On this Day I Complete my Thirty-Sixth Year

George Gordon Lord Byron 1788 (London) – 1824 (Missolonghi, Aetolia)



'Tis time the heart should be unmoved,
      Since others it hath ceased to move:
   Yet, though I cannot be beloved,
         Still let me love!

    My days are in the yellow leaf;
      The flowers and fruits of love are gone;
   The worm, the canker, and the grief
        Are mine alone!

    The fire that on my bosom preys
     Is lone as some volcanic isle;
  No torch is kindled at its blaze--
        A funeral pile.

   The hope, the fear, the jealous care,
     The exalted portion of the pain
  And power of love, I cannot share,
        But wear the chain.

   But 'tis not thus--and 'tis not here--
     Such thoughts should shake my soul nor now,
  Where glory decks the hero's bier,
        Or binds his brow.

   The sword, the banner, and the field,
     Glory and Greece, around me see!
  The Spartan, borne upon his shield,
        Was not more free.

   Awake! (not Greece--she is awake!)
     Awake, my spirit! Think through whom
  Thy life-blood tracks its parent lake,
        And then strike home!

   Tread those reviving passions down,
     Unworthy manhood!--unto thee
  Indifferent should the smile or frown
        Of beauty be.

   If thou regrett'st thy youth, why live?
     The land of honourable death
  Is here:--up to the field, and give
        Away thy breath!

   Seek out--less often sought than found--
     A soldier's grave, for thee the best;
  Then look around, and choose thy ground,
        And take thy rest.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

1:10 min read
172

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXXX AXAX BCBC DEDE FGFG HIHI JXJX KIKI XLXL MNMN
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,457
Words 233
Stanzas 10
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

George Gordon Lord Byron

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, known simply as Lord Byron, was an English poet, peer and politician who became a revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence, and is considered one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement. He is regarded as one of the greatest English poets and remains widely read and influential. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage; many of his shorter lyrics in Hebrew Melodies also became popular. He travelled extensively across Europe, especially in Italy, where he lived for seven years in the cities of Venice, Ravenna, and Pisa. During his stay in Italy he frequently visited his friend and fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Later in life Byron joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire and died of disease leading a campaign during that war, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died in 1824 at the age of 36 from a fever contracted after the First and Second Siege of Missolonghi. His only legitimate child, Ada Lovelace, is regarded as a foundational figure in the field of computer programming based on her notes for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. Byron's illegitimate children include Allegra Byron, who died in childhood, and possibly Elizabeth Medora Leigh.  more…

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