To this my plain, sworn, downright detestation Of every despotism in every nation. XXV. It is not that I adulate the people: Without me, there are demagogues enough, And infidels, to pull down every steeple, And set up in their stead some proper stuff. Whether they may sow scepticism to reap hell, As is the Christian dogma rather rough, I do not know;-I wish men to be free The consequence is, being of no party, I shall offend all parties:-never mind! My words, at least, are more sincere and hearty Than if I sought to sail before the wind. He who has nought to gain can have smail art: he XXVII. That's an appropriate simile, that jackall;— I've heard them in the Ephesian ruins howl (5) By night, as do that mercenary pack all, Power's base purveyors, who for pickings prowl, And scent the prey their masters would attack all. However, the poor jackalls are less foul (As being the brave lion's keen providers) Than human insects, catering for spiders. XXVIII. Raise but an arm! 't will brush their web away, Increases, till you shall make common cause: XXIX. Don Juan, who had shone in the late slaughter, Fair Catherine's pastime-who look'd on the match XXX. And there in a kibitka he roll'd on (A cursed sort of carriage without springs, Which on rough roads leaves scarcely a whole bone), Pondering on glory, chivalry, and kings, And orders, and on all that he had done And wishing that post-horses had the wings prospect of a poet's glory. "I will some day or other,' he used to say, when a boy, 'raise a troop-the men of which shall be dressed in black, and ride on black horses. They shall be called 'Byron's Blacks,' and you will hear of their performing prodigies of valour." Moore.-P. E. (5) In Greece I never saw or heard these animals; but among the ruins of Ephesus I have heard them by hundreds. [See antè, p. 271.-P. E.] Of Pegasus, or at the least post-chaises At every jolt-and there were many-still XXXII. At least he pays no rent, and has best right Since lately there have been no rents at all, And "farmers" can't raise Ceres from her fall: She fell with Bonaparte-What strange thoughts Arise, when we see emperors fall with oats! XXXIII. But Juan turn'd his eyes on the sweet child With gore, like Nadir Shah, that costive sophy, Who, after leaving Hindostan a wild, And scarce to the Mogul a cup of coffee Oh ye! or we! or he or she! reflect, That one life saved, especially if young Or pretty, is a thing to recollect Far sweeter than the greenest laurels sprung From the manure of human clay, though deck'd With all the praises ever said or sung: (2) Though hymn'd by every harp, unless within Your heart joins chorus, Fame is but a din. XXXV. Oh! ye great authors luminous, voluminous! Ye twice ten hundred thousand daily scribes! Whose pamphlets, volumes, newspapers, illumine us! Whether you're paid by government in bribes, To prove the public debt is not consuming us Or, roughly treading on the "courtier's kibes" With clownish heel, (3) your popular circulation Feeds you by printing half the realm's starvation; XXXVI. Oh, ye great authors!" Apropos de bottes," Certes it would have been but thrown away, And that's one comfort for my lost advice, Although no doubt it was beyond all price. (1) He was killed in a conspiracy, after his temper had been exasperated by his extreme costivity to a degree of insanity. (2) "One virtuous or a mere good-natured deed Does all desert in sciences exceed." Sheffield.-L. E. XXXVII. But let it go:-it will one day be found Thrown topsy-turvy, twisted, crisp'd, and curl'd, So Cuvier says;-and then shall come again Of Titans, giants, fellows of about XXXIX. Think if then George the Fourth should be dug up! XL. How will to these young people, just thrast out From some fresh paradise, and set to plough, And dig, and sweat, and turn themselves about, And plant, and reap, and spin, and grind, and saw, Till all the arts at length are brought about, Especially of war and taxing,-how, I say, will these great relics, when they see'em, Look like the monsters of a new museum! XLI. But I am apt to grow too metaphysical: I ne'er decide what I shall say, and this I call So on I ramble, now and then narrating, Now pondering:-it is time we should narrate. I left Don Juan with his horses baitingNow we'll get o'er the ground at a great rate. I shall not be particular in stating His journey, we've so many tours of late: Suppose him then at Petersburgh; suppose That pleasant capital of painted snows; XLIII. Suppose him in a handsome uniform: A scarlet coat, black facings, a long plume, (3) "The age is grown so picked, that the toe of the pet sant comes so near the heel of the courtier, he galls his bibe Hamlet.-L. E. (4) "The time is out of joint:-O cursed spite! That ever I was born to set it right." Hamlet.