The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero)/Poetry/Volume 3/The Spell is broke, the Charm is flown!

by George Gordon Byron

THE SPELL IS BROKE, THE CHARM IS FLOWN!^{[lower-roman 1]}

WRITTEN AT ATHENS, JANUARY 16, 1810.

The spell is broke, the charm is flown!
Thus is it with Life's fitful fever:
We madly smile when we should groan;
Delirium is our best deceiver.
Each lucid interval of thought
Recalls the woes of Nature's charter;
And He that acts as wise men ought,
But lives—as Saints have died—a martyr.

[MS. M. First published, Childe Harold, 1812 (4to).]

Variants

1. Written at Athens.—[1812.]