203

DON JUAN.

CANTO THE SECOND.

I.

OH ye! who teach the ingenuous youth of nations,
Holland, France, England, Germany, or Spain,
I pray ye flog them upon all occasions,

It mends their morals, never mind the pain:
The best of mothers and of educations

In Juan's case were but employ'd in vain, Since, in a way that's rather of the oddest, he Became divested of his native modesty.(1)

II.

Had he but been placed at a public school,
In the third form, or even in the fourth,
His daily task had kept his fancy cool,

At least, had he been nurtured in the north;
Spain may prove an exception to the rule,

But then exceptions always prove its worthA lad of sixteen causing a divorce

Puzzled his tutors very much, of course.

(1) [MS." Lost that most precious stone of stones his modesty."]

III.

I can't say that it puzzles me at all,

If all things be consider'd: first, there was His lady-mother, mathematical,

A.

-never mind;-his tutor, an old ass; A pretty woman-(that's quite natural,

Or else the thing had hardly come to pass);
A husband rather old, not much in unity
With his young wife-a time, and opportunity.

IV.

Well-well, the world must turn upon its axis,
And all mankind turn with it, heads or tails,
And live and die, make love and pay our taxes,

And as the veering wind shifts, shift our sails;
The king commands us, and the doctor quacks us,
The priest instructs, and so our life exhales,
A little breath, love, wine, ambition, fame,
Fighting, devotion, dust,—perhaps a name.

V.

I said, that Juan had been sent to Cadiz-
A pretty town, I recollect it well--
'Tis there the mart of the colonial trade is,
(Or was, before Peru learn'd to rebel,)

And such sweet girls-I mean, such graceful ladies,
Their very walk would make your bosom swell;

I can't describe it, though so much it strike,
Nor liken it-I never saw the like:(1)

(1) [MS." But d-n me if I ever saw the like."]

VI.

An Arab horse, a stately stag, a barb
New broke, a cameleopard, a gazelle,

No-none of these will do;—and then their garb !
Their veil and petticoat - Alas! to dwell
Upon such things would very near absorb

A canto-then their feet and ankles,—well, Thank Heaven I've got no metaphor quite ready, (And so, my sober Muse―come, let's be steady—

VII.

Chaste Muse!—well, if you must, you must)—the

veil

Thrown back a moment with the glancing hand, While the o'erpowering eye, that turns you pale, Flashes into the heart:- All sunny land Of love! when I forget you, may I fail [plann'd To say my prayers-but never was there A dress through which the eyes give such a volley, Excepting the Venetian Fazzioli. (1)

VIII.

But to our tale: the Donna Inez sent
Her son to Cadiz only to embark;

To stay there had not answer'd her intent,

But why? we leave the reader in the dark'Twas for a voyage that the young man was meant, As if a Spanish ship were Noah's ark,

To wean him from the wickedness of earth,
And send him like a dove of promise forth.

(1) Fazzioli- literally, little handkerchiefs- the veils most availing of St. Mark.

IX.

Don Juan bade his valet pack his things
According to direction, then received

A lecture and some money: for four springs
He was to travel; and though Inez grieved
(As every kind of parting has its stings),

She hoped he would improve-perhaps believed: A letter, too, she gave (he never read it) Of good advice- and two or three of credit.

X.

In the mean time, to pass her hours away,
Brave Inez now set up a Sunday school (1)
For naughty children, who would rather play
(Like truant rogues) the devil, or the fool;
Infants of three years old were taught that day,
Dunces were whipt, or set upon a stool :

The great success of Juan's education,
Spurr'd her to teach another generation. (2)

XI.

Juan embark'd—the ship got under way,
The wind was fair, the water passing rough;
A devil of a sea rolls in that bay, (3)

As I, who've cross'd it oft, know well enough;

(1) [See Verses on a Charity Ball, antè, Vol. XII. p. 320.]
(2) [MS." Their manners mending, and their morals curing,

She taught them to suppress their vice,—and urine."] (3) ["Hogg writes me, that Scott is gone to the Orkneys in a gale of wind; during which wind he affirms the said Scott he is sure is not at his ease, to say the best of it.' Lord, Lord! if these home-keeping minstrels had tasted a little open boating in a white squall—or a gale in 'the Gat'-how it would enliven and introduce them to a few of the sensations."- B. Letters, 1814.]