CLXXVI.
Upon the blue Symplegades:N32 long years—
Long, though not very many—since have done
Their work on both; some suffering and some tears[1]
Have left us nearly where we had begun:
Yet not in vain our mortal race hath run—
We have had our reward—and it is here,—
That we can yet feel gladdened by the Sun,
And reap from Earth—Sea—joy almost as dear
As if there were no Man to trouble what is clear.[2]
CLXXVII.
Oh! that the Desert were my dwelling-place,[3]
- ↑ ——much suffering and some tears.—[MS. M.]
- ↑ ["After the stanza (near the conclusion of Canto 4th) which ends with the line—
"'As if there was no man to trouble what is clear,'
insert the two following stanzas (clxxvii., clxxviii.). Then go on to the stanza beginning, 'Roll on thou,' etc., etc. You will find the place of insertion near the conclusion—just before the address to the Ocean.
"These two stanzas will just make up the number of 500 stanzas to the whole poem.
"Answer when you receive this. I sent back the packets yesterday, and hope they will arrive in safety."—D.]
- ↑ [His desire is towards no light o' love, but for the support and fellowship of his sister. Compare the opening lines of the Epistle to Augusta—
{{block center|"My sister! my sweet sister! if a name
Dearer and purer were, it should be thine;
his view. He had not seen the Mediterranean on his way from Geneva to Venice, in October—November, 1816, or from Venice to Rome, April—May, 1817; but now from the Alban Mount the "ocean" was full in view.]
