The tyrant of the Chersonese

Was freedom's best and bravest friend;

15 That tyrant was Miltiades!

O that the present hour would lend Another despot of the kind!

Such chains as his were sure to bind.

20

Trust not for freedom to the Franks-
They have a king who buys and sells;
In native swords and native ranks
The only hope of courage dwells;
But Turkish force and Latin fraud
Would break your shield, however broad.

25 Place me on Sunium's marbled steep,

Where nothing save the waves and I May hear our mutual murmurs sweep; There, swan-like, let me sing and die; A land of slaves shail ne'er be mine-Dash down yon cup of Samian wine!

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

Biography. George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) was born in London. He was educated at Harrow, a famous English school, and at Cambridge University. He began to write at an early age, and before he was twenty had published a small volume of poems. Byron's poetry was greatly admired in his lifetime, and he remains in the first rank of English poets. His best known long poems, Childe Harold, Don Juan, Manfred, and The Bride of Abydos, were translated into most of the European languages and had a great influence on the literature of the continent. These romantic tales brought to his countrymen the life of "the gorgeous East.” He wrote some passionate short poems on liberty. When the Greeks revolted against Turkey, Byron went to their aid, but died at, Missolonghi, in Greece, before he had an opportunity to engage in battle.

Discussion. 1. "The Isles of Greece" (from Don Juan, Canto III) represents a Greek poet contrasting ancient and modern Greece; what object do you think Byron hoped to gain by bringing the glories of the past so vividly before the modern Greek? 2. Does it seem to you that a Greek poet would have sung in this manner, or is this rather an English poet's idea of how a Greek poet might have sung? 3. What line in the first stanza expresses a thought that a Greek poet would hardly admit? 4. Explain the references to Greek poetry in Sappho, Delos, Phoebus, Scian muse, Teian muse. 5. What country's poems may the poet have had in mind when he said: "sounds which echo further west than your sires' 'Islands of the Blest'"? 6. The picture in the fourth stanza of King Xerxes watching the battle of Salamis may have been suggested to Byron by these lines from the Greek poet Aeschylus:

"Deep were the groans of Xerxes, when he saw
This havoc; for his seat, a lofty mound
Commanding the wide sea, o'erlooked the hosts."

7. What "arts of war" do the names Marathon, Salamis, Thermopylae suggest? 8. What "ignoble call" does the poet imply the modern Greek would answer? 9. Explain the references to Cadmus and to Miltiades. 10. Wherein lies the hope of modern Greece? 11. What event in Byron's life makes you know he felt the position of Greece keenly? (It is interesting to note that in December, 1823, Daniel Webster introduced a resolution in Congress which is believed to be the first official expression favorable to the independence of Greece uttered by any of the governments of Christendom.) 12. What is said in the Introduction, page 336, of Greece and her struggle against the Turk? 13. The music of the poem makes it a pleasure to read it aloud; notice how naturally the emphasis of the rhythm accents the important words. 14. Beautiful phrases like "hero's harp" and "lover's lute" add to the music; find other examples of alliteration. 15.

What do you know about Greece's part in the World War that tells you how that country regards freedom at the present time? 16. Class reading: "Marco Bozzaris," Halleck. (Marco Bozzaris, the leader of the Greek revolution, was killed August 20, 1823, in an attack upon the Turks near Missolonghi. His last words were: "To die for liberty is a pleasure, not a pain.") 17. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: Marathon; Salamis; voiceless; lay; degenerate; fettered; Thermopylæ; Cadmus. Pronounce: Phoebus; dearth; bacchanal; Chersonese

1. The Battle of Salamis. 2. Miltiades and the Battle of Marathon. 3 The Pass of Thermopyla. (Use encyclopedias and other library sources.)

THE ITALIAN IN ENGLAND

ROBERT BROWNING

That second time they hunted me
From hill to plain, from shore to sea;
And Austria, hounding far and wide.
Her bloodhounds through the countryside,
5 Breathed hot and instant on my trace-
I made six days a hiding-place

Of that dry green old aqueduct

Where I and Charles, when boys, have plucked
The fireflies from the roof above,

10 Bright creeping through the moss they love;
-How long it seems since Charles was lost!
Six days the soldiers crossed and crossed
The country in my very sight;

And when that peril ceased, at night

15 The sky broke out in red dismay
With signal fires; well, there I lay
Close covered o'er in my recess.

Up to the neck in ferns and cress,
Thinking on Metternich, our friend,
And Charles's miserable end,

And much beside, two days; the third,
Hunger o'ercame me when I heard
The peasants from the village go
To work among the maize; you know,
With us in Lombardy, they bring
Provisions packed on mules, a string
10 With little bells that cheer their task,
And casks, and boughs on every cask
To keep the sun's heat from the wine;
These I let pass in jingling line,
And, close on them, dear noisy crew,
15 The peasants from the village, too;
For at the very rear would troop
Their wives and sisters in a group

To help, I knew. When these had passed,
I threw my glove to strike the last,
20 Taking the chance; she did not start,
Much less cry out, but stooped apart,
One instant rapidly glanced round,
And saw me beckon from the ground;
A wild bush grows and hides my crypt;
25 She picked my glove up while she stripped
A branch off, then rejoined the rest

30

With that; my glove lay in her breast.
Then I drew breath; they disappeared;
It was for Italy I feared.

An hour, and she returned alone Exactly where my glove was thrown. Meanwhile came many thoughts; on me Rested the hopes of Italy;

I had devised a certain tale

35 Which, when 'twas told her, could not fail Persuade a peasant of its truth;

I meant to call a freak of youth
This hiding, and give hopes of pay,
And no temptation to betray.

But when I saw that woman's face,
Its calm simplicity of grace,

Our Italy's own attitude

In which she walked thus far, and stood,
Planting each naked foot so firm,

To crush the snake and spare the worm

10 At first sight of her eyes, I said,

"I am that man upon whose head
They fix the price, because I hate
The Austrians over us; the State
Will give you gold-oh, gold so much!-
15 If you betray me to their clutch;

And be your death, for aught I know,
If once they find you saved their foe.
Now, you must bring me food and drink,
And also paper, pen, and ink,

20 And carry safe what I shall write.

To Padua, which you'll reach at night
Before the duomo shuts; go in,
And wait till Tenebræ begin;
Walk to the third confessional,

25 Between the pillar and the wall,

And kneeling whisper, Whence comes peace? Say it a second time, then cease;

And if the voice inside returns,

From Christ and Freedom; what concerns
80 The cause of Peace?-for answer, slip
My letter where you placed your lip;
Then come back happy we have done
Our mother service-I, the son,

35

As you the daughter of our land!"

Three mornings more, she took her stand In the same place, with the same eyes;