Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 2.djvu/53

CANTO I.] 'Tis said, at times the sullen tear would start,

But Pride congealed the drop within his ee:

Apart he stalked in joyless reverie,

And from his native land resolved to go,

And visit scorching climes beyond the sea;

With pleasure drugged, he almost longed for woe,

And e'en for change of scene would seek the shades below.

VII.

The Childe departed from his father's hall:

It was a vast and venerable pile;

So old, it seeméd only not to fall,

Yet strength was pillared in each massy aisle.

Monastic dome! condemned to uses vile!

Where Superstition once had made her den

Now Paphian girls were known to sing and smile;

And monks might deem their time was come agen,

If ancient tales say true, nor wrong these holy men.