Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 3.djvu/58

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EPISTLE TO A FRIEND,

IN ANSWER TO SOME LINES EXHORTING THE AUTHOR TO BE CHEERFUL, AND TO "BANISH CARE."

"! banish care"—such ever be

The motto of thy revelry!

Perchance of mine, when wassail nights

Renew those riotous delights,

Wherewith the children of Despair

Lull the lone heart, and "banish care."

But not in Morn's reflecting hour,

When present, past, and future lower,

When all I loved is changed or gone,

Mock with such taunts the woes of one, Variants Notes