Don Juan

Canto the Seventh

CANTO THE SEVENTH.[364]

I.

O LOVE! O Glory! what are ye who fly

Around us ever, rarely to alight?

There's not a meteor in the polar sky

Of such transcendent and more fleeting flight.

Chill, and chained to cold earth, we lift on high

Our eyes in search of either lovely light;

A thousand and a thousand colours they

Assume, then leave us on our freezing way.

II.

And such as they are, such my present tale is,

A nondescript and ever-varying rhyme,

A versified Aurora Borealis,

Which flashes o'er a waste and icy clime.

When we know what all are, we must bewail us,

But ne'ertheless I hope it is no crime

To laugh at _all_ things--for I wish to know

_What_, after _all_, are _all_ things--but a _show_?

III.

They accuse me--_Me_--the present writer of

The present poem--of--I know not what--A

tendency to under-rate and scoff

At human power and virtue, and all that;[365]

And this they say in language rather rough.

Good God! I wonder what they would be at!

I say no more than hath been said in Dant's

Verse, and by Solomon and by Cervantes;

IV.

By Swift, by Machiavel, by Rochefoucault,

By Fnlon, by Luther, and by Plato;[hh]

By Tillotson, and Wesley, and Rousseau,

Who knew this life was not worth a potato.

'T is not their fault, nor mine, if this be so,--

For my part, I pretend not to be Cato,

Nor even Diogenes.--We live and die,

But which is best, _you_ know no more than I.

V.

Socrates said, our only knowledge was[366]

"To know that nothing could be known;" a pleasant

Science enough, which levels to an ass

Each man of wisdom, future, past, or present.

Newton (that proverb of the mind), alas!

Declared, with all his grand discoveries recent,

That he himself felt only "like a youth

Picking up shells by the great ocean--Truth."[hi][367]

VI.

Ecclesiastes said, "that all is vanity"--

Most modern preachers say the same, or show it

By their examples of true Christianity:

In short, all know, or very soon may know it;

And in this scene of all-confessed inanity,

By Saint, by Sage, by Preacher, and by Poet,

Must I restrain me, through the fear of strife,

From holding up the nothingness of Life?[hj]

VII.

Dogs, or men!--for I flatter you[368] in saying

That ye are dogs--your betters far--ye may

Read, or read not, what I am now essaying

To show ye what ye are in every way.

As little as the moon stops for the baying

Of wolves, will the bright Muse withdraw one ray

From out her skies--then howl your idle wrath!

While she still silvers o'er your gloomy path.

VIII.

"Fierce loves and faithless wars"--I am not sure

If this be the right reading--'t is no matter;

The fact's about the same, I am secure;

I sing them both, and am about to batter

A town which did a famous siege endure,

And was beleaguered both by land and water

By Souvaroff,[369] or Anglic Suwarrow,

Who loved blood as an alderman loves marrow.

IX.

The fortress is called Ismail, and is placed

Upon the Danube's left branch and left bank,[370]

With buildings in the Oriental taste,

But still a fortress of the foremost rank,

Or was at least, unless 't is since defaced,

Which with your conquerors is a common prank:

It stands some eighty versts from the high sea,

And measures round of toises thousands three.[371]

X.

Within the extent of this fortification

A borough is comprised along the height

Upon the left, which from its loftier station

Commands the city, and upon its site

A Greek had raised around this elevation

A quantity of palisades _upright_,

So placed as to _impede_ the fire of those

Who held the place, and to _assist_ the foe's.[372]

XI.

This circumstance may serve to give a notion

Of the high talents of this new Vauban:

But the town ditch below was deep as Ocean,

The rampart higher than you'd wish to hang:

But then there was a great want of precaution

(Prithee, excuse this engineering slang),

Nor work advanced, nor covered way was there,[373]

To hint, at least, "Here is no thoroughfare."

XII.

But a stone bastion, with a narrow gorge,

And walls as thick as most skulls born as yet;

Two batteries, cap--pie, as our St. George,

Casemated[374] one, and t' other "a barbette,"[375]

Of Danube's bank took formidable charge;

While two-and-twenty cannon duly set

Rose over the town's right side, in bristling tier,

Forty feet high, upon a cavalier.[376]

XIII.

But from the river the town's open quite,

Because the Turks could never be persuaded

A Russian vessel e'er would heave in sight;[377]

And such their creed was till they were invaded,

When it grew rather late to set things right:

But as the Danube could not well be waded,

They looked upon the Muscovite flotilla,

And only shouted, "Allah!" and "Bis Millah!"

XIV.

The Russians now were ready to attack;

But oh, ye goddesses of War and Glory!

How shall I spell the name of each Cossacque

Who were immortal, could one tell their story?

Alas! what to their memory can lack?

Achilles' self was not more grim and gory

Than thousands of this new and polished nation,

Whose names want nothing but--pronunciation.

XV.

Still I'll record a few, if but to increase

Our euphony: there was Strongenoff, and Strokonoff,

Meknop, Serge Lwow, Arsniew of modern Greece,

And Tschitsshakoff, and Roguenoff, and Chokenoff,[378]

And others of twelve consonants apiece;

And more might be found out, if I could poke enough

Into gazettes; but Fame (capricious strumpet),

It seems, has got an ear as well as trumpet,

XVI.

And cannot tune those discords of narration,[hk]

Which may be names at Moscow, into rhyme;

Yet there were several worth commemoration,

As e'er was virgin of a nuptial chime;

Soft words, too, fitted for the peroration

Of Londonderry drawling against time,

Ending in "ischskin," "ousckin," "iffskchy," "ouski,"

Of whom we can insert but Rousamouski,[379]

XVII.

Scherematoff and Chrematoff, Koklophti,

Koclobski, Kourakin, and Mouskin Pouskin,

All proper men of weapons, as e'er scoffed high[380]

Against a foe, or ran a sabre through skin:

Little cared they for Mahomet or Mufti,

Unless to make their kettle-drums a new skin

Out of their hides, if parchment had grown dear,

And no more handy substitute been near.

XVIII.

Then there were foreigners of much renown,

Of various nations, and all volunteers;

Not fighting for their country or its crown,

But wishing to be one day brigadiers;

Also to have the sacking of a town;--

A pleasant thing to young men at their years.

