Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 3.djvu/436

III.

On many an eve, the high spot whence I gazed
Had reflected the last beam of day as it blazed;
While I stood on the height, and beheld the decline
Of the rays from the mountain that shone on thy shrine.

IV.

And now on that mountain I stood on that day,
But I marked not the twilight beam melting away;
Oh! would that the lightning had glared in its stead,
And the thunderbolt burst on the Conqueror's head!^[1]

V.

But the Gods of the Pagan shall never profane
The shrine where Jehovah disdained not to reign;
And scattered and scorned as thy people may be,
Our worship, oh Father! is only for thee.

1815.

BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON WE SAT DOWN AND WEPT.^[2]

I.

We sate down and wept by the waters^[3]

⁠Of Babel, and thought of the day

1. And the red bolt —.—[MS. erased.]
   And the thunderbolt crashed ——.—[MS.]
2. [The following note, in Byron's handwriting, is prefixed to the copy in Lady Byron's handwriting:— "Dear Kinnaird,—Take only one of these marked 1 and 2 [i.e. 'By the Rivers,' etc.; and 'By the waters,' vide p. 404], as both are but different versions of the same thought—leave the choice to any important person you like.
   ⁠"Yours,
   ⁠⁠"B."]
3. [Landor, in his "Dialogue between Southey and Porson"