English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 475. Maid of Athens |
| | | George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788–1824) |
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| MAID of Athens, ere we part, | |
| Give, oh, 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]. | |
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| By those tresses unconfined, | |
| Woo’d 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]. | |
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