This page has been validated.
STANZAS.
Written beneath the portrait of Lord Byron,
painted by Mr. West.
'Tis with strange feelings that I gaze
Upon this brow of thine,
Magnificent as if the mind
Herself had carved her shrine:
An altar unto which was given
The flowers of earth, the light of heaven.
At the first glance, that eye is proud,
But, if I read aright,
A fountain of sweet tears lies hid
Beneath its flashing light:
Tenderness, like a gushing rill
Subdued, represt, but flowing still.
That lip is curled with sneering smile,—
Alas! what doth it prove?—
Not in the warfare of the world
Are lessons taught of love.
So much is there hard to be borne,
The heart must either break or scorn.
