My memory
does not enable me to repeat more than the first two verses quite
accurately, but the humourous spirit of the Song may be gathered from
these:--
1.
does not enable me to repeat more than the first two verses quite
accurately, but the humourous spirit of the Song may be gathered from
these:--
1.
Byron
For stanzas 3, 4, 6, see _Letters_, 1900, iv.
219, 220. For stanzas 1, 2, 3 of "Another Simple Ballat. To the tune of
Tally i. o. the Grinder" (probably a variant of Dibdin's song, "The
Grinders, or more Grist to the Mill"), _vide ibid. _, pp. 220, 221. ]
ANOTHER SIMPLE BALLAT.
1.
MRS. WILMOT sate scribbling a play,
Mr. Sotheby sate sweating behind her;
But what are all these to the Lay
Of Gally i. o. the Grinder?
Gally i. o. i. o. , etc.
2.
I bought me some books tother day,
And sent them down stairs to the binder;
But the Pastry Cook carried away
My Gally i. o. the Grinder.
Gally i. o. i. o. , etc.
3.
I wanted to kindle my taper,
And called to the Maid to remind her;
And what should she bring me for paper
But Gally i. o. the Grinder.
Gally i. o. i. o. , etc.
4.
Among my researches for EASE
I went where one's certain to find her:
The first thing by her throne that one sees
Is Gally i. o. the Grinder.
Gally i. o. i. o. , etc.
5.
Away with old Homer the blind--
I'll show you a poet that's blinder:
You may see him whene'er you've a mind
In Gally i. o. the Grinder.
Gally i. o. i. o. , etc.
6.
Blindfold he runs groping for fame,
And hardly knows where he will find her:
She don't seem to take to the name
Of Gally i. o. the Grinder.
Gally i. o. i. o. , etc.
7.
Yet the Critics have been very kind,
And Mamma and his friends have been kinder;
But the greatest of Glory's behind
For Gally i. o. the Grinder.
Gally i. o. i. o. , etc.
_April_ 11, 1818.
[From an autograph MS. in the possession of Mr. Murray,
now for the first time printed. ]
EPIGRAM.
FROM THE FRENCH OF RULHIERES. [108]
IF for silver, or for gold,
You could melt ten thousand pimples
Into half a dozen dimples,
Then your face we might behold,
Looking, doubtless, much more snugly,
Yet even _then_ 'twould be damned ugly.
_August_ 12, 1819.
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 235. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[108] ["Would you like an epigram--a translation? It was written on some
Frenchwoman, by Rulhieres, I believe. "--Letter to Murray, August 12,
1819, _Letters_, 1900, iv. 346.
Claude Carloman de Rulhiere (1718-1791), historian, poet, and
epigrammatist, was the author of _Anecdotes sur la revolution de Russie
en l'annee_ 1762, _Histoire de l'anarchie de Pologne_ (1807), etc. His
epigrams are included in "Poesies Diverses," which are appended to _Les
jeux de Mains_, a poem in three cantos, published in 1808, and were
collected in his _Oeuvres Posthumes_, 1819; but there is no trace of the
original of Byron's translation. Perhaps it is _after_ de Rulhiere, who
more than once epigrammatizes "Une Vieille Femme. "]
EPILOGUE. [109]
1.
THERE'S something in a stupid ass,
And something in a heavy dunce;
But never since I went to school
I heard or saw so damned a fool
As William Wordsworth is for once.
2.
And now I've seen so great a fool
As William Wordsworth is for once;
I really wish that Peter Bell
And he who wrote it were in hell,
For writing nonsense for the nonce.
3.
It saw the "light in ninety-eight,"
Sweet babe of one and twenty years! [110]
And then he gives it to the nation
And deems himself of Shakespeare's peers!
4.
He gives the perfect work to light!
Will Wordsworth, if I might advise,
Content you with the praise you get
From Sir George Beaumont, Baronet,
And with your place in the Excise!
1819.
[First published, _Philadelphia Record_, December 28, 1891. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[109] [The MS. of the "Epilogue" is inscribed on the margin of a copy of
Wordsworth's _Peter Bell_, inserted in a set of Byron's _Works_
presented by George W. Childs to the Drexel Institute. (From information
kindly supplied by Mr. John H. Bewley, of Buffalo, New York. )
The first edition of _Peter Bell_ appeared early in 1819, and a second
edition followed in May, 1819. In Byron's Dedication of _Marino
Faliero_, "To Baron Goethe," dated October 20, 1820 (_Poetical Works_,
1891, iv. 341), the same allusions to Sir George Beaumont, to
Wordsworth's "place in the Excise," and to his admission that _Peter
Bell_ had been withheld "for one and twenty years," occur in an omitted
paragraph first published, _Letters_, 1891, v. 101. So close a
correspondence of an unpublished fragment with a genuine document leaves
little doubt as to the composition of the "Epilogue. "]
[110] [The missing line may be, "To _permanently_ fill a station," see
Preface to _Peter Bell_. ]
ON MY WEDDING-DAY.
