from: ODE TO NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE

The triumph, and the vanity,
The rapture of the strife—
The earthquake voice of Victory,
To thee the breath of life;
The sword, the scepter, and that sway
Which man seem’d made but to obey,
Wherewith renown was rife –
All quell’d – Dark Spirit! what must
be
The madness of thy memory!




LORD BYRON
April 10, 1814