'Mongst them were several Englishmen of pith,

Sixteen called Thomson, and nineteen named Smith.

XIX.

Jack Thomson and Bill Thomson;--all the rest

Had been called _"Jemmy,"_ after the great bard;

I don't know whether they had arms or crest,

But such a godfather's as good a card.

Three of the Smiths were Peters; but the best

Amongst them all, hard blows to inflict or ward,

Was _he_, since so renowned "in country quarters

At Halifax;"[381] but now he served the Tartars.

XX.

The rest were Jacks and Gills and Wills and Bills,

But when I've added that the elder Jack Smith

Was born in Cumberland among the hills,

And that his father was an honest blacksmith,

I've said all _I_ know of a name that fills

Three lines of the despatch in taking "Schmacksmith,"

A village of Moldavia's waste, wherein

He fell, immortal in a bulletin.

XXI.

I wonder (although Mars no doubt's a god I

Praise) if a man's name in a _bulletin_

May make up for a _bullet in_ his body?

I hope this little question is no sin,

Because, though I am but a simple noddy,

I think one Shakespeare puts the same thought in

The mouth of some one in his plays so doting,

Which many people pass for wits by quoting.[382]

XXII.

Then there were Frenchmen, gallant, young, and gay;

But I'm too great a patriot to record

Their Gallic names upon a glorious day;

I'd rather tell ten lies than say a word

Of truth;--such truths are treason; they betray

Their country; and as traitors are abhorred,

Who name the French in English, save to show

How Peace should make John Bull the Frenchman's foe.

XXIII.

The Russians, having built two batteries on

An isle near Ismail, had two ends in view;

The first was to bombard it, and knock down

The public buildings and the private too,

No matter what poor souls might be undone:[hl]

The city's shape suggested this, 't is true,

Formed like an amphitheatre--each dwelling

Presented a fine mark to throw a shell in.[383]

XXIV.

The second object was to profit by

The moment of the general consternation,

To attack the Turk's flotilla, which lay nigh

Extremely tranquil, anchored at its station:

But a third motive was as probably

To frighten them into capitulation;[384]

A phantasy which sometimes seizes warriors,

Unless they are game as bull-dogs and fox-terriers.[hm]

XXV.

A habit rather blameable, which is

That of despising those we combat with,

Common in many cases, was in this

The cause[385] of killing Tchitchitzkoff and Smith--

One of the valorous "Smiths" whom we shall miss

Out of those nineteen who late rhymed to "pith;"

But 't is a name so spread o'er "Sir" and "Madam,"

That one would think the _first_ who bore it _"Adam."_

XXVI.

The Russian batteries were incomplete,

Because they were constructed in a hurry;[386]

Thus the same cause which makes a verse want feet,

And throws a cloud o'er Longman and John Murray,

When the sale of new books is not so fleet

As they who print them think is necessary,

May likewise put off for a time what story

Sometimes calls "Murder," and at others "Glory."

XXVII.

Whether it was their engineer's stupidity,

Their haste or waste, I neither know nor care,

Or some contractor's personal cupidity,

Saving his soul by cheating in the ware

Of homicide, but there was no solidity

In the new batteries erected there;

They either missed, or they were never missed,

And added greatly to the missing list.

XXVIII.

A sad miscalculation about distance

Made all their naval matters incorrect;

Three fireships lost their amiable existence

Before they reached a spot to take effect;

The match was lit too soon, and no assistance

Could remedy this lubberly defect;

They blew up in the middle of the river,

While, though 't was dawn, the Turks slept fast as ever.[387]

XXIX.

At seven they rose, however, and surveyed

The Russ flotilla getting under way;

'T was nine, when still advancing undismayed,

Within a cable's length their vessels lay

Off Ismail, and commenced a cannonade,

Which was returned with interest, I may say,

And by a fire of musketry and grape,

And shells and shot of every size and shape.[388]

XXX.

For six hours bore they without intermission

The Turkish fire, and, aided by their own

Land batteries, worked their guns with great precision;

At length they found mere cannonade alone

By no means would produce the town's submission,

And made a signal to retreat at one.

One bark blew up, a second near the works

Running aground, was taken by the Turks.[389]

XXXI.

The Moslem, too, had lost both ships and men;

But when they saw the enemy retire,

Their Delhis[390] manned some boats, and sailed again,

And galled the Russians with a heavy fire,

And tried to make a landing on the main;

But here the effect fell short of their desire:

Count Damas drove them back into the water

Pell-mell, and with a whole gazette of slaughter.[391]

XXXII.

"If" (says the historian here) "I could report

All that the Russians did upon this day,

I think that several volumes would fall short,

And I should still have many things to say;"[392]

And so he says no more--but pays his court

To some distinguished strangers in that fray;

The Prince de Ligne, and Langeron, and Damas,

Names great as any that the roll of Fame has.[393]

XXXIII.

This being the case, may show us what Fame _is_:

For out of these three "_preux Chevaliers_," how

Many of common readers give a guess

That such existed? (and they may live now

For aught we know.) Renown's all hit or miss;

There's fortune even in Fame, we must allow.

'T is true, the Memoirs of the Prince de Ligne[394]

Have half withdrawn from _him_ Oblivion's screen.

XXXIV.

But here are men who fought in gallant actions

As gallantly as ever heroes fought,

But buried in the heap of such transactions

Their names are rarely found, nor often sought.

Thus even good fame may suffer sad contractions,

And is extinguished sooner than she ought:

Of all our modern battles, I will bet

You can't repeat nine names from each Gazette.

XXXV.

In short, this last attack, though rich in glory,

Showed that _somewhere, somehow_, there was a fault,

And Admiral Ribas[395] (known in Russian story)

Most strongly recommended an assault;

In which he was opposed by young and hoary,

Which made a long debate; but I must halt,

For if I wrote down every warrior's speech,

I doubt few readers e'er would mount the breach.

XXXVI.

There was a man, if that he was a man,

Not that his manhood could be called in question,

For had he not been Hercules, his span

Had been as short in youth as indigestion

Made his last illness, when, all worn and wan,

He died beneath a tree, as much unblest on

The soil of the green province he had wasted,

As e'er was locust on the land it blasted.

