CLII..

And Juan gazed as one who is awoke
By a distant organ, doubting if he be
Not yet a dreamer, till the spell is broke
By the watchman, or some such reality,
Or by one's early valet's cursed knock;
At least it is a heavy sound to me,
Who like a morning slumber-for the night
Shows stars and women in a better light.

CLIII.

And Juan, too, was help'd out from his dream,
Or sleep, or whatsoe'er it was, by feeling
A most prodigious appetite: the steam

Of Zoe's cookery no doubt was stealing
Upon his senses, and the kindling beam

Of the new fire, which Zoe kept up, kneeling
To stir her viands, made him quite awake,
And long for food, but chiefly a beef-steak.

CLIV.

But beef is rare within these oxless isles;

Goat's flesh there is, no doubt, and kid, and mutton; And when a holiday upon them smiles,

A joint upon their barbarous spits they put on: But this occurs but seldom, between whiles,

For some of these are rocks with scarce a hut on, Others are fair and fertile, among which,

This, though not large, was one of the most rich.

CLV.

I say that beef is rare, and can't help thinking
That the whole fable of the Minotaur-
From which our modern morals, rightly shrinking,
Condemn the royal lady's taste who wore
A cow's shape for a mask-was only (sinking
The allegory) a mere type, no more,
That Pasiphæ promoted breeding cattle,
To make the Cretans bloodier in battle.

CLVI.

For we all know that English people are
Fed upon beef-I won't say much of beer,
Because 'tis liquor only, and being far

From this my subject, has no business here;
We know, too, they are very fond of war,

A pleasure-like all pleasures-rather dear;
So were the Cretans-from which I infer,
That beef and battles both were owing to her.

CLVII.

But to resume. The languid Juan raised
His head upon his elbow-and he saw
A sight on which he had not lately gazed,

As all his latter meals had been quite raw,
Three or four things, for which the Lord he praised,
And feeling still the famish'd vulture gnaw,

He fell upon whate'er was offer'd, like
A priest, a shark, an alderman, or pike.

CLVIII.

He ate, and he was well supplied; and she
Who watch'd him like a mother, would have fed
Him past all bounds, because she smiled to see
Such appetite in one she had deem'd dead;
But Zoe, being older than Haidee,

Knew (by tradition, for she ne'er had read)
That famish'd people must be slowly nurst,
And fed by spoonsful, else they always burst.

CLIX.

And so she took the liberty to state,

Rather by deeds than words, because the case Was urgent, that the gentleman, whose fate

Had made her mistress quit her bed to trace The sea-shore at this hour, must leave his plate, Unless he wish'd to die upon the placeShe snatched it, and refused another morsel, Saying, he had gorged enough to make a horse ill.

CLX.

Next they-he being naked, save a tatter'd
Pair of scarce decent trowsers-went to work,
And in the fire his recent rags they scatter'd,

And dress'd him, for the present, like a Turk, Or Greek-that is, although it not much matter'd, Omitting turban, slippers, pistols, dirk

They furnish'd him entirely, except some stitches, With a clean shirt, and very spacious breeches.

CLXI.

And then fair Haidee tried her tongue at speaking, But not a word could Juan comprehend,

Although he listen'd so, that the young Greek in Her earnestness would ne'er have made an end; And, as he interrupted not, went eking

Her speech out to her protegé and friend, Till pausing at the last, her breath to take, She saw he did not understand Romaic.

CLXII.

And then she had recourse to nods and signs,
And smiles, and sparkles of the speaking eye,
And read (the only book she could) the lines
Of his fair face, and found, by sympathy,
The answer eloquent, where the soul shines,
And darts, in one quick glance, a long reply;
And thus in every look she saw express'd

A world of words, and things at which she guess'd.

CLXIII.

And now, by dint of fingers and of eyes,
And words repeated after her, he took
A lesson in her tongue; but by surmise,

No doubt, less of her language than her look: As he who studies fervently the skies

Turns oftener to the stars than to his book,
Thus Juan learnt his alpha beta better
From Haidee's glance than any graven letter.

CLXIV.

"Tis pleasing to be school'd in a strange tongue
By female lips and eyes-that is, I mean,
When both the teacher and the taught are young,
As was the case, at least, where I have been;
They smile so when one's right, and when one's wrong.
They smile still more, and then there intervene
Pressure of hands, perhaps even a chaste kiss
I learn'd the little that I know by this:

CLXV.

That is, some words of Spanish, Turk, and Greek,
Italian not at all, having no teachers;
Much English I cannot pretend to speak,

Learning that language chiefly from its preachers, Barrow, South, Tillotson, whom every week

I study, also Blair, the highest reachers Of eloquence in piety and prose

I hate your poets, so read none of those..

CLXVI.

As for the ladies, I have nought to say,

A wanderer from the British world of fashion, Where I, like other "dogs, have had my day," Like other men, too, may have had my passion--But that, like other things, has pass'd away:

And all her fools whom I could lay the lash on, Foes, friends, men, women, now are nought to me, But dreams of what has been, no more to be.

.CLXVII.

Return we to Don Juan.-He begun,

To hear new words, and to repeat them; but Some feelings, universal as the sun,

Were such as could not in his breast be shut

More than within the bosom of a nun:

He was in love-as you would be, no doubt,
With a young benefactress-so was she,
Just in the way we very often see.

CLXVIII.

And every day by day-break-rather early
For Juan, who was somewhat fond of rest-
She came into the cave, but it was merely
To see her bird reposing in his nest ;
And she would softly stir his locks so curly,
Without disturbing her yet slumbering guest,
Breathing all gently o'er his cheek and mouth,
As o'er a bed of roses the sweet south.

CLXIX.

And every morn his colour freshlier came,
And every day help'd on his convalescence;
'Twas well, because health in the human frame
Is pleasant, besides being true love's essence,
For health and idleness to passion's flame

Are oil and gunpowder; and some good lessons Are also learnt from Ceres and from Bacchus, Without whom Venus will not long attack us.

CLXX.

While Venus fills the heart (without heart, really Love, though good always, is not quite so good) Ceres presents a plate of vermicelli

For love must be sustain'd like flesh and bloodWhile Bacchus pours out wine, or hands a jelly : Eggs, oysters too, are amatory food;

But who is their purveyor from above,
Heaven knows-it may be Neptune, Pan, or Jove.

CLXXI.

When Juan woke, he found some good things ready,
A bath, a breakfast, and the finest eyes
That ever made a youthful heart less steady,
Besides her maid's, as pretty for their size;

But I have spoken of all this already-
And repetition's tiresome and unwise-
Well-Juan, after bathing in the sea,
Came always back to coffee and Haidee.