MONTGOMERY! true, the common lot <br />Of mortals lies in Lethe's wave; <br />Yet some shall never be forgot, <br />Some shall exist beyond the grave. <br /> <br />'Unknown the region of his birth,' <br />The hero rolls the tide of war; <br />Yet not unknown his martial worth, <br />Which glares a meteor from afar. <br /> <br />His joy or grief; his weal or woe, <br />Perchance may 'scape the page of fame; <br />Yet nations now unborn will know <br />The record of his deathless name. <br /> <br />The patriot's and the poet's frame <br />Must share the common tomb of all: <br />Their glory will not sleep the same; <br />That will arise, though empires fail. <br /> <br />The lustre of a beauty's eye <br />Assumes the ghastly stare of death; <br />The fair, the brave, the good must die, <br />And sink the yawning grave beneath <br /> <br />Once more the speaking eye revive, <br />Still beaming through the lover's strain; <br />For Petrarch's Laura still survives: <br />She died, but ne'er will die again. <br /> <br />The rolling seasons pass away, <br />And Time, untiring, waves his wing; <br />Whilst honour's laurel ne'er decay, <br />But bloom in fresh, unfading spring. <br /> <br />All, all must sleep in grim repose, <br />Collected in the silent tomb; <br />The old and young, with friends and foes, <br />Fest'ring alike in shrouds, consume. <br /> <br />The mouldering marble lasts its day, <br />Yet falls at length an useless fane; <br />To ruin's ruthless fangs a prey, <br />The wrecks of pillar'd pride remain. <br /> <br />What, though the sculpture he destroy'd, <br />From dark oblivion meant to ward; <br />A bright renown shall he enjoy'd <br />By those whose virtues claim reward <br /> <br />Then do not say the common lot <br />Of all lies deep in Lethe's wave; <br />Some few who ne'er will be forgot <br />Shall burst the bondage of the grave.<br /><br />George Gordon Byron<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/answer-to-a-beautiful-poem-entitled-the-common-lot/