HERE'S a happy New Year! but with reason
I beg you'll permit me to say--
Wish me _many_ returns of the _Season_,
But as _few_ as you please of the _Day_. [111]
_January_ 2, 1820.
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 294. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[111] [Medwin (_Conversations_, 1824, p. 156) prints an alternative--
"You may wish me returns of the season,
Let us, prithee, have none of the day! "]
EPITAPH FOR WILLIAM PITT.
WITH Death doomed to grapple,
Beneath this cold slab, he
Who lied in the Chapel
Now lies in the Abbey.
_January_ 2, 1820.
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 295. ]
EPIGRAM.
IN digging up your bones, Tom Paine,
Will. Cobbett[112] has done well:
You visit him on Earth again,
He'll visit you in Hell.
or--
You come to him on Earth again
He'll go with you to Hell!
_January_ 2, 1820.
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 295. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[112] [Cobbett, by way of atonement for youthful vituperation (he called
him "a ragamuffin deist") of Tom Paine, exhumed his bones from their
first resting-place at New Rochelle, and brought them to Liverpool on
his return to England in 1819. They were preserved by Cobbett at
Normanby, Farnham, till his death in 1835, but were sold in consequence
of his son's bankruptcy in 1836, and passed into the keeping of a Mr.
Tilly, who was known to be their fortunate possessor as late as 1844.
(See _Notes and Queries_, 1868, Series IV. vol. i. pp. 201-203. )]
EPITAPH.
POSTERITY will ne'er survey
A nobler grave than this;
Here lie the bones of Castlereagh:
Stop traveller, * *
_January_ 2, 1820.
[First published, _Lord Byron's Works_, 1833, xvii. 246. ]
EPIGRAM.
The world is a bundle of hay,
Mankind are the asses who pull;
Each tugs it a different way,--
And the greatest of all is John Bull!
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 494. ]
MY BOY HOBBIE O. [113]
New Song to the tune of
"_Whare hae ye been a' day,
My boy Tammy O. !
Courting o' a young thing
Just come frae her Mammie O. _"
1.
HOW came you in Hob's pound to cool,
My boy Hobbie O?
Because I bade the people pull
The House into the Lobby O.
2.
What did the House upon this call,
My boy Hobbie O?
They voted me to Newgate all,
Which is an awkward Jobby O.
3.
Who are now the people's men,
My boy Hobbie O?
There's I and Burdett--Gentlemen
And blackguard Hunt and Cobby O.
4.
You hate the house--_why_ canvass, then?
My boy Hobbie O?
Because I would reform the den
As member for the Mobby O.
5.
Wherefore do you hate the Whigs,
My boy Hobbie O?
Because they want to run their rigs,
As under Walpole Bobby O.
6.
But when we at Cambridge were
My boy Hobbie O,
If my memory don't err
You founded a Whig Clubbie O.
7.
When to the mob you make a speech,
My boy Hobbie O,
How do you keep without their reach
The watch within your fobby O?
8.
But never mind such petty things,
My boy Hobbie O;
God save the people--damn all Kings,
So let us Crown the Mobby O!
Yours truly,
(Signed) _INFIDUS SCURRA_.
_March 23d_, 1820.
[First published _Murray's Magazine_, March, 1887,
vol. i. pp. 292, 293. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[113] [John Cam Hobhouse (1786-1869) (see _Letters_, 1898, i. 163,
_note_ 1) was committed to Newgate in December, 1819, for certain
passages in a pamphlet entitled, _A Trifling Mistake in Thomas Lord
Erskine's recent Preface_, which were voted (December 10) a breach of
privilege. He remained in prison till the dissolution on the king's
death, February 20, 1820, when he stood and was returned for
Westminster. Byron's Liberalism was intermittent, and he felt, or, as
Hobhouse thought, pretended to feel, as a Whig and an aristocrat with
regard to the free lances of the Radical party. The sole charge in this
"filthy ballad," which annoyed Hobhouse, was that he had founded a Whig
Club when he was an undergraduate at Cambridge. He assured Murray (see
his letter, November, 1820, _Letters_, vol. iv. Appendix XI. pp.
498-500) that he was not the founder of the club, and that Byron himself
was a member. "As for his Lordship's vulgar notions about the _mob_" he
adds, "they are very fit for the Poet of the _Morning Post_, and for
nobody else. " There is no reason to suppose that Byron was in any way
responsible for the version as sent to the _Morning Post_. ]
"MY BOY HOBBY O.
[ANOTHER VERSION. ]
To the Editor of the _Morning Post_.
Sir,--A copy of verses, to the tune of '_My boy Tammy_,' are repeated
in literary circles, and said to be written by a Noble Lord of the
highest poetical fame, upon his quondam friend and annotator.
My memory
does not enable me to repeat more than the first two verses quite
accurately, but the humourous spirit of the Song may be gathered from
these:--
1.
Why were you put in Lob's pond,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
For telling folks to pull the House
By the ears into the Lobby O!
2.
Who are your grand Reformers now,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
There's me and BURDETT,--gentlemen,
And Blackguards HUNT and COBBY O!
3.