XXXVII.

This was Potemkin[396]--a great thing in days

When homicide and harlotry made great;

If stars and titles could entail long praise,

His glory might half equal his estate.

This fellow, being six foot high, could raise

A kind of phantasy proportionate

In the then Sovereign of the Russian people,

Who measured men as you would do a steeple.

XXXVIII.

While things were in abeyance, Ribas sent

A courier to the Prince, and he succeeded

In ordering matters after his own bent;

I cannot tell the way in which he pleaded,

But shortly he had cause to be content.

In the mean time, the batteries proceeded,

And fourscore cannon on the Danube's border

Were briskly fired and answered in due order.[397]

XXXIX.

But on the thirteenth, when already part

Of the troops were embarked, the siege to raise,

A courier on the spur inspired new heart

Into all panters for newspaper praise,[hn]

As well as dilettanti in War's art,

By his despatches (couched in pithy phrase)

Announcing the appointment of that lover of

Battles to the command, Field-Marshal Souvaroff.[398]

XL.

The letter of the Prince to the same Marshal

Was worthy of a Spartan, had the cause

Been one to which a good heart could be partial--

Defence of freedom, country, or of laws;

But as it was mere lust of Power to o'er-arch all

With its proud brow, it merits slight applause,

Save for its style, which said, all in a trice,

"You will take Ismail at whatever price."[399]

XLI.

"Let there be Light! said God, and there was Light!"

"Let there be Blood!" says man, and there's a sea!

The fiat of this spoiled child of the Night

(For Day ne'er saw his merits) could decree

More evil in an hour, than thirty bright

Summers could renovate, though they should be

Lovely as those which ripened Eden's fruit;

For War cuts up not only branch, but root.

XLII.

Our friends, the Turks, who with loud "Allahs" now

Began to signalise the Russ retreat,[400]

Were damnably mistaken; few are slow

In thinking that their enemy is beat,[401]

(Or _beaten_, if you insist on grammar, though

I never think about it in a heat,)

But here I say the Turks were much mistaken,

Who hating hogs, yet wished to save their bacon.

XLIII.

For, on the sixteenth, at full gallop, drew

In sight two horsemen, who were deemed Cossacques

For some time, till they came in nearer view:

They had but little baggage at their backs,

For there were but _three_ shirts between the two;

But on they rode upon two Ukraine hacks,

Till, in approaching, were at length descried

In this plain pair, Suwarrow and his guide.[402]

XLIV.

"Great joy to London now!" says some great fool,

When London had a grand illumination,

Which to that bottle-conjuror, John Bull,

Is of all dreams the first hallucination;

So that the streets of coloured lamps are full,

That sage (said John) surrenders at discretion[ho]

His purse, his soul, his sense, and even his nonsense,

To gratify, like a huge moth, this _one_ sense.

XLV.

'T is strange that he should further "Damn his eyes,"

For they are damned; that once all-famous oath

Is to the Devil now no further prize,

Since John has lately lost the use of both.

Debt he calls Wealth, and taxes Paradise;

And Famine, with her gaunt and bony growth,

Which stare him in the face, he won't examine,

Or swears that Ceres hath begotten Famine.

XLVI.

But to the tale;--great joy unto the camp!

To Russian, Tartar, English, French, Cossacque,

O'er whom Suwarrow shone like a gas lamp,

Presaging a most luminous attack;

Or like a wisp along the marsh so damp,

Which leads beholders on a boggy walk,

He flitted to and fro a dancing light,

Which all who saw it followed, wrong or right.

XLVII.

But, certes, matters took a different face;

There was enthusiasm and much applause,

The fleet and camp saluted with great grace,

And all presaged good fortune to their cause.

Within a cannot-shot length of the place

They drew, constructed ladders, repaired flaws

In former works, made new, prepared fascines,

And all kinds of benevolent machines.

XLVIII.

'T is thus the spirit of a single mind

Makes that of multitudes take one direction,

As roll the waters to the breathing wind,

Or roams the herd beneath the bull's protection;

Or as a little dog will lead the blind,

Or a bell-wether form the flock's connection

By tinkling sounds, when they go forth to victual;

Such is the sway of your great men o'er little.

XLIX.

The whole camp rung with joy; you would have thought

That they were going to a marriage feast

(This metaphor, I think, holds good as aught,

Since there is discord after both at least):

There was not now a luggage boy but sought

Danger and spoil with ardour much increased;

And why? because a little--odd--old man,

Stripped to his shirt, was come to lead the van.

L.

But so it was; and every preparation

Was made with all alacrity: the first

Detachment of three columns took its station,

And waited but the signal's voice to burst

Upon the foe: the second's ordination

Was also in three columns, with a thirst

For Glory gaping o'er a sea of Slaughter:

The third, in columns two, attacked by water.[403]

LI.

New batteries were erected, and was held

A general council, in which Unanimity,

That stranger to most councils, here prevailed,[404]

As sometimes happens in a great extremity;[hp]

And every difficulty being dispelled,

Glory began to dawn with due sublimity,[hq]

While Souvaroff, determined to obtain it,

Was teaching his recruits to use the bayonet.[405]

LII.

It is an actual fact, that he, commander

In chief, in proper person deigned to drill

The awkward squad, and could afford to squander

His time, a corporal's duty to fulfil;

Just as you'd break a sucking salamander

To swallow flame, and never take it ill:[hr]

He showed them how to mount a ladder (which

Was not like Jacob's) or to cross a ditch.[406]

LIII.

Also he dressed up, for the nonce, fascines

Like men with turbans, scimitars, and dirks,

And made them charge with bayonet these machines,

By way of lesson against actual Turks;[407]

And when well practised in these mimic scenes,

He judged them proper to assail the works,--

(At which your wise men sneered in phrases witty),[hs]

He made no answer--but he took the city.

LIV.

Most things were in this posture on the eve

Of the assault, and all the camp was in

A stern repose; which you would scarce conceive;

Yet men resolved to dash through thick and thin

Are very silent when they once believe

That all is settled:--there was little din,

For some were thinking of their home and friends,

And others of themselves and latter ends.[ht]

LV.

