cause...." Ibid. -L. E.

(6) ... "Du défaut de perfection dans la construction batteries; on voulait agir promptement, et on, négligs à donner aux ouvrages la solidité qu'ils exigeaient.

-L. E.