Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 3.djvu/319

CANTO III. And Conrad following, at her beck, obeyed,

Nor cared he now if rescued or betrayed;

Resistance were as useless as if Seyd

Yet lived to view the doom his ire decreed.

XIII.

Embarked—the sail unfurled—the light breeze blew—

How much had Conrad's memory to review!

Sunk he in contemplation, till the Cape

Where last he anchored reared its giant shape.

Ah!—since that fatal night, though brief the time,

Had swept an age of terror, grief, and crime.

As its far shadow frowned above the mast,

He veiled his face, and sorrowed as he passed;

He thought of all—Gonsalvo and his band,

His fleeting triumph and his failing hand;

He thought on her afar, his lonely bride:

He turned and saw—Gulnare, the Homicide!"

XIV.

She watched his features till she could not bear

Their freezing aspect and averted air;

And that strange fierceness foreign to her eye

Fell quenched in tears, too late to shed or dry.

She knelt beside him and his hand she pressed,

"Thou may'st forgive though Allah's self detest;

But for that deed of darkness what wert thou?

Reproach me—but not yet—Oh! spare me now!

I am not what I seem—this fearful night

My brain bewildered—do not madden quite!

If I had never loved—though less my guilt—

Thou hadst not lived to—hate me—if thou wilt."