Have you no other friends but these,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
Yes, Southwark's Knight,[*] the County BYNG,
And in the City, BOBBY O!
[*] "Southwark's Knight" was General Sir Robert Thomas Wilson
(1777-1849), who was returned for Southwark in 1818, and again in 1820;
"County Byng" was George Byng, M. P. for Middlesex; and "Bobby" was Sir
Robert Waithman (1764-1833), who represented the City of London in 1818,
but lost his seat to Sir William Curtis in 1820. All these were advanced
Liberals, and, as such, Parliamentary friends of Hobhouse.
4.
How do you recreate yourselves,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
We spout with tavern Radicals,
And drink with them hob-nobby O!
5.
What purpose can such folly work,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
It gives our partisans a chance
Watches to twitch from fob-by O!
6.
Have they no higher game in view,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
Oh yes; to stir the people up,
And then to head the mob-by O.
7.
But sure they'll at their ruin pause,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
No! they'd see King and Parliament
Both d--d without a sob-by O!
8.
But, if they fail, they'll be hanged up,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
Why, then, they'll swing, like better men,
And that will end the job-by O!
PHILO-RADICLE.
April 15, 1820. "
LINES
ADDRESSED BY LORD BYRON TO MR. HOBHOUSE
ON HIS ELECTION FOR WESTMINSTER. [114]
WOULD you go to the house by the true gate,
Much faster than ever Whig Charley went;
Let Parliament send you to Newgate,
And Newgate will send you to Parliament.
_April 9, 1820_.
[First published, _Miscellaneous Poems_, printed for
J. Bumpus, 1824. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[114] ["I send you 'a Song of Triumph,' by W. Botherby, Esq^re^ price
sixpence, on the election of J. C. H. , Esqre. , for Westminster (_not_ for
publication). "--Letter to Murray, April 9, 1820, _Letters_, 1901, v. 6. ]
A VOLUME OF NONSENSE.
DEAR MURRAY,--
You ask for a "_Volume of Nonsense_,"
Have all of your authors exhausted their store?
I thought you had published a good deal not long since.
And doubtless the Squadron are ready with more.
But on looking again, I perceive that the Species
Of "Nonsense" you want must be purely "_facetious_;"
And, as that is the case, you had best put to press
Mr. Sotheby's tragedies now in M. S. ,
Some Syrian Sally
From common-place Gally,
Or, if you prefer the bookmaking of women,
Take a spick and span "Sketch" of your feminine _He-Man_. [115]
_Sept. 28, 1820. _
[First published, _Letters_, 1900, v. 83. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[115] [For Felicia Dorothea Browne (1793-1835), married in 1812 to
Captain Hemans, see _Letters_, iii. 368, _note_ 2. In the letter which
contains these verses he writes, "I do not despise Mrs. Heman; but if
she knit blue stockings instead of wearing them it would be better. "
Elsewhere he does despise her: "No more _modern_ poesy, I pray, neither
Mrs. Hewoman's nor any female or male Tadpole of poet
Wordsworth's. "--_Ibid. _, v. 64. ]
STANZAS. [116]
WHEN a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,
Let him combat for that of his neighbours;
Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome,
And get knocked on the head for his labours.
To do good to Mankind is the chivalrous plan,
And is always as nobly requited;
Then battle for Freedom wherever you can,
And, if not shot or hanged, you'll get knighted.
_November 5, 1820_.
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 377. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[116] [The lines were sent in a letter to Moore (November 5, 1820) by
way of _Autoepitaphium_, "if 'honour should come unlooked for' to any of
your acquaintance;" i. e. if Byron should fall in the cause of Italian
revolution, and Moore should not think him worthy of commemoration, here
was a threnody "ready at hand. "]
TO PENELOPE. [117]
JANUARY 2, 1821.
THIS day, of all our days, has done
The worst for me and you:--
'T is just _six_ years since we were _one_,
And _five_ since we were _two_.
_November 5, 1820. _
[First published, Medwin's _Conversations_, 1824, p. 106. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[117] ["For the anniversary of January 2, 1821, I have a small grateful
anticipation, which, in case of accident, I add. "--Letter to Moore,
November 5, 1820, _Letters_, 1891, v. 112. ]
THE CHARITY BALL. [118]
WHAT matter the pangs of a husband and father,
If his sorrows in exile be great or be small,
So the Pharisee's glories around her she gather,
And the saint patronises her "Charity Ball! "
What matters--a heart which, though faulty, was feeling,
Be driven to excesses which once could appal--
That the Sinner should suffer is only fair dealing,
As the Saint keeps her charity back for "the Ball! "
_December 10, 1820. _
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 540. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[118] [Written on seeing the following paragraph in a newspaper: "Lady
Byron is this year the lady patroness at the annual Charity Ball, given
at the Town Hall, at Hinckley, Leicestershire. . . . "--_Life_, p. 535.
Moore adds that "these verses [of which he only prints two stanzas] are
full of strong and indignant feeling,--every stanza concluding pointedly
with the words 'Charity Ball. '"]
EPIGRAM
ON THE BRAZIERS' ADDRESS TO BE PRESENTED
IN _ARMOUR_ BY THE COMPANY TO QUEEN CAROLINE. [119]
IT seems that the Braziers propose soon to pass
An Address and to bear it themselves all in brass;
A superfluous pageant, for by the Lord Harry!
