Quote#Art
By thy cold breast and serpent smile
Quote byLord Byron · 1788–1824
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Manfred (1817), Act I, scene i..
English (original)
By thy cold breast and serpent smile, By thy unfathom'd gulfs of guile, By that most seeming virtuous eye, By thy shut soul's hypocrisy; By the perfection of thine art Which pass'd for human thine own heart; By thy delight in others' pain, And by thy brotherhood of Cain, I call upon thee! and compel Thyself to be thy proper Hell!
— Lord Byron
More from Lord Byron
When we two parted In silence and tears, Half brokenhearted, To sever for years.
I only know we loved in vain; I only feel — farewell! farewell!
When age chills the blood, when our pleasures are past— For years fleet away with the wings of the dove— The dearest remembrance will still be the last, Our sweetest memorial the first kiss of love.
Because He is all-powerful, must all-good, too, follow? I judge but by the fruits—and they are bitter— Which I must feed on for a fault not mine.
Farewell! if ever fondest prayer For other's weal avail'd on high, Mine will not all be lost in air, But waft thy name beyond the sky.
In secret we met In silence I grieve, That thy heart could forget, Thy spirit deceive. If I should meet thee After long years,