Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 3.djvu/134

There lingers Life, though but in one"—^{[lower-roman 1]}
For many a gilded chamber's there,
Which Solitude might well forbear;^{[decimal 1]}
Within that dome as yet Decay
Hath slowly worked her cankering way—
But gloom is gathered o'er the gate,
Nor there the Fakir's self will wait;
Nor there will wandering Dervise stay,340
For Bounty cheers not his delay;
Nor there will weary stranger halt
To bless the sacred "bread and salt."^{[lower-roman 2][decimal 2]}

Variants

1. And welcome Life though but in one
   For many a gilded chamber's there
   Unmeet for Solitude to share.—[MS.]
2. To share the Master's "bread and salt."—[MS.]

Notes

1. ["I have just recollected an alteration you may make in the proof. . . . Among the lines on Hassan's Serai, is this—'Unmeet for Solitude to share.' Now, to share implies more than one, and Solitude is a single gentlewoman: it must be thus—
   "'For many a gilded chamber's there,
   Which Solitude might well forbear;'
   
   
   and so on. Will you adopt this correction? and pray accept a cheese from me for your trouble."—Letter to John Murray, Stilton, October 3, 1813, Letters, 1898, ii. 274.]
2. [To partake of food—to break bread and taste salt with your host, ensures the safety of the guest: even though an enemy, his person from that moment becomes sacred.—(Note appended to Letter of October 3, 1813.)
   "I leave this {vide supra, note l) to your discretion; if anybody thinks the old line a good one or the cheese a bad one, don't accept either. But in that case the word share is repeated soon after in the line—

   "'To share the master's bread and salt;'

   and must be altered to—

   "'To break the master's bread and salt.'

   This is not so well, though—confound it!"
   "If the old line ['Unmeet for Solitude to share'] stands, let the other run thus—
   "'Nor there will weary traveller halt,
   To bless the sacred bread and salt.'
   (P.S. to Murray, October 3, 1813.)