“Sweet are thy groves, and verdant are thy fields;
Thine olive ripe as when Minerva smiled,
And still his honeyed wealth Hymettus yields.
There the blithe bee his fragrant fortress builds,
The free-born wanderer of the mountain air;
Apollo still thy long, long summer gilds,
Still in his beams Mendeli’s marbles glare,
Art, Glory, Freedom fail, but Nature still is fair.”
[65] I cite that part of the “Dream” which, though written much time after, was declared by the poet, and by both friends and foes, to represent faithfully his attitude—both moral and physical—on the occasion of his marriage.
[66] This poem appeared about the middle of April, 1816. The final break in his relations with Lady Byron had occurred, probably, in early February of the same year. On December 10, 1815, his daughter Ada was born; and on April 25th, next ensuing, he sailed away from England forever. Byron insisted that the poem (“Fare thee well”), though written in sincerity, was published against his inclinations, through the over-zeal of a friend.—Moore’s Life, p. 526, vol. i.