18
MAZEPPA.
“Then through my brain the thought did pass
“Even as a flash of lightning there,
“That there was something in her air
“Which would not doom me to despair;
“And on the thought my words broke forth,
“All incoherent as they were—
“Their eloquence was little worth,
“But yet she listen’d—’tis enough—
“Who listens once will listen twice;
“Her heart, be sure, is not of ice,280
“And one refusal no rebuff.
VII.
“I loved, and was beloved again—
“They tell me, Sire, you never knew
“Those gentle frailties; if ’tis true,
“I shorten all my joy or pain;
“To you ’twould seem absurd as vain;
“But all men are not born to reign,
“Or o’er their passions, or as you
