The works of Lord Byron A new, revised and enlarged edition, with illustrations. Edited by Ernest Hartley Coleridge and R. E. Prothero |
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 | The works of Lord Byron |  |
“ALL IS VANITY, SAITH THE PREACHER.”
I
Fame, Wisdom, Love, and Power were mine,And Health and Youth possessed me;
My goblets blushed from every vine,
And lovely forms caressed me;
I sunned my heart in Beauty's eyes,
And felt my soul grow tender;
All Earth can give, or mortal prize,
Was mine of regal splendour.
II
I strive to number o'er what daysRemembrance can discover,
Which all that Life or Earth displays
Would lure me to live over.
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Of pleasure unembittered;
And not a trapping decked my Power
That galled not while it glittered.
III
The serpent of the field, by artAnd spells, is won from harming;
But that which coils around the heart,
Oh! who hath power of charming?
It will not list to Wisdom's lore,
Nor Music's voice can lure it;
But there it stings for evermore
The soul that must endure it.
Seaham, 1815.
| The works of Lord Byron | |