Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 3.djvu/427

Rh Such are mine; and such shall be

Thine to-morrow, when with me:

Ere the coming day is done,

Such shalt thou be—such thy Son.

Fare thee well, but for a day,

Then we mix our mouldering clay.

Thou—thy race, lie pale and low,

Pierced by shafts of many a bow;

And the falchion by thy side

To thy heart thy hand shall guide:

Crownless—breathless—headless fall,

Son and Sire—the house of Saul!" Seaham, Feb., 1815.

SONG OF SAUL BEFORE HIS LAST BATTLE.

I.

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!

II.

Thou who art bearing my buckler and bow,

Should the soldiers of Saul look away from the foe,