They found a royal feast,
His midnight banquet there;
And the treasures of the East
Lay beneath the Doric spear (1).
Then sat to (2) the repast
The bravest of the brave !
That feast must be their last,
That spot must be their grave.
They pledged (3) old Sparta's name
In cups of Syrian wine,
And the warriors' deathless fame
Was sung in strains divine.
They took the rose-wreath'd (4) lyres
From eunuch and from slave,
And taught the languid wires (5)
The sounds that freedom gave.
(1) The Doric spear, la lance du Grec. (2) To set to, se mettre à.
(3) To pledge, dans le langage des convives, signifie boire à la santé, à la renommée de , s'engager à défendre.
(4) Rose-wreathed , couronné de roses.
(5) The languid wires, les faibles cordes, les cordes voluptueuses,
détendues. (6) Twilight-brow, front mis à découvert par l'aube du jour.
And the Persian horn of war
From the hills began to blow.
Up rose the glorious rank,
To Greece one cup pour'd high (1) -
Then hand in hand they drank
To immortality!
Fear on King Xerxes fell,
When, like spirits from the tomb,
With shout and trumpet knell,
He saw the warriors come.
But down swept all his power,
With chariot and with charge;
Down pour'd the arrowy show'r (2),
Till sank the Dorian's targe (3).
They gathered round the tent,
With all their strength unstrung (4);
To Greece one look they sent,
Then on high their torches flung.
Their king sat on the throne,
His captains by his side,
(1) One cup poured high, une coupe remplie jusqu'aux bords.
(2) Arrowy shower, pluie de flèches.
(3) The Dorian's targe, les boucliers des Grees.
(4) Unstrung, détendu , épuisé,
WHERE IS HAPPINESS AND PERFECTION TO BE FOUND. 329
While the flame rush'd roaring on,
And their pæan (1) loud replied.
Thus fought the Greek of old !
Thus will he fight again!
Shall not the self-same mould
Bring forth the self-same men ?
WHERE IS HAPPINESS AND PERFECTION TO BE FOUND?
Beats there a heart no care is near,
No sorrow dare invade?
Glows there a cheek where never tear
Has taught the rose to fade?
Lives one in all this.scene below,
Where troubles stalk around,
Who from the very touch of woe
Has strange exemption found ?
With spirits lighter than the play
Of moonlight on the wave,
A frame where health with even sway (2)
Maintains the law she gave?
A mind in whose capacity
All science lives enrolled ?
i1) Pæan et lo pæan, cri de guerre ou de joie ; nom d'Apollon.
(2) Even sway, influence régulière.
A memory whose tenacity
Can all the past unfold (1) !
A soul where blazing genius breaks
In visions from on high,
And ever thinking fancy wakes
Her world of extacy?
No ! such exuberance of bliss
Was never in a world like this!
'Tis all a dream, a beau ideal
Seldom imagined, never real;
By reason crushed, as when you stir,
You break the filmy gossamer (2).
DESCRIPTION OF A LOVELY NIGHT.
It was a lovely night : the crescent moon,
(A bark of beauty on its dark blue sea ,)
Winning its way (3) amid the billowy clouds,
Unoar'd, unpiloted, moved on. The sky
Was studded thick with stars, which glitt'ring stream'd
An intermittent splendour through the heavens.
I turn'd my glance (4) to earth : the mountain winds
Were sleeping in their caves, and the wild sea
With its innumerous billows, melted down
(1) To unfold , déployer.
(2) The filmy gossamer, le léger fil de la bonne Vierge.
(3) Winning its way, faisant son chemin.
(4) Glance, regard, coup-d'ail.
331 To one unmoving mass , lay stretch'd beneath In deep tranced slumber; giving back The host above, with all its dazzling shene, To Fancy's ken (1), as though the luminous sky Had rain'd down stars upon its breast. Suddenly The scene grew dim: those living lights rush'd out (2), And the fair moon, with all her gorgeous train, Had vanish'd like the frost-work (3) of a dream (4).
All men are dreamers; from the hour
When reason first exerts her power,
Unmindful of its bitter sting
To some deceiving (5) hope we cling,
That hope 's a dream!
The brazen trumpet's clangour gives
The joy on which the warrior lives;
And, at his injured country's call,
He leaves his home, his friends and all -
For glory's dream!
The lover hangs on some bright eye,
(1) Ken , connaissance (peu usité par les Anglais, mais beau coup par les Écossais).
(2) Rushed out , s'éteignirent subilement.
(3) Frost-work, vision (au propre, ouvrage de glace).
(4) The modest author of these beautiful lines has not favoured us with his name.
(5) Deceiving , trompeur.
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