They'll _find_, where they're going, much more than they carry.
Or--
THE Braziers, it seems, are determined to pass
An Address, and present it themselves all in brass:--
A superfluous {pageant/trouble} for, by the Lord Harry!
They'll find, where they're going, much more than they carry.
_January 6, 1821. _
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 442. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[119] [The allusion is explained in Rivington's _Annual Register_,
October 30, 1820 (vol. lxii. pp. 114, 115)--
"ADDRESSES TO THE QUEEN.
" . . . The most splendid exhibition of the day was that of the
brass-founders and braziers. The procession was headed by a man dressed
in a suit of burnished plate armour of brass, and mounted on a handsome
black horse, the reins being held by pages . . . wearing brass helmets. . . .
A man in a complete suite of brass armour . . . was followed by two
persons, bearing on a cushion a most magnificent imitation of the
imperial Crown of England. A small number of the deputation of
brass-founders were admitted to the presence of her Majesty, and one of
the persons in armour advanced to the throne, and bending on one knee,
presented the address, which was enclosed in a brass case of excellent
workmanship. "--See _Letters_, 1901, v. 219, 220, _note_ 2.
In a postscript to a letter to Murray, dated January 19, 1821, he
writes, "I sent you a line or two on the Braziers' Company last week,
_not_ for publication. The lines were even worthy
'Of ----dsworth the great metaquizzical poet,
A man of great merit amongst those who know it,
Of whose works, as I told Moore last autumn at _Mestri_
I owe all I know to my passion for _Pastry_. '"
He adds, in a footnote, "_Mestri_ and _Fusina_ are the ferry trajects to
Venice: I believe, however, that it was at Fusina that Moore and I
embarked in 1819, when Thomas came to Venice, like Coleridge's Spring,
'slowly up this way. '"
Again, in a letter to Moore, dated January 22, 1821, he encloses
slightly different versions of both epigrams, and it is worth noting
that the first line of the pendant epigram has been bowdlerized, and
runs thus--
"Of Wordsworth the grand metaquizzical poet. "
--_Letters_, 1901, v. 226, 230. ]
ON MY THIRTY-THIRD BIRTHDAY.
JANUARY 22, 1821. [120]
THROUGH Life's dull road, so dim and dirty,
I have dragged to three-and-thirty.
What have these years left to me?
Nothing--except thirty-three.
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 414. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[120] ["To-morrow is my birthday--that is to say, at twelve o' the
clock, midnight; _i. e. _ in twelve minutes I shall have completed thirty
and three years of age! ! ! and I go to my bed with a heaviness of heart
at having lived so long, and to so little purpose. * * * It is three
minutes past twelve--''Tis the middle of night by the castle clock,' and
I am now thirty-three! --
'Eheu, fugaces, Posthume, Posthume,
Labuntur anni;'--
but I don't regret them so much for what I have done, as for what I
might have done. "--Extracts from a Diary, January 21, 1821, _Letters_,
1901, v. 182.
In a letter to Moore, dated January 22, 1821, he gives another version--
"Through Life's road, so dim and dirty,
I have dragged to three-and-thirty.
What _have_ these years left to me?
Nothing--except thirty-three. "
_Ibid. _, p. 229. ]
MARTIAL, LIB. I. EPIG. I.
"Hic est, quem legis, ille, quem requiris,
Toto notus in orbe Martialis," etc.
HE, unto whom thou art so partial,
Oh, reader! is the well-known Martial,
The Epigrammatist: while living,
Give him the fame thou would'st be giving;
So shall he hear, and feel, and know it--
Post-obits rarely reach a poet.
[N. D. ? 1821. ]
[First published, _Lord Byron's Works_, 1833, xvii. 245]
BOWLES AND CAMPBELL.
cTo the air of "How now, Madam Flirt," in the _Beggar's Opera_. [121]
BOWLES.
"WHY, how now, saucy Tom?
If you thus must ramble,
I will publish some
Remarks on Mister Campbell.
Saucy Tom! "
CAMPBELL.
"WHY, how now, Billy Bowles?
Sure the priest is maudlin!
(_To the public_) How can you, d--n your souls!
Listen to his twaddling?
_Billy Bowles_! "
_February 22, 1821. _
[First published, _The Liberal_, 1823, No. II. p. 398. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[121] [Compare the Beggar's Opera, act ii. sc. 2--
Air, "Good morrow, Gossip Joan. "
"Polly. _Why, how now, Madam Flirt?
If you thus must chatter,
And are for flinging dirt,
Let's try who best can spatter,
Madam Flirt_!
"Lucy. _Why, how now, saucy jade?
Sure the wench is tipsy!
How can you see me made
The scoff of such a gipsy_? [To him. ]
_Saucy jade_! " [To her. ]
Bowles replied to Campbell's Introductory Essay to his _Specimens of the
English Poets_, 7 vols. , 1819, by _The Invariable Principles of Poetry_,
in a letter addressed to Thomas Campbell. For Byron's two essays, the
"Letter to.