Suwarrow chiefly was on the alert,

Surveying, drilling, ordering, jesting, pondering;

For the man was, we safely may assert,

A thing to wonder at beyond most wondering;

Hero, buffoon, half-demon, and half-dirt,

Praying, instructing, desolating, plundering--Now

Mars, now Momus--and when bent to storm

A fortress, Harlequin in uniform.[408]

LVI.

The day before the assault, while upon drill--

For this great conqueror played the corporal--

Some Cossacques, hovering like hawks round a hill,

Had met a party towards the Twilight's fall,

One of whom spoke their tongue--or well or ill,

'T was much that he was understood at all;

But whether from his voice, or speech, or manner,

They found that he had fought beneath their banner.

LVII.

Whereon immediately at his request

They brought him and his comrades to head-quarters;

Their dress was Moslem, but you might have guessed

That these were merely masquerading Tartars,

And that beneath each Turkish-fashioned vest

Lurked Christianity--which sometimes barters

Her inward grace for outward show, and makes

It difficult to shun some strange mistakes.

LVIII.

Suwarrow, who was standing in his shirt

Before a company of Calmucks, drilling,

Exclaiming, fooling, swearing at the inert,

And lecturing on the noble art of killing,--

For deeming human clay but common dirt

This great philosopher was thus instilling

His maxims,[409] which to martial comprehension

Proved death in battle equal to a pension;--

LIX.

Suwarrow, when he saw this company

Of Cossacques and their prey, turned round and cast

Upon them his slow brow and piercing eye:--

"Whence come ye?"--"From Constantinople last,

Captives just now escaped," was the reply.

"What are ye?"--"What you see us." Briefly passed

This dialogue; for he who answered knew

To whom he spoke, and made his words but few.

LX.

"Your names?"--"Mine's Johnson, and my comrade's Juan;

The other two are women, and the third

Is neither man nor woman." The Chief threw on

The party a slight glance, then said," I have heard

_Your_ name before, the second is a new one:

To bring the other three here was absurd:

But let that pass:--I think I have heard your name

In the Nikolaiew regiment?"--"The same."

LXI.

"You served at Widdin?"--"Yes."--"You led the attack?"

"I did."--"What next?"--"I really hardly know"--

"You were the first i' the breach?"--"I was not slack

At least to follow those who might be so"--"What

followed?"--"A shot laid me on my back,

And I became a prisoner to the foe"--

"You shall have vengeance, for the town surrounded

Is twice as strong as that where you were wounded.

LXII.

"Where will you serve?"--"Where'er you please."--"I know

You like to be the hope of the forlorn,

And doubtless would be foremost on the foe

After the hardships you've already borne.

And this young fellow--say what can he do?

He with the beardless chin and garments torn?"--

"Why, General, if he hath no greater fault

In War than Love, he had better lead the assault"--

LXIII.

"He shall if that he dare." Here Juan bowed

Low as the compliment deserved. Suwarrow

Continued: "Your old regiment's allowed,

By special providence, to lead to-morrow,

Or, it may be, to-night, the assault: I have vowed

To several Saints, that shortly plough or harrow

Shall pass o'er what was Ismail, and its tusk[410]

Be unimpeded by the proudest mosque.

LXIV.

"So now, my lads, for Glory!"--Here he turned

And drilled away in the most classic Russian,

Until each high heroic bosom burned

For cash and conquest, as if from a cushion

A preacher had held forth (who nobly spurned

All earthly goods save tithes) and bade them push on

To slay the Pagans who resisted, battering

The armies of the Christian Empress Catherine.

LXV.

Johnson, who knew by this long colloquy

Himself a favourite, ventured to address

Suwarrow, though engaged with accents high

In his resumed amusement. "I confess

My debt in being thus allowed to die

Among the foremost; but if you'd express

Explicitly our several posts, my friend

And self would know what duty to attend."

LXVI.

"Right! I was busy, and forgot. Why, you

Will join your former regiment, which should be

Now under arms. Ho! Katskoff, take him to"--

(Here he called up a Polish orderly)

"His post, I mean the regiment Nikolaiew:

The stranger stripling may remain with me;

He's a fine boy. The women may be sent

To the other baggage, or to the sick tent."

LXVII.

But here a sort of scene began to ensue:

The ladies,--who by no means had been bred

To be disposed of in a way so new,

Although their Harem education led,

Doubtless, to that of doctrines the most true,

Passive obedience,--now raised up the head

With flashing eyes and starting tears, and flung

Their arms, as hens their wings about their young,

LXVIII.

O'er the promoted couple of brave men

Who were thus honoured by the greatest Chief

That ever peopled Hell with heroes slain,

Or plunged a province or a realm in grief.

Oh, foolish mortals! Always taught in vain!

Oh, glorious Laurel! since for one sole leaf

Of thine imaginary deathless tree,

Of blood and tears must flow the unebbing sea.[hu]

LXIX.

Suwarrow, who had small regard for tears,

And not much sympathy for blood, surveyed

The women with their hair about their ears

And natural agonies, with a slight shade

Of feeling: for however Habit sears

Men's hearts against whole millions, when their trade

Is butchery, sometimes a single sorrow

Will touch even heroes--and such was Suwarrow.

LXX.

He said,--and in the kindest Calmuck tone,--

"Why, Johnson, what the devil do you mean

By bringing women here? They shall be shown

All the attention possible, and seen

In safety to the waggons, where alone

In fact they can be safe. You should have been

Aware this kind of baggage never thrives;

Save wed a year, I hate recruits with wives"--

LXXI.

"May it please your Excellency," thus replied

Our British friend, "these are the wives of others,

And not our own. I am too qualified

By service with my military brothers

To break the rules by bringing one's own bride

Into a camp: I know that nought so bothers

The hearts of the heroic on a charge,

As leaving a small family at large.

LXXII.

"But these are but two Turkish ladies, who

With their attendant aided our escape,

And afterwards accompanied us through

A thousand perils in this dubious shape.

To me this kind of life is not so new;

To them, poor things, it is an awkward scrape:

I therefore, if you wish me to fight freely,

Request that they may both be used genteelly."

