Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume III. Sorrow and Consolation. 1904. | | | | II. Parting and Absence | | “Maid of Athens, ere we part” | | Lord Byron (1788–1824) |
| | | MAID of Athens, ere we part, | |
| Give, O, give me back my heart! | |
| Or, since that has left my breast, | |
| Keep it now, and take the rest! | |
| Hear my vow before I go, | 5 |
| [Greek]. 1 | |
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| By those tresses unconfined, | |
| Wooed by each Ægean wind; | |
| By those lids whose jetty fringe | |
| Kiss thy soft cheeks’ blooming tinge; | 10 |
| By those wild eyes like the roe, | |
| [Greek]. | |
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| By that lip I long to taste; | |
| By that zone-encircled waist; | |
| By all the token-flowers that tell | 15 |
| What words can never speak so well; | |
| By love’s alternate joy and woe, | |
| [Greek]. | |
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| Maid of Athens! I am gone. | |
| Think of me, sweet! when alone. | 20 |
| Though I fly to Istambol, | |
| Athens holds my heart and soul: | |
| Can I cease to love thee? No! | |
| [Greek]. | |
| | Note 1. Zóë mou, sas ágap ; My life, I love thee. [back] | | |
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