219, 220. For stanzas 1, 2, 3 of "Another Simple Ballat. To the tune of
Tally i. o. the Grinder" (probably a variant of Dibdin's song, "The
Grinders, or more Grist to the Mill"), _vide ibid. _, pp. 220, 221. ]
ANOTHER SIMPLE BALLAT.
1.
MRS. WILMOT sate scribbling a play,
Mr. Sotheby sate sweating behind her;
But what are all these to the Lay
Of Gally i. o. the Grinder?
Gally i. o. i. o. , etc.
2.
I bought me some books tother day,
And sent them down stairs to the binder;
But the Pastry Cook carried away
My Gally i. o. the Grinder.
Gally i. o. i. o. , etc.
3.
I wanted to kindle my taper,
And called to the Maid to remind her;
And what should she bring me for paper
But Gally i. o. the Grinder.
Gally i. o. i. o. , etc.
4.
Among my researches for EASE
I went where one's certain to find her:
The first thing by her throne that one sees
Is Gally i. o. the Grinder.
Gally i. o. i. o. , etc.
5.
Away with old Homer the blind--
I'll show you a poet that's blinder:
You may see him whene'er you've a mind
In Gally i. o. the Grinder.
Gally i. o. i. o. , etc.
6.
Blindfold he runs groping for fame,
And hardly knows where he will find her:
She don't seem to take to the name
Of Gally i. o. the Grinder.
Gally i. o. i. o. , etc.
7.
Yet the Critics have been very kind,
And Mamma and his friends have been kinder;
But the greatest of Glory's behind
For Gally i. o. the Grinder.
Gally i. o. i. o. , etc.
_April_ 11, 1818.
[From an autograph MS. in the possession of Mr. Murray,
now for the first time printed. ]
EPIGRAM.
FROM THE FRENCH OF RULHIERES. [108]
IF for silver, or for gold,
You could melt ten thousand pimples
Into half a dozen dimples,
Then your face we might behold,
Looking, doubtless, much more snugly,
Yet even _then_ 'twould be damned ugly.
_August_ 12, 1819.
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 235. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[108] ["Would you like an epigram--a translation? It was written on some
Frenchwoman, by Rulhieres, I believe. "--Letter to Murray, August 12,
1819, _Letters_, 1900, iv. 346.
Claude Carloman de Rulhiere (1718-1791), historian, poet, and
epigrammatist, was the author of _Anecdotes sur la revolution de Russie
en l'annee_ 1762, _Histoire de l'anarchie de Pologne_ (1807), etc. His
epigrams are included in "Poesies Diverses," which are appended to _Les
jeux de Mains_, a poem in three cantos, published in 1808, and were
collected in his _Oeuvres Posthumes_, 1819; but there is no trace of the
original of Byron's translation. Perhaps it is _after_ de Rulhiere, who
more than once epigrammatizes "Une Vieille Femme. "]
EPILOGUE. [109]
1.
THERE'S something in a stupid ass,
And something in a heavy dunce;
But never since I went to school
I heard or saw so damned a fool
As William Wordsworth is for once.
2.
And now I've seen so great a fool
As William Wordsworth is for once;
I really wish that Peter Bell
And he who wrote it were in hell,
For writing nonsense for the nonce.
3.
It saw the "light in ninety-eight,"
Sweet babe of one and twenty years! [110]
And then he gives it to the nation
And deems himself of Shakespeare's peers!
4.
He gives the perfect work to light!
Will Wordsworth, if I might advise,
Content you with the praise you get
From Sir George Beaumont, Baronet,
And with your place in the Excise!
1819.
[First published, _Philadelphia Record_, December 28, 1891. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[109] [The MS. of the "Epilogue" is inscribed on the margin of a copy of
Wordsworth's _Peter Bell_, inserted in a set of Byron's _Works_
presented by George W. Childs to the Drexel Institute. (From information
kindly supplied by Mr. John H. Bewley, of Buffalo, New York. )
The first edition of _Peter Bell_ appeared early in 1819, and a second
edition followed in May, 1819. In Byron's Dedication of _Marino
Faliero_, "To Baron Goethe," dated October 20, 1820 (_Poetical Works_,
1891, iv. 341), the same allusions to Sir George Beaumont, to
Wordsworth's "place in the Excise," and to his admission that _Peter
Bell_ had been withheld "for one and twenty years," occur in an omitted
paragraph first published, _Letters_, 1891, v. 101. So close a
correspondence of an unpublished fragment with a genuine document leaves
little doubt as to the composition of the "Epilogue. "]
[110] [The missing line may be, "To _permanently_ fill a station," see
Preface to _Peter Bell_. ]
ON MY WEDDING-DAY.
HERE'S a happy New Year! but with reason
I beg you'll permit me to say--
Wish me _many_ returns of the _Season_,
But as _few_ as you please of the _Day_. [111]
_January_ 2, 1820.
