XXXVI.

"Can this be death? then what is life or death? "Speak!" but he spoke not: "wake!" but still he slept "But yesterday and who had mightier breath?

A thousand warriors by his word were kept "In awe: he said, as the centurion saith,

666 Go,' and he goeth; 'come,' and forth he stept. "The trump and bugle till he spake were dumb"And now nought left him but the muffled drum."

XXXVII.

And they who waited once and worshipp'd-they
With their rough faces throng'd about the bed
To gaze once more on the commanding clay
Which for the last though not the first time bled:
And such an end! that he who many a day
Had faced Napoleon's foes until they fled,–
The foremost in the charge or in the sally,
Should now be butcher'd in a civic alley.

XXXVIII.

The scars of his old wounds were near his new, Those honourable scars which brought him fame; And horrid was the contrast to the view

But let me quit the theme; as such things claim Perhaps even more attention than is due

From me: I gazed (as oft I have gazed the same) To try if I could wrench aught out of death Which should confirm, or shake, or make a faith;

XXXIX.

But it was all a mystery. Here we are,

And there we go:-but where? five bits of lead, Or three, or two, or one send very far!

And is this blood, then, form'd but to be shed?

Can every element our elements mar?

And air-earth-water-fire live-and we dead ? We, whose minds comprehend all things? No more; But let us to the story as before.

XL.

The purchaser of Juan and acquaintance
Bore off his bargains to a gilded boat,
Embark'd himself and them, and off they went thence
As fast as oars could pull and water float;
They look'd like persons being led to sentence,
Wondering what next, till the caique was brought
Up in a little creek below a wall

O'ertopp'd with cypresses dark-green and tall.

XLI.

Here their conductor tapping at the wicket
Of a small iron door, 'twas open'd, and
He led them onward, first through a low thicket
Flank'd by large groves, which tower'd on either hand:
They almost lost their way, and had to pick it-
For night was closing ere they came to land.
The eunuch made a sign to those on board,
Who row'd off, leaving them without a word.

XLII.

As they were plodding on their winding way, Through orange bowers, and jasmine, and so forth: (Of which I might have a good deal to say,

There being no such profusion in the North

Of oriental plants, " et cetera,"

But that of late your scribblers think it worth Their while to rear whole hotbeds in their works Because one poet travell'd 'mongst the Turks :)

XLIII.

As they were threading on their way, there came Into Don Juan's head a thought, which he Whisper'd to his companion :-'twas the same Which might have then occurr'd to you or me. Methinks,' "said he," it would be no great shame "If we should strike a stroke to set us free; "Let's Anock that old black fellow on the head, "And march away-'twere easier done than said."

XLIV.

"Yes," said the other, " and when done, what then?
"How get out? how the devil got we in?
"And when we once were fairly out, and when
"From Saint Bartholomew we have saved our skin,
"To-morrow'd see us in some other den,

"And worse off than we hitherto have been; "Besides, I'm hungry, and just now would take, "Like Esau, for my birthright a beef-steak.

XLV.

"We must be near some place of man's abode ;-
"For the old negro's confidence in creeping,
"With his two captives by so queer a road,

"Shows that he thinks his friends have not been sleeping;

"A single cry would bring them all around:

""Tis therefore better looking before leaping

"And there, you see, this turn has brought us through, By Jove, a noble palace !-lighted too."

XLVI.

It was indeed a wide extensive building

Which open'd on their view, and o'er the front There seem'd to be besprent a deal of gilding And various hues, as is the Turkish wont,—

A gaudy taste; for they are little skill'd in

The arts of which these lands were once the font:
Each villa on the Bosphorus looks a screen
New painted, or a pretty opera-scene.

XLVII.

And nearer as they came, a genial savour
Of certain stews, and roast-meats, and pilaus,
Things which in hungry mortals' eyes find favour,
Made Juan in his harsh intentions pause,
And put himself upon his good behaviour:

His friend, too, adding a new saving clause,
Said, In Heaven's name let's get some supper now,
"And then I'm with you, if you're for a row.'

XLVIII.

Some talk of an appeal unto some passion,
Some to men's feelings, others to their reason;
The last of these was never much the fashion,
For reason thinks all reasoning out of season.
Some speakers whine, and others lay the lash on,
But more or less continue still to teaze on,
With arguments according to their "forte;"
But no one ever dreams of being short.-

XLIX.

But I digress of all appeals, although
I grant the power of pathos, and of gold,
Of beauty, flattery, threats, a shilling,-

-no

Method's more sure at moments to take hold
Of the best feelings of mankind, which grow
More tender, as we every day behold,
Than that all-softening, overpowering knell,
The toscin of the soul-the dinner bell.

L.

Turkey contains no bells, and yet men dine;
And Juan and his friend, albeit they heard
No christian knoll to table, saw no line

Of lacqueys usher to the feast prepared,
Yet smelt roast-meat, beheld a huge fire shine,
And cooks in motion with their clean arms bared,
And gazed around them to the left and right
With the prophetic eye of appetite.

LI.

And giving up all notions of resistance,

They follow'd close behind their sable guide, Who little thought that his own crack`d existence Was on the point of being set aside :

He motion'd them to stop at some small distance, And knocking at the gate 'twas open'd wide, And a magnificent large hall display'd

The Asian pomp of Ottoman parade.

R

LII.

I won't describe; description is my forte,
But every fool describes in these bright days
His wondrous journey to some foreign court,

And spawns his quarto, and demands your praise— Death to his publisher, to him 'tis sport;

While Nature, tortured twenty thousand ways, Resigns herself with exemplary patience

To guide-books, rhymes, tours, sketches, illustrations.

LIII.

Along this hall, and up and down, some squatted
Upon their hams, were occupied at chess;
Others in monosyllable talk chatted,

And some seem'd much in love with their own dress, And divers smoked superb pipes decorated

With amber mouths of greater price or less; And several strutted, others slept, and some Prepared for supper with a glass of rum. [5]

LIV,

As the black eunuch enter'd with his brace
Of purchased Infidels, some raised their eyes
A moment without slackening from their pace;
But those who sate, ne'er stirr'd in anywise:
One or two stared the captives in the face,

Just as one views a horse to guess his price;
Some nodded to the negro from their station,
But no one troubled him with conversation.

LV.

He leads them through the hall, and, without stopping,
On through a farther range of goodly rooms,
Splendid but silent, save in one, where dropping [6]
A marble fountain echoes through the glooms
Of night, which robe the chamber, or where popping
Some female head most curiously presumes
To thrust its black eyes through the door or lattice,
As wondering what the devil noise that is.