A Fragment (”When, to their airy hall”)

A Fragment [1]

When, to their airy hall, my Fathers' voice
Shall call my spirit, joyful in their choice;
When, pois'd upon the gale, my form shall ride,
Or, dark in mist, descend the mountain's side;
Oh! may my shade behold no sculptur'd urns,
To mark the spot where earth to earth returns!
No lengthen'd scroll, no praise-encumber'd stone; [i]
My epitaph shall be my name alone: [2]
If that with honour fail to crown my clay, [ii]
Oh! may no other fame my deeds repay!
That, only that, shall single out the spot;
By that remember'd, or with that forgot. [iii]

1803.

[Footnote 1: There is no heading in the Quarto.]

[Footnote 2: In his will, drawn up in 1811, Byron gave directions that "no inscription, save his name and age, should be written on his tomb." June, 1819, he wrote to Murray: "Some of the epitaphs at the Certosa cemetery, at Ferrara, pleased me more than the more splendid monuments at Bologna; for instance, 'Martini Luigi Implora pace.' Can anything be more full of pathos? I hope whoever may survive me will see those two words, and no more, put over me."—'Life', pp. 131, 398.]

[Footnote: i.

'No lengthen'd scroll of virtue and renown.'

[4to. P. on V. Occ.]]

[Footnote: ii.

'If that with honour fails,'

[4to]]

[Footnote: iii.

'But that remember'd, or fore'er forgot'.

[4to. 'P. on V. Occasions'.]]