LXXIII.

Meantime these two poor girls, with swimming eyes,

Looked on as if in doubt if they could trust

Their own protectors; nor was their surprise

Less than their grief (and truly not less just)

To see an old man, rather wild than wise

In aspect, plainly clad, besmeared with dust,

Stripped to his waistcoat, and that not too clean,

More feared than all the Sultans ever seen.

LXXIV.

For everything seemed resting on his nod,

As they could read in all eyes. Now to them,

Who were accustomed, as a sort of god,

To see the Sultan, rich in many a gem,

Like an imperial peacock stalk abroad

(That royal bird, whose tail's a diadem,)

With all the pomp of Power, it was a doubt

How Power could condescend to do without.

LXXV.

John Johnson, seeing their extreme dismay,

Though little versed in feelings oriental,

Suggested some slight comfort in his way:

Don Juan, who was much more sentimental,

Swore they should see him by the dawn of day,

Or that the Russian army should repent all:

And, strange to say, they found some consolation

In this--for females like exaggeration.

LXXVI.

And then with tears, and sighs, and some slight kisses,

They parted for the present--these to await,

According to the artillery's hits or misses,

What sages call Chance, Providence, or Fate--

(Uncertainty is one of many blisses,

A mortgage on Humanity's estate;)[hv]

While their belovd friends began to arm,

To burn a town which never did them harm.

LXXVII.

Suwarrow,--who but saw things in the gross.

Being much too gross to see them in detail,

Who calculated life as so much dross,

And as the wind a widowed nation's wail,

And cared as little for his army's loss

(So that their efforts should at length prevail)

As wife and friends did for the boils of Job,--

What was 't to him to hear two women sob?

LXXVIII.

Nothing.--The work of Glory still went on

In preparations for a cannonade

As terrible as that of Ilion,

If Homer had found mortars ready made;

But now, instead of slaying Priam's son,

We only can but talk of escalade,

Bombs, drums, guns, bastions, batteries, bayonets, bullets--

Hard words, which stick in the soft Muses' gullets.

LXXIX.

Oh, thou eternal Homer! who couldst charm

All ears, though long; all ages, though so short,

By merely wielding with poetic arm

Arms to which men will never more resort,

Unless gunpowder should be found to harm

Much less than is the hope of every court,

Which now is leagued young Freedom to annoy;

But they will not find Liberty a Troy:--

LXXX.

Oh, thou eternal Homer! I have now

To paint a siege, wherein more men were slain,

With deadlier engines and a speedier blow,

Than in thy Greek gazette of that campaign;

And yet, like all men else, I must allow,

To vie with thee would be about as vain

As for a brook to cope with Ocean's flood,--

But still we moderns equal you in blood:[hw]

LXXXI.

If not in poetry, at least in fact;

And fact is Truth, the grand desideratum!

Of which, howe'er the Muse describes each act,

There should be ne'ertheless a slight substratum.

But now the town is going to be attacked;

Great deeds are doing--how shall I relate 'em?

Souls of immortal Generals! Phoebus watches

To colour up his rays from your despatches.[hx]

LXXXII.

Oh, ye great bulletins of Bonaparte!

Oh, ye less grand long lists of killed and wounded!

Shade of Leonidas, who fought so hearty,

When my poor Greece was once, as now, surrounded!

Oh, Csar's Commentaries! now impart, ye

Shadows of Glory! (lest I be confounded),

A portion of your fading twilight hues--

So beautiful, so fleeting--to the Muse.

LXXXIII.

When I call "fading" martial immortality,

I mean, that every age and every year,

And almost every day, in sad reality,

Some sucking hero is compelled to rear,

Who, when we come to sum up the totality

Of deeds to human happiness most dear,

Turns out to be a butcher in great business,

Afflicting young folks with a sort of dizziness.

LXXXIV.

Medals, rank, ribands, lace, embroidery, scarlet,

Are things immortal to immortal man,

As purple to the Babylonian harlot;[hy]

An uniform to boys is like a fan

To women; there is scarce a crimson varlet

But deems himself the first in Glory's van.

But Glory's glory; and if you would find

What _that_ is--ask the pig who sees the wind!

LXXXV.

At least _he feels it_, and some say he _sees_,

Because he runs before it like a pig;

Or, if that simple sentence should displease,

Say, that he scuds before it like a brig,

A schooner, or--but it is time to ease

This Canto, ere my Muse perceives fatigue.

The next shall ring a peal to shake all people,

Like a bob-major from a village steeple.

LXXXVI.

Hark! through the silence of the cold, dull night,

The hum of armies gathering rank on rank!

Lo! dusky masses steal in dubious sight

Along the leaguered wall and bristling bank

Of the armed river, while with straggling light

The stars peep through the vapours dim and dank,

Which curl in various wreaths:--how soon the smoke

Of Hell shall pall them in a deeper cloak!

LXXXVII.

Here pause we for the present--as even then

That awful pause, dividing Life from Death,

Struck for an instant on the hearts of men,--

Thousands of whom were drawing their last breath!

A moment--and all will be Life again!

The march! the charge! the shouts of either faith,

Hurrah! and Allah! and one moment more--

The death-cry drowning in the Battle's roar.[hz][411]

{302}[364] ["These [the seventh and eighth] Cantos contain a full detail

(like the storm in Canto Second) of the siege and assault of Ismael,

with much of sarcasm on those butchers in large business, your mercenary

soldiery.... With these things and these fellows it is necessary, in the

present clash of philosophy and tyranny, to throw away the scabbard. I

know it is against fearful odds; but the battle must be fought; and it

will be eventually for the good of mankind, whatever it may be for the

individual who risks himself."--Letter to Moore, August 8, 1822,

_Letters_, 1901, vi. 101.]

[365] [Byron attributes this phrase to Orator Henley (_Letters_, 1898,

i. 227); and to Bayes in the Duke of Buckingham's play, _The Rehearsal_

(_Letters_, 1901, v. 80).]

[367] ["Sir Isaac Newton, a little before he died, said, 'I don't know

what I may seem to the world; but, as to myself, I seem to have been

only like a boy playing on the sea shore, and diverting myself in now

and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary

whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before

me.'"--Spence, _Anecdotes_ (quoting Chevalier Ramsay), 1858, p. 40.]