-LL Waving, like sails new-shiver'd in a storm, XLIV. Suppose him sword by side, and hat in hand, XLV. His bandage slipp'd down into a cravat; His side as a small-sword, but sharp as ever; But still so like, that Psyche were more clever Than some wives (who make blunders no less stupid), If she had not mistaken him for Cupid. XLVI. The courtiers stared, the ladies whisper'd, and Since first her majesty was singly crown'd: XLVII. Juan was none of these, but slight and slim, And still more in his eye, which seem'd to express, That though he look'd one of the seraphim, There lurk'd a man beneath the spirit's dress. XLVIII. No wonder then that Yermoloff, or Momonoff, (1) "A yellow-coloured crystal, denominated from a hill in Inverness-shire, where it is found. This has been generally called the Scottish topaz: but it now gives place to another crystal of a far harder quality, found near Invercauld." Jamieson.-L. E. (2) He was the grande passion of the grande Catherine. See her Lives, under the head of "Lanskoi."-["Lanskoi was a youth of as fine and interesting a figure as the imagination can paint. Of all Catherine's favourites, he was the man whom she loved the most. His education having been neglected, she took the care of his improvement upon herself. In 1784, he was attacked with a fever, and perished, in the XLIX. O, gentle ladies! should you seek to know Which none divine, and every one obeys, Perhaps you may pick out some queer no meaning, Of that weak wordy harvest the sole gleaning. L. I think I can explain myself without That sad inexplicable beast of preyThat Sphinx, whose words would ever be a doubt, Did not his deeds unriddle them each dayThat monstrous hieroglyphic-that long spout Of blood and water, leaden Castlereagh! And here 1 must an anecdote relate, But luckily of no great length or weight. LI. An English lady ask'd of an Italian, What were the actual and official duties Whose statues warm (I fear, alas! too true 'tis) Beneath his art. The dame, press'd to disclose them, Said "Lady, I beseech you to suppose them." LII. And thus I supplicate your supposition, Of the imperial favourite's condition. 'Twas a high place, the highest in the nation In fact, if not in rank; and the suspicion Of any one's attaining to his station, No doubt gave pain, where each new pair of shoulders, If rather broad, made stocks rise and their holders. LIII. Juan, I said, was a most beauteous boy, And had retain'd his boyish look beyond The usual hirsute seasons which destroy, With beards and whiskers, and the like, the fond Parisian aspect which upset old Troy And founded Doctors' Commons:-I have conn'd The history of divorces, which, though chequer'd, Calls Ilion's the first damages on record. LIV. And Catherine, who loved all things (save her lord, flower of his age, in the arms of her majesty. When he was no more, Catherine gave herself up to the most poignant grief, and remained three months without going out of her palace of Tzarskoselo. She afterwards raised a superb monument to his memory, in the gardens of that imperial seat. Lanskoi's fortune was estimated at three million rubles. He bequeathed it to the empress, who returned it to the sisters of that fa. vourite, reserving only to herself the right of purchasing tha pictures, medals, and library." Tooke.-L. E. (3) This was written long before the suicide of that person. (4) See antè, p. 310.-P. E. Of sentiment; and he she most adored Was the lamented Lanskoi, who was such O thou "teterrima causa" of all "belli”—(1) May pause in pondering how all souls are dipp'd In thy perennial fountain:-how man fell, I Know not, since knowledge saw her branches stripp'd Of her first fruit; but how he falls and rises Since, thou hast settled beyond all surmises. LVI. Some call thee "the worst cause of war," but I Thou dost replenish worlds both great and small : Catherine, who was the grand epitome Of that great cause of war, or peace, or what The handsome herald, on whose plumage sat Then recollecting the whole empress, nor Forgetting quite the woman (which composed At least three parts of this great whole), she tore The letter open with an air which posed The court, that watch'd each look her visage wore, Until a royal smile at length disclosed Fair weather for the day. Though rather spacious, Her face was noble, her eyes fine, mouth gracious.(3) LIX. Great joy was hers, or rather joys: the first As an East Indian sunrise on the main. (1) Hor. Sat. lib. i. sat. iii,-L. E. (2) "The union of debauchery and ferocity which characterised Catherine are admirably depicted in her manner of feeding her ambition with the perusal of the dispatch, and gratifying her rising passion with the contemplation of Juan; who, in spite of the jealousy and murmurings of rival expectants and candidates, is fairly installed into the 'high official situation' of Catherine's favourite." Campbell.