22.
‘“Reproach not thine own soul, but know thyself,
Nor hate another’s crime, nor loathe thine own.
It is the dark idolatry of self, _3390
Which, when our thoughts and actions once are gone,
Demands that man should weep, and bleed, and groan;
Oh, vacant expiation! Be at rest.—
The past is Death’s, the future is thine own;
And love and joy can make the foulest breast _3395
A paradise of flowers, where peace might build her nest.
23.
‘“Speak thou! whence come ye?”—A Youth made reply:
“Wearily, wearily o’er the boundless deep
We sail;—thou readest well the misery
Told in these faded eyes, but much doth sleep _3400
Within, which there the poor heart loves to keep,
Or dare not write on the dishonoured brow;
Even from our childhood have we learned to steep
The bread of slavery in the tears of woe,
And never dreamed of hope or refuge until now. _3405
24.
‘“Yes—I must speak—my secret should have perished
Even with the heart it wasted, as a brand
Fades in the dying flame whose life it cherished,
But that no human bosom can withstand
Thee, wondrous Lady, and the mild command _3410
Of thy keen eyes:—yes, we are wretched slaves,
Who from their wonted loves and native land
Are reft, and bear o’er the dividing waves
The unregarded prey of calm and happy graves.
25.
‘“We drag afar from pastoral vales the fairest _3415
Among the daughters of those mountains lone,
We drag them there, where all things best and rarest
Are stained and trampled:—years have come and gone
Since, like the ship which bears me, I have known
No thought;—but now the eyes of one dear Maid _3420
On mine with light of mutual love have shone—
She is my life,—I am but as the shade
Of her,—a smoke sent up from ashes, soon to fade.
26.
‘“For she must perish in the Tyrant’s hall—
Alas, alas!”—He ceased, and by the sail _3425
Sate cowering—but his sobs were heard by all,
And still before the ocean and the gale
The ship fled fast till the stars ‘gan to fail;
And, round me gathered with mute countenance,
The Seamen gazed, the Pilot, worn and pale _3430
With toil, the Captain with gray locks, whose glance
Met mine in restless awe—they stood as in a trance.
27.
‘“Recede not! pause not now! Thou art grown old,
But Hope will make thee young, for Hope and Youth
Are children of one mother, even Love—behold! _3435
The eternal stars gaze on us!—is the truth
Within your soul? care for your own, or ruth
For others’ sufferings? do ye thirst to bear
A heart which not the serpent Custom’s tooth
May violate?—Be free! and even here, _3440
Swear to be firm till death!” They cried, “We swear! We swear!”
28.
‘The very darkness shook, as with a blast
Of subterranean thunder, at the cry;
The hollow shore its thousand echoes cast
Into the night, as if the sea and sky, _3445
And earth, rejoiced with new-born liberty,
For in that name they swore! Bolts were undrawn,
And on the deck, with unaccustomed eye
The captives gazing stood, and every one
Shrank as the inconstant torch upon her countenance shone. _3450
29.
‘They were earth’s purest children, young and fair,
With eyes the shrines of unawakened thought,
And brows as bright as Spring or Morning, ere
Dark time had there its evil legend wrought
In characters of cloud which wither not.— _3455
The change was like a dream to them; but soon
They knew the glory of their altered lot,
In the bright wisdom of youth’s breathless noon,
Sweet talk, and smiles, and sighs, all bosoms did attune.
30.
‘But one was mute; her cheeks and lips most fair, _3460
Changing their hue like lilies newly blown,
Beneath a bright acacia’s shadowy hair,
Waved by the wind amid the sunny noon,
Showed that her soul was quivering; and full soon
That Youth arose, and breathlessly did look _3465
On her and me, as for some speechless boon:
I smiled, and both their hands in mine I took,
And felt a soft delight from what their spirits shook.