[369] [Aleksandr Vasilievitch Suvroff (1729-1800) opened his attack on

Ismail, November 30, 1790. His forces, including Kossacks, exceeded

27,000 men.--_Essai sur l'Histoire Ancienne et Moderne de la Nouvelle

Russie_, par le Marquis Gabriel de Castelnau, 1827, ii. 201.]

{305}[371] [----" peu prs quatre-vingts verstes de la mer: elle a

prs de trois milles toises de tour."--_Hist. de la Nouvelle Russie_,

ii. 201.]

[372] ["On a compris dans ces fortifications un faubourg moldave, situ

la gauche de la ville, sur une hauteur qui la domine: l'ouvrage a t

termin par un Grec. Pour donner une ide des talens de cet ingnieur,

il suffira de dire qu'il fit placer les palissades perpendiculairement

sur le parapet, de manire qu'elles favorisaient les assigeans, et

arrtaient le feu des assigs."--_Ibid._, p. 202.]

[373] ["Le rempart en terre est prodigieusement lev cause de

l'immense profondeur du foss; il est cependant absolument rasant: il

n'y a ni ouvrage avanc, ni chemin couvert."--_Ibid._, p. 202.]

[374] [Casemate is a work made under the rampart, like a cellar or cave,

with loopholes to place guns in it, and is bomb proof.--_Milit. Dict._]

[375] [When the breastwork of a battery is only of such height that the

guns may fire over it without being obliged to make embrasures, the guns

are said to fire in barbet.--_Ibid._]

{306}[376] ["Un bastion de pierres, ouvert par une gorge trs-troite,

et dont les murailles son fort paisses, a une batterie casemate et une

barbette; il dfend la rive du Danube. Du ct droit de la ville est

un cavalier de quarante pieds d'lvation pic, garni de vingt-deux

pices de canon, et qui dfend la partie gauche."--_Hist. de la Nouvelle

Russie_, ii. 202.]

[377] ["Du ct du fleuve, la ville est absolument ouverte; les Turcs ne

croyaient pas que les Russes pussent jamais avoir une flotille dans le

Danube."--_Ibid._, p. 203.]

[378] [Meknop [supposed to be a corruption of McNab], etc., in line

three, are real names: Strongenoff stands for Strogonof, Tschitsshakoff

for Tchitchagof, and, perhaps, Chokenoff for Tchoglokof.]

[379] ["La premire attaque tait compose de trois colonnes, commandes

par les lieutenans-generaux Paul Potiemkin, Serge Lwow, les

gnraux-majors Maurice Lascy, Thodore Meknop.... Trois autres colonnes

... avaient pour chefs le comte de Samolow, les gnraux lie de

Bezborodko, Michel Koutousow; les brigadiers Orlow, Platow,

Ribaupierre.... La troisime attaque par eau n'avait que deux colonnes,

sous les ordres des gnraux-majors Ribas et Arsniew, des brigadiers

Markoff et Tchpga," etc.--_Hist. de la Nouvelle Russie_, ii. 207.

[380] [Count Boris Petrowitch Scheremetov, Russian general, died 1819;

Prince Alexis Borisovitch Kourakin (1759-1829), and Count Alexis

Iwanowitch Moussine-Pouschkine (1744-1817) were distinguished statesmen;

Chrematoff is, perhaps, a rhyming double of Scherematoff, and Koklophti

"a match-piece" to Koclobski.]

"A Captain bold, in Halifax,

That dwelt in country quarters,

Seduc'd a maid who hang'd herself

One Monday in her garters."

"While to my shame I see

The imminent death of twenty thousand men,

That for a fantasy and trick of fame

Go to their graves like beds."

[383] ["On s'tait propos deux buts galement avantageux, par la

construction de deux batteries sur l'le qui avoisine Ismal: le

premier, de bombarder la place, d'en abattre les principaux difices

avec du canon de quarante-huit, effet d'autant plus probable, que la

ville tant btie en amphithtre, presque aucun coup ne serait

perdu."--_Hist. de la Nouvelle Russie_, ii. 203.]

[384] ["Le second objet tait de profiter de ce moment d'alarme pour que

la flottille, agissant en mme temps, put dtruire celle des Turcs. Un

troisime motif, et vraisemblablement le plus plausible, tait de jeter

la consternation parmi les Turcs, et de les engager

capituler."--_Hist. de la Nouvelle Russie_, ii. 203.]

{310}[hm]

_Unless they are as game as bull-dogs or even tarriers_.

or, _A thing which sometimes hath occurred to warriors_,

_Unless they happened to be as game as tarriers_.--

[MS. A. Alternative reading.]

_Unless they are Game as bull-dogs or even terriers_.--[MS. B.]

[386] [" ... du dfaut de perfection dans la construction des batteries;

on voulait agir promptement, et on ngligea de donner aux ouvrages la

solidit qu'ils exigaient."--_Ibid._, p. 203.]

{311}[387] ["Le mme esprit fit manquer l'effet de trois brlots; on

calcula mal la distance; on se pressa d'allumer la mche, ils brlrent

au milieu du fleuve, et quoiqu'il ft six heures du matin, les Turcs,

encore couchs, n'en prirent aucun ombrage."--_Hist. de la Nouvelle

Russie_, ii. 203.]

[388] ["1^er^ Dec. 1790. La flottille russe s'avana vers les sept

heures; il en tait neuf lorsqu'elle se trouva cinquante toises de la

ville [d'Ismal]: elle souffrit, avec une constance calme, un feu de

mitraille et de mousqueterie...."--_Ibid._, p. 204.]

[389] [" ... prs de six heures ... les batteries de terre secondaient

la flottille; mais on reconnut alors que les canonnades ne suffiraient

pas pour rduire la place, on fit la retraite une heure. Un lanon

sauta pendant l'action, un autre driva par la force du courant, et fut

pris par l'ennemi."'--_Hist. de la Nouvelle Russie_, ii. 204.]

