The loves and heroines of the poets . D OF ATHENS. Byron arrived at Athens on tlie 25tli of December, 1809, and took lodgings at thehouse of Tlieodora Maori, the widow of the English vice-consul. She had three daugh-ters, the eldest of whom, Theresa, was Byrons favourite, and the subject of thesecharming verses, which were written early in March, 1810, when he was on the pointof starting for Constantinople. She married a Scotchman named Black, and is still livingat Athens, a liale and handsome old woman. I liave printed the Greek refrain in English characters, for the benefit of the generalrea
The loves and heroines of the poets . D OF ATHENS. Byron arrived at Athens on tlie 25tli of December, 1809, and took lodgings at thehouse of Tlieodora Maori, the widow of the English vice-consul. She had three daugh-ters, the eldest of whom, Theresa, was Byrons favourite, and the subject of thesecharming verses, which were written early in March, 1810, when he was on the pointof starting for Constantinople. She married a Scotchman named Black, and is still livingat Athens, a liale and handsome old woman. I liave printed the Greek refrain in English characters, for the benefit of the generalreader. It means, My hfe, I love you ! Maid of Athens, ere wc part,Give, O give me back my heart!Or, since that has left my breast,Keep it now, and take the rest!Hear my vow before I go,Zoe moio, sas agapo. By those tresses unconiined,Wooed by each ^Egean wind ;By those lids whose jetty fringeKiss thy soft cheeks blooming tinge;By those wild eyes like the roe,Zoe mmi, sas agapo. By that lip I long to taste ;By that zone-encircled waist;. LORD BYRON. 379 By all the token-flowers tliat tellWhat words can never speak so well;By loves alternate joy and woe,Zoe mou, sas agwpo. Maid of Athens ! I am gone :Think of me, sweet! when I fly to Istanibol,Athens holds my heart and soul:Can I cease to love thee ? No !Zoe mou, sas aga/po. TO TIIYEZA. Thyi-za was a real person, though some of Byrons hiographers have doubted the fact. I have agam been shocked witli a death,^ he wrote to his friend, Mr. Dallas, on the11th of October, 1811, and liave lost one very dear to me in happier times ; but I liavealmost forgot the taste of grief, and supped full of horrors till I have become caDous, norhave I a tear left for an event which, five years ago, would have bowed down my head tothe earth. I thank you, Mr. Dallas answered on the 27th, for your confidentialcommunication at the bottom of the stanza which so much delighted me. How truly doI wish that the being to whom that verse now belong
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectlovepoetry, bookyear1
