Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 3.djvu/471

Rh And thy light broke on human eyes,

Like a Volcano of the skies.

3.

Like lava rolled thy stream of blood,

And swept down empires with its flood;

Earth rocked beneath thee to her base,

As thou didst lighten through all space;

And the shorn Sun grew dim in air,

And set while thou wert dwelling there.

4.

Before thee rose, and with thee grew,

A rainbow of the loveliest hue

Of three bright colours, each divine,

And fit for that celestial sign;

For Freedom's hand had blended them,

Like tints in an immortal gem.

5.

One tint was of the sunbeam's dyes;

One, the blue depth of Seraph's eyes;

One, the pure Spirit's veil of white

Had robed in radiance of its light:

The three so mingled did beseem

The texture of a heavenly dream.

6.

Star of the brave! thy ray is pale,

And darkness must again prevail!

But, oh thou Rainbow of the free!

Our tears and blood must flow for thee.

When thy bright promise fades away,

Our life is but a load of clay.