[391] ["Les Turcs perdirent beaucoup de monde et plusieurs vaisseaux. A

peine la retraite des Russes fut-elle remarque, que les plus braves

d'entre les ennemis se jetrent dans de petites barques et essayrent

une descente: le Comte de Damas les mit en fuite, et leur tua plusieurs

officiers et grand nombre de soldats."--_Hist. de la Nouvelle Russie_,

p. 204.]

[392] ["On ne tarirait pas si on voulait rapporter tout ce que les

Russes firent de mmorable dans cette journe; pour conter les hauts

faits d'armes, pour particulariser toutes les actions d'clat, il

faudrait composer des volumes."--_Ibid._, p. 204.]

[393] ["Parmi les trangers, le prince de Ligne se distingua de manire

mriter l'estime gnrale; de vrais chevaliers franais, attirs par

l'amour de la gloire, se montrrent dignes d'elle: les plus marquans

taient le jeune Duc de Richelieu, les Comtes de Langeron et de

Damas."--_Ibid._, p. 204.

Andrault, Comte de Langeron, born at Paris, January 13, 1763, on the

outbreak of the Revolution (1790) took service in the Russian Army. He

fought against the Swedes in 1790, and the Turks in 1791, and, after

serving as a volunteer in the army of the Duke of Brunswick (1792-93),

returned to Russia, and was raised to the rank of general in 1799. He

commanded a division of the Russian Army in the German campaign of 1813,

and entered Paris with Blcher, March 30, 1814. He was afterwards

Governor of Odessa and of New Russia; and, a second time, fought against

the Turks in 1828. He died at St. Petersburg, July 4, 1831. Joseph

Elizabeth Roger, Comte de Damas d'Antigny, born at Paris, September 4,

1765, owed his commission in the Russian Army to the influence of the

Prince de Ligne. He fought against the Turks in 1787-88, and was

distinguished for bravery and daring. At the Restoration in 1814 he

re-entered the French Army, was made Governor of Lyons; shared the

temporary exile of Louis XVIII. at Ghent in 1815, and, in the following

year, as commandant of a division, took part in repressing the

revolutionary disturbances in the central and southern departments of

France. He died at Cirey, September 3, 1823.--_La Grande Encyclopdie_.]

{313}[394] [Charles Joseph, Prince de Ligne, was born at Brussels, May

12, 1735. In 1782 he visited St. Petersburg as envoy of the Emperor

Joseph II., won Catherine's favour, and was appointed Field Marshal in

the Russian Army. In 1788 he was sent to assist Potemkin at the siege of

Ochakof. His _Mlanges Militaires, etc._, were first published in 1795.

He died in November, 1814.

[395] ["L'Amiral de Ribas ... dclara, en plein conseil, que ce n'tait

qu'en donnant l'assaut qu'on obtiendrait la place: cet avis parut hardi;

on lui opposa mille raisons, auxquelles il rpondit par de meilleures."

--_Hist. de la Nouvelle Russie_, ii, 205.]

{314}[396] [Prince (Gregor Alexandrovitch) Potemkin, born 1736, died

October 15, 1791. "He alighted from his carriage in the midst of the

highway, threw himself on the grass, and died under a tree" (_Life of

Catherine II_., by W. Tooke, 1880, iii. 324). His character has been

drawn by Louis Philippe, Comte de Sgur, who, writes Tooke (_ibid_., p.

326), "lived a long time in habits of intimacy with him, and was so

obliging as to delineate it at our solicitation." "In his person were

collected the most opposite defects and advantages of every kind. He was

avaricious and ostentatious, ... haughty and obliging, politic and

confiding, licentious and superstitious, bold and timid, ambitious and

indiscreet; lavish of his bounties to his relations, his mistresses, and

his favourites, yet frequently paying neither his household nor his

creditors. His consequence always depended on a woman, and he was always

unfaithful to her. Nothing could equal the activity of his mind, nor the

indolence of his body. No dangers could appal his courage; no

difficulties force him to abandon his projects. But the success of an

enterprise always brought on disgust.... Everything with him was

desultory; business, pleasure, temper, carriage. His presence was a

restraint on every company. He was morose to all that stood in awe of

him, and caressed all such as accosted him with familiarity.... None had

read less than he; few people were better informed.... One while he

formed the project of becoming Duke of Courland; at another he thought

of bestowing on himself the crown of Poland. He frequently gave

intimations of an intention to make himself a bishop, or even a simple

monk. He built a superb palace, and wanted to sell it before it was

finished. In his youth he had pleased her [Catherine] by the ardour of

his passion, by his valour, and by his masculine beauty.... Become the

rival of Orloff, he performed for his sovereign whatever the most

romantic passion could inspire. He put out his eye, to free it from a

blemish which diminished his beauty. Banished by his rival, he ran to

meet death in battle, and returned with glory."]

{315}[397] ["Ce projet, remis un autre jour, prouva encore les plus

grandes difficults; son courage les surmonta: il ne s'agssait que de

dterminer le Prince Potiemkin; il y russit. Tandis qu'il se dmenait

pour l'excution de projet agr, on construisait de nouvelles

batteries; on comptait, le 12 dcembre, quatre-vingts pices de canon

sur le bord du Danube, et cette journe se passa en vives

canonnades."--_Histoire de la Nouvelle Russie_, ii. 205.]

[398] ["Le 13^e^, une partie des troupes tait embarque; on allait

lever le sige: un courrier arrive.... Ce courrier annonce, de la part

du prince, que le marchal Souwarow va prendre le commandement des

forces runies sous Ismal."--_Ibid._, p. 205.]

{316}[399] ["La lettre du Prince Potiemkin Souwarow est trs courte;

elle peint le caractere de ces deux personnages. La voici dans toute sa

teneur: _'Vous prendrez Ismal quel frix que ce soit!'_"--_Hist, de la

Nouvelle Russie_, ii. 205.]

[402] ["Le 16^e^, on voit venir de loin deux hommes courant toute

bride: on les prit pour des Kozaks; l'un tait Souwarow, et l'autre son

guide, portant un paquet gros comme le poing, et renfermant le bagage du

gnral."-_Hist, de la Nouvelle Russie_, ii. 205.

