They Never Fail Who Die In

From Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice (1821), Act II, Scene 2. Byron's verse drama is based on the historical Marino Faliero, the Doge of Venice who was beheaded in 1355 after leading a failed conspiracy against the Venetian nobility. The play explores the nobility of political rebellion even when it ends in execution — a theme Byron identified with personally, having exiled himself from England under social persecution and later dying in 1824 while supporting the Greek War of Independence.