Chapter XIII: Canto III: , stanza xiv. line i, and stanza xci. lines 1-3

[be] {129}_Some strange things in these far years_.--[MS. M.]

[163] [The Grosse Eiger is a few miles to the south of the Castle of Unspunnen.]

[164] The remainder of the act in its original shape, ran thus--

_Her_. Look--look--the tower--
The tower's on fire. Oh, heavens and earth! what sound,
What dreadful sound is that? [_A crash like thunder_.

_Manuel_. Help, help, there!--to the rescue of the Count,--
The Count's in danger,--what ho! there! approach!
[_The Servants, Vassals, and Peasantry approach
stupifed with terror_.
If there be any of you who have heart
And love of human kind, and will to aid
Those in distress--pause not--but follow me--
The portal's open, follow. [MANUEL _goes in_.

_Her_. Come--who follows?
What, none of ye?--ye recreants! shiver then 10
Without. I will not see old Manuel risk
His few remaining years unaided. [HERMAN _goes in_.

_Vassal_. Hark!--
No--all is silent--not a breath--the flame
Which shot forth such a blaze is also gone:
What may this mean? Let's enter!

_Peasant_. Faith, not I,--
Not but, if one, or two, or more, will join,
I then will stay behind; but, for my part,
I do not see precisely to what end.
_Vassal_. Cease your vain prating--come.

_Manuel_ (_speaking within_). 'Tis all in vain--
He's dead.

_Her_. (_within_). Not so--even now methought he moved; 20
But it is dark--so bear him gently out--
Softly--how cold he is! take care of his temples
In winding down the staircase.

_Re-enter_ MANUEL _and_ HERMAN, _bearing_ MANFRED _in their arms_.

_Manuel_. Hie to the castle, some of ye, and bring
What aid you can. Saddle the barb, and speed
For the leech to the city--quick! some water there!

_Her_. His cheek is black--but there is a faint beat
Still lingering about the heart. Some water.
[_They sprinkle_ MANFRED _with water: after a pause,
he gives some signs of life_.

_Manuel_. He seems to strive to speak--come--cheerly, Count!
He moves his lips--canst hear him! I am old, 30
And cannot catch faint sounds.
[HERMAN _inclining his head and listening_.

_Her_. I hear a word
Or two--but indistinctly--what is next?
What's to be done? let's bear him to the castle.
[MANFRED _motions with his hand not to remove him_.

_Manuel_. He disapproves--and 'twere of no avail--
He changes rapidly.

_Her_. 'Twill soon be over.

_Manuel_. Oh! what a death is this! that I should live
To shake my gray hairs over the last chief
Of the house of Sigismund.--And such a death!
Alone--we know not how--unshrived--untended--
With strange accompaniments and fearful signs-- 40
I shudder at the sight--but must not leave him.

_Manfred_ (_speaking faintly and slowly_).
Old man! 'tis not so difficult to die.
[MANFRED, _having said this, expires_.

_Her_. His eyes are fixed and lifeless.--He is gone.--

_Manuel_. Close them.--My old hand quivers.--He departs--
Whither? I dread to think--but he is gone!

End of Act Third, and of the poem."]

[bf] {131}_Sirrah! I command thee_.--[MS.]

[165] [Compare _Childe Harold_, Canto III. stanza lxxxvi. line 1; stanza lxxxix. lines 1, 2; and stanza xc. lines 1, 2.]

[166] ["Drove at midnight to see the Coliseum by moonlight: but what can I say of the Coliseum? It must be _seen_; to describe it I should have thought impossible, if I had not read _Manfred_.... His [Byron's] description is the very thing itself; but what cannot he do on such a subject, when his pen is like the wand of Moses, whose touch can produce waters even from the barren rock?"--Matthews's _Diary of an Invalid_, 1820, pp. 158, 159. (Compare _Childe Harold_, Canto IV. stanzas cxxviii.-cxxxi.)]

[167] {132}[Compare _Childe Harold_, Canto IV. stanzas cvi.-cix.]

[168] [For "begun," compare _Don Juan_, Canto II. stanza clxvii. line 1.]

[169] {133}[Compare--

" ... but his face
Deep scars of thunder had intrenched."

_Paradise Lost_, i. 600.]

[bg] _Summons_----.-[MS. M.]

[170] {135}

["The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."

_Paradise Lost_, i. 254, 255.]

[171] {136}[In the first edition (p. 75), this line was left out at Gifford's suggestion (_Memoirs, etc.,_ 1891, i. 387). Byron was indignant, and wrote to Murray, August 12, 1817 (_Letters,_ 1900, iv. 157), "You have destroyed the whole effect and moral of the poem, by omitting the last line of Manfred's speaking."]

[172] [For Goethes translation of the following passages in _Manfred_, viz (i) Manfred's soliloquy, act 1. sc. 1, line 1 _seq._; (ii) "The Incantation." act i. sc. 1, lines 192-261; (iii)Manfred's soliloquy, act ii, sc. 2 lines 164-204; (iv.) the duologue between Manfred and Astarte, act ii. sc. 4, lines 116-155; (v) a couplet, "For the night hath been to me," etc., act iii. sc. 4, lines 3, 4;--see Professor A. Brandl's _Goethe-Jahrbuch._ 1899, and Goethe's _Werke,_ 1874, iii. 201, as quoted in Appendix II., _Letters,_ 1901. v. 503-514.]

THE LAMENT OF TASSO.