d a shot--'twas eight o'clock scarce past,
And running out as fast as I was able,
I found the military commandant
Stretch'd in the street, and able scarce to pant.

Poor fellow! for some reason, surely bad,
They had him slain with five slugs, and left him there
To perish on the pavement: so I had
Him borne into the house, and up the stair;
The man was gone: in some Italian quarrel
Kill'd by five bullets from an old gun-barrel.

The scars of his old wounds were near his new,
Those honourable scars which bought him fame,
And horrid was the contrast to the view--
But let me quit the theme, as such things claim
Perhaps ev'n more attention than is due
From me: I gazed (as oft I've gazed the same)
To try if I could wrench aught out of death
Which should confirm, or shake, or make a faith.

Whether Marino Faliero was written at Ravenna or completed there, I
have not ascertained, but it was planned at Venice, and as far back
as 1817. I believe this is considered about the most ordinary
performance of all Lord Byron's works; but if it is considered with
reference to the time in which it was written, it will probably be
found to contain many great and impressive passages. Has not the
latter part of the second scene in the first act reference to the
condition of Venice when his Lordship was there? And is not the
description which Israel Bertuccio gives of the conspirators
applicable to, as it was probably derived from, the Carbonari, with
whom there is reason to say Byron was himself disposed to take a
part?

Know, then, that there are met and sworn in secret
A band of brethren, valiant hearts and true;
Men who have proved all fortunes, and have long
Grieved over that of Venice, and have right
To do so; having served her in all climes,
And having rescued her from foreign foes,
Would do the same for those within her walls.
They are not numerous, nor yet too few
For their great purpose; they have arms, and means,
And hearts, and hopes, and faith, and patient courage.

This drama, to be properly appreciated, both in its taste and feeling
should be considered as addressed to the Italians of the epoch at
which it was written. Had it been written in the Italian instead of
the English language, and could have come out in any city of Italy,
the effect would have been prodigious. It is, indeed, a work not to
be estimated by the delineations of character nor the f