Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 3.djvu/485

But those hardy days flew cheerily!^{[lower-roman 1]}
And when they now fall drearily,
My thoughts, like swallows, skim the main,^{[decimal 1]}
And bear my spirit back again
Over the earth, and through the air,
A wild bird and a wanderer.
'Tis this that ever wakes my strain, 40
And oft, too oft, implores again
The few who may endure my lay,^{[lower-roman 2]}
To follow me so far away.
Stranger, wilt thou follow now,
And sit with me on Acro-Corinth's brow?

I.^{[decimal 2]}
Many a vanished year and age,^{[lower-roman 3]}
And Tempest's breath, and Battle's rage,
Have swept o'er Corinth; yet she stands,
A fortress formed to Freedom's hands.^{[lower-roman 4]}
The Whirlwind's wrath, the Earthquake's shock, 50
Have left untouched her hoary rock,
The keystone of a land, which still,
Though fall'n, looks proudly on that hill,
The landmark to the double tide
That purpling rolls on either side,
As if their waters chafed to meet,
Yet pause and crouch beneath her feet.

1. But those winged days———.—[MS.]
2. The kindly few who love my lay.—[MS.]
3. Many a year, and many an age.—[MS. G. Copy.]
4. A marvel from her Moslem bands.—[MS. G.]

1. [Compare Kingsley's Last Buccaneer—
   "If I might but be a sea-dove, I'd fly across the main—
   To the pleasant isle of Avès, to look at it once again."]
   
   
2. [The MS. is dated J^y (January) 31, 1815. Lady Byron's copy is dated November 2, 1815.]