Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 4.djvu/91

Rh Such scenes as those wherein my life begun—

The earliest—even the only paths for me—

Had I but sooner learnt the crowd to shun,

I had been better than I now can be;

The Passions which have torn me would have slept;

XIII.

With false Ambition what had I to do?

Little with Love, and least of all with Fame;

And yet they came unsought, and with me grew,

And made me all which they can make—a Name.

Yet this was not the end I did pursue;

Surely I once beheld a nobler aim.

But all is over—I am one the more

XIV.

And for the future, this world's future may

From me demand but little of my care;

I have outlived myself by many a day;

Having survived so many things that were;

My years have been no slumber, but the prey

Of ceaseless vigils; for I had the share