Remember Him, Whom Passion's Power

George Gordon Lord Byron 1788 (London) – 1824 (Missolonghi, Aetolia)



Remember him, whom Passion's power
   Severely---deeply---vainly proved:
Remember thou that dangerous hour,
   When neither fell, though both were loved.

That yielding breast, that melting eye,
   Too much invited to be blessed:
That gentle prayer, that pleading sigh,
   The wilder wish reproved, repressed.

Oh! let me feel that all I lost
   But saved thee all that Conscience fears;
And blush for every pang it cost
   To spare the vain remorse of years.

Yet think of this when many a tongue,
   Whose busy accents whisper blame,
Would do the heart that loved thee wrong,
   And brand a nearly blighted name.

Think that, whate'er to others, thou
   Hast seen each selfish thought subdued:
I bless thy purer soul even now,
   Even now, in midnight solitude.

Oh, God! that we had met in time,
   Our hearts as fond, thy hand more free;
When thou hadst loved without a crime,
   And I been less unworthy thee!

Far may thy days, as heretofore,
   From this our gaudy world be past!
And that too bitter moment o'er,
   Oh! may such trial be thy last.

This heart, alas! perverted long,
   Itself destroyed might there destroy;
To meet thee in the glittering throng,
   Would wake Presumption's hope of joy.

Then to the things whose bliss or woe,
   Like mine, is wild and worthless all,
That world resign---such scenes forego,
   Where those who feel must surely fall.

Thy youth, thy charms, thy tenderness---
   Thy soul from long seclusion pure;
From what even here hath passed, may guess
   What there thy bosom must endure.

Oh! pardon that imploring tear,
   Since not by Virtue shed in vain,
My frenzy drew from eyes so dear;
   For me they shall not weep again.

Though long and mournful must it be,
   The thought that we no more may meet;
Yet I deserve the stern decree,
   And almost deem the sentence sweet.

Still---had I loved thee less---my heart
   Had then less sacrificed to thine;
It felt not half so much to part
   As if its guilt had made thee mine.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:42 min read
104

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXAX BCBC XDXD XEFE GHGH IJIJ XKAK FLFL MNMN XOXO XXXX JPJP QRQR
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,921
Words 336
Stanzas 13
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

George Gordon Lord Byron

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, known simply as Lord Byron, was an English poet, peer and politician who became a revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence, and is considered one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement. He is regarded as one of the greatest English poets and remains widely read and influential. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage; many of his shorter lyrics in Hebrew Melodies also became popular. He travelled extensively across Europe, especially in Italy, where he lived for seven years in the cities of Venice, Ravenna, and Pisa. During his stay in Italy he frequently visited his friend and fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Later in life Byron joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire and died of disease leading a campaign during that war, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died in 1824 at the age of 36 from a fever contracted after the First and Second Siege of Missolonghi. His only legitimate child, Ada Lovelace, is regarded as a foundational figure in the field of computer programming based on her notes for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. Byron's illegitimate children include Allegra Byron, who died in childhood, and possibly Elizabeth Medora Leigh.  more…

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