XXXII.

Or, if aught in my bosom can quench for an hour My contempt for a nation so servile, though sore, Which though trod like the worm will not turn upon power,

'Tis the glory of Grattan, and genius of Moore !

ON THE BIRTH OF JOHN WILLIAM RIZZO
HOPPNER.

His father's sense, his mother's grace,
In him, I hope, will always fit so;

With

still to keep him in good case—

The health and appetite of Rizzo. (1)

(1) [On the birth of this child, the son of the British vice-consul at Venice, Lord Byron wrote these lines. They are in no other respect remarkable, than that they were thought worthy of being metrically translated into no less than ten different languages; namely, Greek, Latin, Italian (also in the Venetian dialect), German, French, Spanish, Illyrian, Hebrew, Armenian, and Samaritan. The original lines, with the different versions above mentioned, were printed, in a small neat volume, in the seminary of Padua; from which we take the following:

ITALIAN.

Del Padre il senno, e il bel materno aspetto
Splendano ognora in Te, fanciul diletto
Felice appien! se al tuo corporeo velo
Dona il lieto vigor di Rizzo il cielo.

THE VENETIAN DIALECT.

De graziete el to modelo
Sia la Mama, bel Putelo.
E 'l talento del Papà

In ti cressa co l' età;

E per salsa, o contentin

Roba a Rizzo el so morbin.

GERMAN.

Aus des Kindes Auge strahlet Seines Baters hoher Sinn, Und der Mutter Schönheit malet Sich in Wange, Mund, und Kinn. Glücklich Kleiner wirst du seyn, Kannst du Rizzo 's frohen Muthes, Seines feurigen Blutes, Seiner Stärke dich erfreu 'n.

FRENCH.

Sois en tout fortuné, semillant Jouvenceau,

Porte dans les festins la valeur de Rizzo,

Porte au barreau l'esprit qui fait briller ton père,

Et pour vaincre ?... au boudoir sois beau comme ta mère.

SPANISH.

Si á la gracia materna el gusto ayuntas
Y cordura del Padre, o bello Infante,
Serás felíz, y lo serás bastante;
Mas, si felicidad guieres completa,
Sé, como Rizo, alegre, sé un atleta.