English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 481. Song of Saul Before His Last Battle |
| | | George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788–1824) |
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| WARRIORS and chiefs! should the shaft or the sword | |
| Pierce me in leading the host of the Lord, | |
| Heed not the corse, though a king’s in your path: | |
| Bury your steel in the bosoms of Gath! | |
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| Thou who art bearing my buckler and bow, | 5 |
| Should the soldiers of Saul look away from the foe, | |
| Stretch me that moment in blood at thy feet! | |
| Mine be the doom which they dared not to meet. | |
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| Farewell to others, but never we part, | |
| Heir to my royalty, son of my heart! | 10 |
| Bright is the diadem, boundless the sway, | |
| Or kingly the death, which awaits us to-day! | |
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