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 294. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[111] [Medwin (_Conversations_, 1824, p. 156) prints an alternative--
"You may wish me returns of the season,
Let us, prithee, have none of the day! "]
EPITAPH FOR WILLIAM PITT.
WITH Death doomed to grapple,
Beneath this cold slab, he
Who lied in the Chapel
Now lies in the Abbey.
_January_ 2, 1820.
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 295. ]
EPIGRAM.
IN digging up your bones, Tom Paine,
Will. Cobbett[112] has done well:
You visit him on Earth again,
He'll visit you in Hell.
or--
You come to him on Earth again
He'll go with you to Hell!
_January_ 2, 1820.
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 295. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[112] [Cobbett, by way of atonement for youthful vituperation (he called
him "a ragamuffin deist") of Tom Paine, exhumed his bones from their
first resting-place at New Rochelle, and brought them to Liverpool on
his return to England in 1819. They were preserved by Cobbett at
Normanby, Farnham, till his death in 1835, but were sold in consequence
of his son's bankruptcy in 1836, and passed into the keeping of a Mr.
Tilly, who was known to be their fortunate possessor as late as 1844.
(See _Notes and Queries_, 1868, Series IV. vol. i. pp. 201-203. )]
EPITAPH.
POSTERITY will ne'er survey
A nobler grave than this;
Here lie the bones of Castlereagh:
Stop traveller, * *
_January_ 2, 1820.
[First published, _Lord Byron's Works_, 1833, xvii. 246. ]
EPIGRAM.
The world is a bundle of hay,
Mankind are the asses who pull;
Each tugs it a different way,--
And the greatest of all is John Bull!
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 494. ]
MY BOY HOBBIE O. [113]
New Song to the tune of
"_Whare hae ye been a' day,
My boy Tammy O. !
Courting o' a young thing
Just come frae her Mammie O. _"
1.
HOW came you in Hob's pound to cool,
My boy Hobbie O?
Because I bade the people pull
The House into the Lobby O.
2.
What did the House upon this call,
My boy Hobbie O?
They voted me to Newgate all,
Which is an awkward Jobby O.
3.
Who are now the people's men,
My boy Hobbie O?
There's I and Burdett--Gentlemen
And blackguard Hunt and Cobby O.
4.
You hate the house--_why_ canvass, then?
My boy Hobbie O?
Because I would reform the den
As member for the Mobby O.
5.
Wherefore do you hate the Whigs,
My boy Hobbie O?
Because they want to run their rigs,
As under Walpole Bobby O.
6.
But when we at Cambridge were
My boy Hobbie O,
If my memory don't err
You founded a Whig Clubbie O.
7.
When to the mob you make a speech,
My boy Hobbie O,
How do you keep without their reach
The watch within your fobby O?
8.
But never mind such petty things,
My boy Hobbie O;
God save the people--damn all Kings,
So let us Crown the Mobby O!
Yours truly,
(Signed) _INFIDUS SCURRA_.
_March 23d_, 1820.
[First published _Murray's Magazine_, March, 1887,
vol. i. pp. 292, 293. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[113] [John Cam Hobhouse (1786-1869) (see _Letters_, 1898, i. 163,
_note_ 1) was committed to Newgate in December, 1819, for certain
passages in a pamphlet entitled, _A Trifling Mistake in Thomas Lord
Erskine's recent Preface_, which were voted (December 10) a breach of
privilege. He remained in prison till the dissolution on the king's
death, February 20, 1820, when he stood and was returned for
Westminster. Byron's Liberalism was intermittent, and he felt, or, as
Hobhouse thought, pretended to feel, as a Whig and an aristocrat with
regard to the free lances of the Radical party. The sole charge in this
"filthy ballad," which annoyed Hobhouse, was that he had founded a Whig
Club when he was an undergraduate at Cambridge. He assured Murray (see
his letter, November, 1820, _Letters_, vol. iv. Appendix XI. pp.
498-500) that he was not the founder of the club, and that Byron himself
was a member. "As for his Lordship's vulgar notions about the _mob_" he
adds, "they are very fit for the Poet of the _Morning Post_, and for
nobody else. " There is no reason to suppose that Byron was in any way
responsible for the version as sent to the _Morning Post_. ]
"MY BOY HOBBY O.
[ANOTHER VERSION. ]
To the Editor of the _Morning Post_.
Sir,--A copy of verses, to the tune of '_My boy Tammy_,' are repeated
in literary circles, and said to be written by a Noble Lord of the
highest poetical fame, upon his quondam friend and annotator.
My memory
does not enable me to repeat more than the first two verses quite
accurately, but the humourous spirit of the Song may be gathered from
these:--
1.
Why were you put in Lob's pond,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
For telling folks to pull the House
By the ears into the Lobby O!
2.
Who are your grand Reformers now,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
There's me and BURDETT,--gentlemen,
And Blackguards HUNT and COBBY O!
3.
Have you no other friends but these,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
Yes, Southwark's Knight,[*] the County BYNG,
And in the City, BOBBY O!