M. de Castelnau in his description of the arrival of Suvroff on the

field of battle (_Hist, de la_ N.R., 1827, ii. pp, 205, 206) summarizes

the Journal of the Duc de Richelieu. The original passage runs as

follows:--

"L'arrive du comte Souvorow produisit un grand effet parmi les

troupes.... La manire d'tre plus que simple, puis-qu'il logeait sous

une canonnire, et qu'il n'avait pas mme de chaises dans sa tente, son

affabilit, sa bonhomie lui conciliaient l'affection de tous les

individus de son arme. Cet homme singulier qui ressemble plus un chef

de cosaques ou de Tartares, qu'au gnral d'une arme europenne, est

dou d'une intrpidit et d'une hardiesse peu communes.... La manire de

vivre, de s'habiller et de parler du comte Souvorow, est aussi

singulire que ses opinions militaires.... II mangeait dans sa tente

assis par terre autour d'une natte sur laquelle il prenait le plus

dtestable repas. L'apres-midi, un semblable repas lui servait de

souper, il s'endormait ensuite pendant quelques heures, passait une

partie de la nuit chanter, et a la pointe du jour il sortait presque

nu et se roulait sur l'herbe assurant que cet exercice lui tait

necessaire pour le preserver des rhumatismes.... Sa manire de

s'exprimer dans toutes les langues est aussi singulire que toute sa

faon d'tre, ses phrases sont incohrentes, et s'il n'est pas insens,

il dit et fait du moins tout ce qu'il faut pour le paratre; mais il est

heureux et cette quality dont le Cardinal Mazarin faisait tant de cas,

est, bon droit, fort estime de l'Impratrice et du Prince Potemkin

... Le moment de l'arrive du Comte Souvorow fut annonce par une

dcharge gnrale des batteries ou camp et de la flotte."--_Journal de mon

Voyage en Allemagne_. _Soc, Imp. d'Hist de Russie_, 1886, tom. liv. pp.

168, 169.]

{319}[403] ["La premire attaque tait compose de trois colonnes ...

Trois autres colonnes, destines a la seconde attaque, avaient pour

chefs, etc.... La troisime attaque par eau n'avait que deux

colonnes."--_Hist, de la Nouvelle Russie_, ii. 207.]

[404] ["On construisit de nouvelles batteries le 18^e^.... On tint un

conseil de guerre, on y examina les plans pour l'assaut proposs par M.

de Ribas, ils runirent tous les souffrages."--_Ibid._, p. 208.]

[406] ["Le 19^e^ et le 20^e^, Souwarow exerailes soldats; il leur

montra comment il fallait s'y prendre pour escalader; il enseigna aux

recrues la manire de donner le coup de baonnette."--_Ibid_., p. 208.]

{320}[407] ["Pour ces exercices d'un nouveau genre, il se servit de

fascines disposes de manire a reprsenter un Turc."-_Hist, de la

Nauvelle Russie_, ii. 208.]

[ht]

_For some were thinking of their wives and families,_

_And others of themselves_ (_as poet Samuel is_).

--[MS. Alternative reading.]

_And others of themselves_ (_as my friend Samuel is_).

--[MS. erased.]

[408] [For a detailed account of Suvroff's personal characteristics,

see _The Life of Field-Marshal Souvaroff_, by L.M.P. Tranchant de

Laverne, 1814, pp. 267-291; and _Suvroff_, by Lieut.-Colonel Spalding,

1890, pp. 222-229.

Byron's epithet "buffoon" (line 5) may, perhaps, be traced to the

following anecdote recorded by Tranchant de Laverne (p. 281): "During

the first war of Poland ... he published, in the order of the day, that

at the first crowing of the c**k the troops would march to attack the

enemy, and caused the spy to send word that the Russians would be upon

them some time after midnight. But about eight o'clock Souvarof ran

through the camp, imitating the crowing of a cock.... The enemy,

completely surprised, lost a great number of men."

For his "praying" (line 6), _vide ibid._, pp. 272, 273: "He made a short

prayer after each meal, and again when going to bed. He usually

performed his devotions before an image of St. Nicholas, the patron

saint of Russia."

"Half-dirt" (line 5) is, however, a calumny (_ibid_. p. 272): "It was

his custom to rise at the earliest dawn; several buckets of cold water

were thrown over his naked body."

The same writer (p. 268) repudiates the charges of excessive barbarity

and cruelty brought against Suvroff by C.F.P. Masson, in his _Mmoires

Secrets sur la Russie_ (_vide_, e.g., ed. 1800, i. 311): "Souvorow ne

scroit que le plus ridicule bouffon, s'il n'toit pas montr le plus

barbare guerrier. C'est un monstre, qui renferme dans le corps d'un

singe l'me d'un chien de boucher. Attila, son compatriote, et don't il

descend, peut-tre ne fut ni si heureux, ni si froce."

Suvroff did not regard himself as "half-demon." "Your pencil," he

reminded the artist Mller, "will delineate the features of my face.

These are visible: but my inner man is hidden. I must tell you that I

have shed rivers of blood. I tremble, but I love my neighbour. In my

whole life I have made no one unhappy; not an insect hath perished by my

hand. I was little; I was big. In fortune's ebb and flow, relying on

God, I stood immovable--even as now." (_Suvroff_, 1890, p. 228,

note.)]

{322}[409] [See, for instance, _The Storm_, in "Souvarof's Catechism,"

Appendix (pp. 299-305) to the _Life, etc._, by Tranchant de Laverne,

1814: "Break down the fence.... Fly over the walls! Stab them on the

ramparts!... Fire down the streets! Fire briskly!... Kill every enemy in

the streets! Let the cavalry hack them!" etc.]

{327}[hw]

_As a brook's stream to cope with Ocean's flood shed_

_But still we moderns equal you in bloodshed_.--[MS. erased.]

{328}[hx]

_As in a General's letter when well whacked_

_Whatever deeds be done I will relate 'em,_

_With some small variations in the text_

_Of killed and wounded who will not be missed_.--[MS. erased.]

In the 1600s, Balthasar Gracian, a jesuit priest wrote 300 aphorisms on living life called "The Art of Worldly Wisdom." Join our newsletter below and read them all, one at a time.