The works of Lord Byron :: :: University of Virginia Library

[AS THE AUTHOR WAS DISCHARGING HIS PISTOLS IN A GARDEN, TWO LADIES PASSING NEAR THE SPOT WERE ALARMED BY THE SOUND OF A BULLET HISSING NEAR THEM, TO ONE OF WHOM THE FOLLOWING STANZAS WERE ADDRESSED THE NEXT MORNING.]

1

Doubtless, sweet girl! the hissing lead,
Wafting destruction o'er thy charms
And hurtling o'er thy lovely head,
Has fill'd that breast with fond alarms.

2

Surely some envious Demon's force,
Vex'd to behold such beauty here,
Impell'd the bullet's viewless course,
Diverted from its first career.

3

Yes! in that nearly fatal hour,
The ball obey'd some hell-born guide;
But Heaven, with interposing power,
In pity turn'd the death aside.

4

Yet, as perchance one trembling tear
Upon that thrilling bosom fell;
Which I, th' unconscious cause of fear,
Extracted from its glistening cell;—

5

Say, what dire penance can atone
For such an outrage, done to thee?
Arraign'd before thy beauty's throne,
What punishment wilt thou decree?

6

Might I perform the Judge's part,
The sentence I should scarce deplore;
It only would restore a heart,
Which but belong'd to thee before.

7

The least atonement I can make
Is to become no longer free;
Henceforth, I breathe but for thy sake,
Thou shalt be all in all to me.

8

But thou, perhaps, may'st now reject
Such expiation of my guilt;
Come then—some other mode elect?
Let it be death—or what thou wilt.

9

Choose, then, relentless! and I swear
Nought shall thy dread decree prevent;
Yet hold—one little word forbear!
Let it be aught but banishment.

This word is used by Gray in his poem to the Fatal Sisters:—

“Iron-sleet of arrowy shower
Hurtles in the darken'd air.”