Lord Byron - The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3 (Away, Away, Ye Notes Of Woe) lyrics

Away, Away, Ye Notes Of Woe![ac][31] 1. Away, away, ye notes of Woe! Be silent, thou once soothing Strain, Or I must flee from hence—for, oh! I dare not trust those sounds again.[ad] To me they speak of brighter days— But lull the chords, for now, alas![ae] I must not think, I may not gaze,[af] On what I am—on what I was. 2. The voice that made those sounds more sweet[ag] Is hushed, and all their charms are fled; And now their softest notes repeat A dirge, an anthem o'er the dead! Yes, Thyrza! yes, they breathe of thee, Belovéd dust! since dust thou art; And all that once was Harmony Is worse than discord to my heart! 3. 'Tis silent all!—but on my ear[ah] The well remembered Echoes thrill; I hear a voice I would not hear, A voice that now might well be still: Yet oft my doubting Soul 'twill shake; Ev'n Slumber owns its gentle tone, Till Consciousness will vainly wake To listen, though the dream be flown. 4. Sweet Thyrza! waking as in sleep, Thou art but now a lovely dream; A Star that trembled o'er the deep, Then turned from earth its tender beam. But he who through Life's dreary way Must pa**, when Heaven is veiled in wrath, Will long lament the vanished ray That scattered gladness o'er his path. December 8, 1811. [First published, Childe Harold, 1812 (4to).] Footnotes [ac] {35} Stanzas.—[MS. Editions 1812-1832.] [31] ["I wrote it a day or two ago, on hearing a song of former days."—Letter to Hodgson, December 8, 1811, Letters, 1898, ii. 82.] [ad] I dare not hear——.—[MS. erased.] [ae] But hush the chords——.—[MS. erased.] [af] ——I dare not gaze.—[MS. erased.] [ag] The voice that made that song more sweet.—[MS.] [ah] 'Tis silent now——.—[MS.]