This is the last poem Byron wrote, on 22 January 1824. He had arrived at Missolonghi three weeks earlier, taking command of his \u201carmy of liberation\u201d which would free Greece from the Turks. But he died of fever on 19 April, after railing against incompetent doctors who literally bled him to death.<\/p>\n
‘Tis time the heart should be unmoved,
\nSince others it hath ceased to move:
\nYet, though I cannot be beloved,
\nStill let me love!<\/p>\n
My days are in the yellow leaf;
\nThe flowers and fruits of love are gone;
\nThe worm, the canker, and the grief
\nAre mine alone!<\/p>\n
The fire that on my bosom preys
\nIs lone as some volcanic isle;
\nNo torch is kindled at its blaze–
\nA funeral pile.<\/p>\n
The hope, the fear, the jealous care,
\nThe exalted portion of the pain
\nAnd power of love, I cannot share,
\nBut wear the chain.<\/p>\n
But ’tis not thus–and ’tis not here–
\nSuch thoughts should shake my soul nor now,
\nWhere glory decks the hero’s bier,
\nOr binds his brow.<\/p>\n
The sword, the banner, and the field,
\nGlory and Greece, around me see!
\nThe Spartan, borne upon his shield,
\nWas not more free.<\/p>\n
Awake! (not Greece–she is awake!)
\nAwake, my spirit! Think through whom
\nThy life-blood tracks its parent lake,
\nAnd then strike home!<\/p>\n
Tread those reviving passions down,
\nUnworthy manhood!–unto thee
\nIndifferent should the smile or frown
\nOf beauty be.<\/p>\n
If thou regrett’st thy youth, why live?
\nThe land of honourable death
\nIs here:–up to the field, and give
\nAway thy breath!<\/p>\n
Seek out–less often sought than found–
\nA soldier’s grave, for thee the best;
\nThen look around, and choose thy ground,
\nAnd take thy rest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is the last poem Byron wrote, on 22 January 1824. He had arrived at Missolonghi three weeks earlier, taking command of his \u201carmy of liberation\u201d which would free Greece from the Turks. But he died of fever on 19 April, after railing against incompetent doctors who literally bled him to death. First published in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}