MAZEPPA.
19
“I am—or rather was—a prince,290
“A chief of thousands, and could lead
“Them on where each would foremost bleed;
“But could not o’er myself evince
“The like control—But to resume:
“I loved, and was beloved again;
“In sooth, it is a happy doom,
“But yet where happiest ends in pain.—
“We met in secret, and the hour
“Which led me to that lady’s bower
“Was fiery Expectation’s dower.300
“My days and nights were nothing—all
“Except that hour, which doth recal
“In the long lapse from youth to age
“No other like itself—I’d give
“The Ukraine back again to live
“It o’er once more—and be a page,
“The happy page, who was the lord
“Of one soft heart, and his own sword,
“And had no other gem nor wealth
c 2
