The Works of Lord Byron, Vol. 1 (On A Distant View Of The Village And School Of Harrow On The Hill) Lord Byron

On A Distant View Of The Village And School Of Harrow On The Hill, 1806

Oh! mihi præteritos referat si Jupiter annos.[1]

VIRGIL

1.         Ye scenes of my childhood, whose lov'd recollection
        Embitters the present, compar'd with the past;
        Where science first dawn'd on the powers of reflection,
        And friendships were form'd, too romantic to last; [2]

2.         Where fancy, yet, joys to retrace the resemblance
        Of comrades, in friendship and mischief allied; [3]
        How welcome to me your ne'er fading remembrance, [i]
        Which rests in the bosom, though hope is deny'd!

3.         Again I revisit the hills where we sported,
        The streams where we swam, and the fields where we fought; [4]
        The school where, loud warn'd by the bell, we resorted,
        To pore o'er the precepts by Pedagogues taught.

4.         Again I behold where for hours I have ponder'd,
        As reclining, at eve, on yon tombstone [5] I lay;
        Or round the steep brow of the churchyard I wander'd,
        To catch the last gleam of the sun's setting ray.