[*] "Southwark's Knight" was General Sir Robert Thomas Wilson
(1777-1849), who was returned for Southwark in 1818, and again in 1820;
"County Byng" was George Byng, M. P. for Middlesex; and "Bobby" was Sir
Robert Waithman (1764-1833), who represented the City of London in 1818,
but lost his seat to Sir William Curtis in 1820. All these were advanced
Liberals, and, as such, Parliamentary friends of Hobhouse.
4.
How do you recreate yourselves,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
We spout with tavern Radicals,
And drink with them hob-nobby O!
5.
What purpose can such folly work,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
It gives our partisans a chance
Watches to twitch from fob-by O!
6.
Have they no higher game in view,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
Oh yes; to stir the people up,
And then to head the mob-by O.
7.
But sure they'll at their ruin pause,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
No! they'd see King and Parliament
Both d--d without a sob-by O!
8.
But, if they fail, they'll be hanged up,
My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)
Why, then, they'll swing, like better men,
And that will end the job-by O!
PHILO-RADICLE.
April 15, 1820. "
LINES
ADDRESSED BY LORD BYRON TO MR. HOBHOUSE
ON HIS ELECTION FOR WESTMINSTER. [114]
WOULD you go to the house by the true gate,
Much faster than ever Whig Charley went;
Let Parliament send you to Newgate,
And Newgate will send you to Parliament.
_April 9, 1820_.
[First published, _Miscellaneous Poems_, printed for
J. Bumpus, 1824. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[114] ["I send you 'a Song of Triumph,' by W. Botherby, Esq^re^ price
sixpence, on the election of J. C. H. , Esqre. , for Westminster (_not_ for
publication). "--Letter to Murray, April 9, 1820, _Letters_, 1901, v. 6. ]
A VOLUME OF NONSENSE.
DEAR MURRAY,--
You ask for a "_Volume of Nonsense_,"
Have all of your authors exhausted their store?
I thought you had published a good deal not long since.
And doubtless the Squadron are ready with more.
But on looking again, I perceive that the Species
Of "Nonsense" you want must be purely "_facetious_;"
And, as that is the case, you had best put to press
Mr. Sotheby's tragedies now in M. S. ,
Some Syrian Sally
From common-place Gally,
Or, if you prefer the bookmaking of women,
Take a spick and span "Sketch" of your feminine _He-Man_. [115]
_Sept. 28, 1820. _
[First published, _Letters_, 1900, v. 83. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[115] [For Felicia Dorothea Browne (1793-1835), married in 1812 to
Captain Hemans, see _Letters_, iii. 368, _note_ 2. In the letter which
contains these verses he writes, "I do not despise Mrs. Heman; but if
she knit blue stockings instead of wearing them it would be better. "
Elsewhere he does despise her: "No more _modern_ poesy, I pray, neither
Mrs. Hewoman's nor any female or male Tadpole of poet
Wordsworth's. "--_Ibid. _, v. 64. ]
STANZAS. [116]
WHEN a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,
Let him combat for that of his neighbours;
Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome,
And get knocked on the head for his labours.
To do good to Mankind is the chivalrous plan,
And is always as nobly requited;
Then battle for Freedom wherever you can,
And, if not shot or hanged, you'll get knighted.
_November 5, 1820_.
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 377. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[116] [The lines were sent in a letter to Moore (November 5, 1820) by
way of _Autoepitaphium_, "if 'honour should come unlooked for' to any of
your acquaintance;" i. e. if Byron should fall in the cause of Italian
revolution, and Moore should not think him worthy of commemoration, here
was a threnody "ready at hand. "]
TO PENELOPE. [117]
JANUARY 2, 1821.
THIS day, of all our days, has done
The worst for me and you:--
'T is just _six_ years since we were _one_,
And _five_ since we were _two_.
_November 5, 1820. _
[First published, Medwin's _Conversations_, 1824, p. 106. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[117] ["For the anniversary of January 2, 1821, I have a small grateful
anticipation, which, in case of accident, I add. "--Letter to Moore,
November 5, 1820, _Letters_, 1891, v. 112. ]
THE CHARITY BALL. [118]
WHAT matter the pangs of a husband and father,
If his sorrows in exile be great or be small,
So the Pharisee's glories around her she gather,
And the saint patronises her "Charity Ball! "
What matters--a heart which, though faulty, was feeling,
Be driven to excesses which once could appal--
That the Sinner should suffer is only fair dealing,
As the Saint keeps her charity back for "the Ball! "
_December 10, 1820. _
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 540. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[118] [Written on seeing the following paragraph in a newspaper: "Lady
Byron is this year the lady patroness at the annual Charity Ball, given
at the Town Hall, at Hinckley, Leicestershire. . . . "--_Life_, p. 535.
Moore adds that "these verses [of which he only prints two stanzas] are
full of strong and indignant feeling,--every stanza concluding pointedly
with the words 'Charity Ball. '"]
EPIGRAM
ON THE BRAZIERS' ADDRESS TO BE PRESENTED
IN _ARMOUR_ BY THE COMPANY TO QUEEN CAROLINE. [119]
IT seems that the Braziers propose soon to pass
An Address and to bear it themselves all in brass;
A superfluous pageant, for by the Lord Harry!
