Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 3.djvu/265

CANTO I.] "To-night, Lord Conrad?"

"Aye! at set of sun:

The breeze will freshen when the day is done.

My corslet—cloak—one hour and we are gone.

Sling on thy bugle—see that free from rust

My carbine-lock springs worthy of my trust;

Be the edge sharpened of my boarding-brand,

And give its guard more room to fit my hand.

This let the Armourer with speed dispose;

Last time, it more fatigued my arm than foes;

Mark that the signal-gun be duly fired,

To tell us when the hour of stay's expired."

They make obeisance, and retire in haste,

Too soon to seek again the watery waste:

Yet they repine not—so that Conrad guides;

And who dare question aught that he decides?

That man of loneliness and mystery,

Scarce seen to smile, and seldom heard to sigh;

Whose name appals the fiercest of his crew,

And tints each swarthy cheek with sallower hue;

Still sways their souls with that commanding art

That dazzles, leads, yet chills the vulgar heart.

What is that spell, that thus his lawless train

Confess and envy—yet oppose in vain?

What should it be, that thus their faith can bind?

The power of Thought—the magic of the Mind!

Linked with success, assumed and kept with skill,

That moulds another's weakness to its will;

Wields with their hands, but, still to these unknown,

Makes even their mightiest deeds appear his own.

Such hath it been—shall be—beneath the Sun

The many still must labour for the one!