-L. E. (3) "Catherine had been handsome in her youth, and she preserved a gracefulness and majesty to the last period of her life. She was of a moderate stature, but well propor tioned; and, as she carried her head very high, she appeared rather tall. She had an open front, an aquiline nose, an agreeable mouth, and her chin, though long, was not misshapen. Her hair was auburn, her eyebrows black and LX. Her next amusement was more fanciful; She smiled at mad Suwarrow's rhymes, who thres Into a Russian couplet rather dull The whole gazette of thousands whom he slew. Her third was feminine enough to annul The shudder which runs naturally through Our veins, when things call'd sovereigns think it best To kill, and generals turn it into jest. LXI. The two first feelings ran their course complete, And lighted first her eye, and then her mouth: The whole court look'd immediately most sweet, Like flowers well water'd after a long drouth: But when on the lieutenant at her feet Her majesty, who liked to gaze on youth Almost as much as on a new despatch, Glanced mildly, all the world was on the watch. LXII. Though somewhat large, exuberant, and truculent, When wroth-while pleased, she was as finea figure As those who like things rosy, ripe, and succulent, Would wish to look on, while they are in vigour. She could repay each amatory look you lent With interest, and in turn was wont with rigor To exact of Cupid's bills the full amount At sight, nor would permit you to discount. LXIII. With her the latter, though at times convenient, Oh Catherine! (for of all interjections, To thee both oh! and ah! belong of right In love and war) how odd are the connections Of human thoughts, which jostle in their flight! rather thick, and her blue eyes had a gentleness which was often affected, but oftener still a mixture of pride. Her physiognomy was not deficient in expression; but this er pression never discovered what was passing in the sou Catherine, or rather it served her the better to disguise it" Tooke.-L. E. (4) "Suwarrow is as singular for the brevity of his style as for the rapidity of his conquests. On the taking Tour tourkaya, in Bulgaria, he actually wrote no more to the es press than two lines of Russ poetry:'Slawo Bogon, Slawo bowam, Glory to God, glory to you, Tourtourkaya aviala, ia tam. Tourtourkaya is taken, here am I.'" Tooke.-L.E. (5) "His fortune swells him, it is rank; he's married." Sir Giles Overreach; Massinger's New Way to pay Debts. Just now yours were cut out in different sections: First Ismail's capture caught your fancy quite; Next of new knights, the fresh and glorious batch; And thirdly he who brought you the despatch! LXVI. Shakspeare talks of "the herald Mercury New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill;" (1) And some such visions cross'd her majesty, While her young herald knelt before her still. Tis very true the hill seem'd rather high For a lieutenant to climb up; but skill [blessing Smooth'd even the Simplon's steep, and by God's With youth and health all kisses are "heaven-kissing." LXVII. Her majesty look'd down, the youth look'd up- Which makes one drunk at once, without the base Expedient of full bumpers; for the eye In love drinks all life's fountains (save tears) dry. He, on the other hand, if not in love, LXIX. Besides, he was of that delighted age Which makes all female ages equal-when We don't much care with whom we may engage, As bold as Daniel in the lion's den, So that we can our native sun assuage In the next ocean, which may flow just then, To make a twilight in, just as Sol's heat is Quench'd in the lap of the salt sea, or Thetis. LXX. And Catherine (we must say thus much for Catherine), A royal husband in all save the ring- LXXI. And when you add to this, her womanhood In its meridian, her blue eyes (3) or grey(The last, if they have soul, are quite as good, Or better, as the best examples say: (1) Hamlet, act iii. sc. iv.-L. E. (2) "Not Cæsar's empress would I deign to prove: No! make me mistress to the man I love." Pope: Eloisa.-L. E. (3) "Several persons who lived at the court affirm that Napoleon's, Mary's (4) (queen of Scotland), should Her sweet smile, and her then majestic figure, LXXIII. And that's enough, for love is vanity, A maddening spirit which would strive to blend Itself with beauty's frail inanity, On which the passion's self seems to depend: And hence some heathenish philosophers Make love the main-spring of the universe. LXXIV. Besides Platonic love, besides the love Of God, the love of sentiment, the loving Of faithful pairs-(I needs must rhyme with dove, That good old steam-boat which keeps verses moving 'Gainst reason-Reason ne'er was hand-and-glove With rhyme, but always lean'd less to improving The sound than sense)-besides all these pretences To love, there are those things which words name senses; LXXV. Those movements, those improvements in our bodies LXXVI. The noblest kind of love is love Platonical, To end or to begin with; the next grand Is that which may be christen'd love canonica!, Because the clergy take the thing in hand; The third sort to be noted in our chronicle As flourishing in every Christian land, Is, when chaste matrons to their other ties Add what may be call'd marriage in disguise. LXXVII. Well, we won't analyse-our story must Catherine had very blue eyes, and not grey, as M. Rulhières has stated." Tooke.-L. E. (4) See antè, p. 671.—P. E. (5) "Lust, through certain strainers well refined, Is gentle love, and charms all womankind." Pope.-L. E. |