They'll _find_, where they're going, much more than they carry.
Or--
THE Braziers, it seems, are determined to pass
An Address, and present it themselves all in brass:--
A superfluous {pageant/trouble} for, by the Lord Harry!
They'll find, where they're going, much more than they carry.
_January 6, 1821. _
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 442. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[119] [The allusion is explained in Rivington's _Annual Register_,
October 30, 1820 (vol. lxii. pp. 114, 115)--
"ADDRESSES TO THE QUEEN.
" . . . The most splendid exhibition of the day was that of the
brass-founders and braziers. The procession was headed by a man dressed
in a suit of burnished plate armour of brass, and mounted on a handsome
black horse, the reins being held by pages . . . wearing brass helmets. . . .
A man in a complete suite of brass armour . . . was followed by two
persons, bearing on a cushion a most magnificent imitation of the
imperial Crown of England. A small number of the deputation of
brass-founders were admitted to the presence of her Majesty, and one of
the persons in armour advanced to the throne, and bending on one knee,
presented the address, which was enclosed in a brass case of excellent
workmanship. "--See _Letters_, 1901, v. 219, 220, _note_ 2.
In a postscript to a letter to Murray, dated January 19, 1821, he
writes, "I sent you a line or two on the Braziers' Company last week,
_not_ for publication. The lines were even worthy
'Of ----dsworth the great metaquizzical poet,
A man of great merit amongst those who know it,
Of whose works, as I told Moore last autumn at _Mestri_
I owe all I know to my passion for _Pastry_. '"
He adds, in a footnote, "_Mestri_ and _Fusina_ are the ferry trajects to
Venice: I believe, however, that it was at Fusina that Moore and I
embarked in 1819, when Thomas came to Venice, like Coleridge's Spring,
'slowly up this way. '"
Again, in a letter to Moore, dated January 22, 1821, he encloses
slightly different versions of both epigrams, and it is worth noting
that the first line of the pendant epigram has been bowdlerized, and
runs thus--
"Of Wordsworth the grand metaquizzical poet. "
--_Letters_, 1901, v. 226, 230. ]
ON MY THIRTY-THIRD BIRTHDAY.
JANUARY 22, 1821. [120]
THROUGH Life's dull road, so dim and dirty,
I have dragged to three-and-thirty.
What have these years left to me?
Nothing--except thirty-three.
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 414. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[120] ["To-morrow is my birthday--that is to say, at twelve o' the
clock, midnight; _i. e. _ in twelve minutes I shall have completed thirty
and three years of age! ! ! and I go to my bed with a heaviness of heart
at having lived so long, and to so little purpose. * * * It is three
minutes past twelve--''Tis the middle of night by the castle clock,' and
I am now thirty-three! --
'Eheu, fugaces, Posthume, Posthume,
Labuntur anni;'--
but I don't regret them so much for what I have done, as for what I
might have done. "--Extracts from a Diary, January 21, 1821, _Letters_,
1901, v. 182.
In a letter to Moore, dated January 22, 1821, he gives another version--
"Through Life's road, so dim and dirty,
I have dragged to three-and-thirty.
What _have_ these years left to me?
Nothing--except thirty-three. "
_Ibid. _, p. 229. ]
MARTIAL, LIB. I. EPIG. I.
"Hic est, quem legis, ille, quem requiris,
Toto notus in orbe Martialis," etc.
HE, unto whom thou art so partial,
Oh, reader! is the well-known Martial,
The Epigrammatist: while living,
Give him the fame thou would'st be giving;
So shall he hear, and feel, and know it--
Post-obits rarely reach a poet.
[N. D. ? 1821. ]
[First published, _Lord Byron's Works_, 1833, xvii. 245]
BOWLES AND CAMPBELL.
cTo the air of "How now, Madam Flirt," in the _Beggar's Opera_. [121]
BOWLES.
"WHY, how now, saucy Tom?
If you thus must ramble,
I will publish some
Remarks on Mister Campbell.
Saucy Tom! "
CAMPBELL.
"WHY, how now, Billy Bowles?
Sure the priest is maudlin!
(_To the public_) How can you, d--n your souls!
Listen to his twaddling?
_Billy Bowles_! "
_February 22, 1821. _
[First published, _The Liberal_, 1823, No. II. p. 398. ]
FOOTNOTES:
[121] [Compare the Beggar's Opera, act ii. sc. 2--
Air, "Good morrow, Gossip Joan. "
"Polly. _Why, how now, Madam Flirt?
If you thus must chatter,
And are for flinging dirt,
Let's try who best can spatter,
Madam Flirt_!
"Lucy. _Why, how now, saucy jade?
Sure the wench is tipsy!
How can you see me made
The scoff of such a gipsy_? [To him. ]
_Saucy jade_! " [To her. ]
Bowles replied to Campbell's Introductory Essay to his _Specimens of the
English Poets_, 7 vols. , 1819, by _The Invariable Principles of Poetry_,
in a letter addressed to Thomas Campbell. For Byron's two essays, the
"Letter to.
