7. When to the mob you make a speech, How do you keep without their reach 8. But never mind such petty things, God save the people-damn all Kings, So let us Crown the Mobby O! [First published Murray's Magazine, March, 1887, vol. i. pp. 292, 293.1 LINES ADDRESSED BY LORD BYRON TO MR. HOBHOUSE ON HIS ELECTION FOR WESTMINSTER.1 WOULD you go to the house by the true gate, 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.] 1. [“I send you 'a Song of Triumph,' by W. Botherby, Esqre price sixpence, on the election of J. C. H., Esqre., for Westminster (not for publication)."-Letter to Murray, April 9, 1820, Letters, 1901, v. 6.]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, WHEN a man hath no freedom to fight for at home, 1. [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, pray, neither Mrs. Hewoman's nor any female or male Tadpole of poet Wordsworth's."-Ibid., v. 64.] I 2. [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."] 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, Then battle for Freedom wherever you can, TO PENELOPE.1 JANUARY 2, 1821. THIS day, of all our days, has done '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.] THE CHARITY BALL.2 WHAT matter the pangs of a husband and father, And the saint patronises her "Charity Ball!" 1. ["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.] 2. [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.""] What matters-a heart which, though faulty, was feeling, EPIGRAM ON THE BRAZIERS' ADDRESS TO BE PRESENTED IN ARMOUR BY THE COMPANY TO QUEEN CAROLINE.1 It seems that the Braziers propose soon to pass 1. [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 A superfluous pageant, for by the Lord Harry! They'll find, where they 're going, much more than they Or carry. THE Braziers, it seems, are determined to pass An Address, and present it themselves all in brass ; A superfluous pageant for, by the Lord Harry! trouble They 'll find, where they 're going, much more than they carry. January 6, 1821. [First published, Letters and Journals, 1830, ii. 442.] ON MY THIRTY-THIRD BIRTHDAY. JANUARY 22, 1821.1 THROUGH Life's dull road, so dim and dirty, What have these years left to me? Nothing except thirty-three. [First published, Letters and Journals, 1830, ii. 414.] 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.] 1. ["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, |