(It may be noted that the name Thirza, or Thyrza, a variant of Theresa, had been familiar to Byron in his childhood. In the Preface to _Cain_ he writes, "Gesner's _Death of Abel!_ I have never read since I was eight years of age at Aberdeen. The general impression of my recollection is delight; but of the contents I remember only that Cain's wife was called Mahala, and Abel's Thirza." Another and more immediate suggestion of the name may be traced to the following translation of Meleager's Epitaphium _In Heliodoram_, which one of the "associate bards," Bland, or Merivale, or Hodgson, contributed to their _Translations chiefly from the Greek Anthology_, 1806, p. 4, a work which Byron singles out for commendation in _English Bards_, etc, (lines 881-890):-- "Tears o'er my parted Thyrza's grave I shed, Affection's fondest tribute to the dead. * * * * * Break, break my heart, o'ercharged with bursting woe An empty offering to the shades below! Ah, plant regretted! Death's remorseless power, With dust unfruitful checked thy full-blown flower. Take, earth, the gentle inmate to thy breast, And soft-embosomed let my Thyrza rest." The MSS. of "To Thyrza," "Away, away, ye notes of Woe!" "One struggle more, and I am free," and, "And thou art dead, as young and fair," which belonged originally to Mrs. Leigh, are now in the possession of Sir Theodore Martin, K.C.B.--Editor.)] [30] [For the substitution in the present issue of continuous lines for stanzas, Byron's own authority and mandate may be quoted. "In reading the 4th vol.... I perceive that piece 12 ('Without a Stone') is made nonsense of (that is, greater nonsense than usual) by dividing it into stanzas 1, 2, etc."--Letter to John Murray, August 26, 1815, _Letters_, 1899, iii. 215.] [u] _And soothe if such could soothe thy shade_.--[MS. erased.] [v] {31} _By many a land_----.--[MS.] [w] {33} _And shall they not_----.--[MS.] [x] ----_the walk aside_.--[MS.] [y] (_a_) _The kiss that left no sting behind_ _So guiltless Passion thus forbore;_ _Those eyes bespoke so pure a mind,_ / _plead_ \ _That Love forgot to_ { } _for more_. \ _ask_ / (_b_) _The kiss that left no sting behind,_ _So guiltless Love each wish forebore;_ _Those eyes proclaimed so pure a mind,_ _That Passion blushed to smile for more_.-- [Pencilled alternative stanzas.] [z] {34} _Well hast thou fled_----.--[MS. erased.] [aa] _If judging from my present pain_ _That rest alone_----.--[MS. erased.] _If rest alone is in the tomb_.--[MS.] [ab] _So let it be my hope in Heaven_.--[MS. erased] [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.]