Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 2.djvu/439

CANTO IV.] Nor could, the same supremacy have neared,

Save one vain Man, who is not in the grave—

But, vanquished by himself, to his own slaves a slave—

XC.

The fool of false dominion—and a kind

Of bastard Cæsar, following him of old

With steps unequal; for the Roman's mind

Was modelled in a less terrestrial mould,N26

With passions fiercer, yet a judgment cold,

And an immortal instinct which redeemed

The frailties of a heart so soft, yet bold—

Alcides with the distaff now he seemed

At Cleopatra's feet,—and now himself he beamed,

XCI.

And came—and saw—and conquered! But the man

Who would have tamed his Eagles down to flee,