How lamentably the art of versification is neglected by most of the poets of the present day!-by Lord Byron, as it strikes me, in particular, among those of eminence for other qualities. Upon the whole, I think the part of "Don Juan" in which Lambro's return to his home, and Lambro himself, are described, is the best, that is, the most individual, thing in all I know of Lord B's. works. The festal abandonment puts one in mind of Nicholas Poussin's pictures.-COLERIDGE, SAMUEL TAYLOR, 1824, Table-Talk, ed. Ashe, June 7, p. 39. The most prodigal use did not exhaust his powers, nay, seemed rather to increase their vigour. Neither "Childe Harold," nor any of the most beautiful of Byron's earlier tales, contain more exquisite morsels of poetry than are to be found scattered through the cantos of "Don Juan, amidst verses which the author appears to have thrown off with an effort as spontaneous as that of a tree resigning its leaves to the wind.-SCOTT, SIR WALTER, 1824, Death of Lord Byron, The Edinburgh Weekly Journal. I passed some hours over "Don Juan," and saw no reason to change the opinion which I formed twenty-five years ago. The first two cantos are Byron's masterpiece. The next two may pass as not below his average. Then begins the descent, and at last he sinks to the level of his own imitators in the Magazines.MACAULAY, THOMAS BABINGTON, 1849, Journal, Aug. 3; Life and Letters, ed. Trevelyan. No father would put "Don Juan" into his daughter's hands; nor would he consent that his son should read it until his principles were fixed, and his judgment clear and defined. It has received its worst condemnation by being reprinted and sold by certain booksellers who deal with the most corrupting literature, and by being found on the bookshelves of the rake and the man of the world. And yet("But yet the pity of it, Iago! O Iago, the pity of it, Iago!")-it contains noble poetry, most beautiful passages, and the best literary work that its author in his mature power was capable of.-FRISWELL, JAMES HAIN, 1869, Essays on English Writers, p. 322. The admirable wit both of his letters, and of pieces like the "Vision of Judgment" and "Don Juan," where wit reaches as high as any English writer has ever carried it.-MORLEY, JOHN, 1870, Byron, Fortnightly Review, vol. 14, p. 656. The poem, as will be remembered, begins with the meanest and foulest attack on his wife that ever ribald wrote, and put it in close neighborhood with scenes which every pure man or woman must feel to be the beastly utterances of a man who had lost all sense of decency. Society revolted, however, and fought stoutly against the nauseous dose. Even his sister wrote to him that she heard such things said of it that she never would read it; and the outcry against it on the part of all women of his acquaintance was such that for a time he was quite overborne; and the Countess Guiccioli finally extorted a promise from him to cease writing it. Nevertheless there came a time when England accepted "Don Juan,"—when Wilson, in the Noctes Ambrosianæ, praised it as a classic, and took every opportunity to reprobate Lady Byron's conduct.STOWE, HARRIET BEECHER, 1870, Lady Byron Vindicated, pp. 62, 64. And then he wrote his masterpiece, "Don Juan." . . . There is a derangement of heart and mind in the style of "Don Juan," as in Swift. When a man jests amidst his tears, it is because he has a poisoned imagination. This kind of laughter is a spasm, and you see in one man a hardening of the heart, or madness; in another, excitement or disgust. Byron was exhausted, at least the poet was exhausted in him. The last cantos of "Don Juan" drag: the gaiety became forced, the escapades became digressions; the reader began to be bored. A new kind of poetry, which he had attempted, had given way in his hands: in the drama he only attained to powerful declamation, his characters had no life; when he forsook poetry, poetry forsook him; he went to Greece in search of action, and only found death.-TAINE, H. A., 1871, History of English Literature, tr. Van Laun, vol. II, bk. iv, ch. ii, pp. 301, 309. In my opinion the poem of "Don Juan" could not have been written by any other author of the present century. The jests and turns which have been stigmatized as so many blots and sins of the author, are essentially portions of the poem, of its nature and character, and could not have been omitted or destroyed, except by radically damaging the poem itself.PROCTER, BRYAN WALLER, 1874, Recollections of Men of Letters, p. 135. The Immortal, the unprecedented and unrivalled masterpiece.-ROSSETTI, WILLIAM MICHAEL, 1878, Lives of Famous Poets, p. 301. A sensitive man, and yet heroic, strong in spirit, but without fixed ideals of life, a rebel by nature who yet finds no greater soul to lead him, no faithful band to follow him in any definite effort for mankind, Byron is a modern likeness of him that in the legend afterwards became St. Christopher. Only Byron seeks the strongest without finding him, learns to despise the devil, and never meets the devil's master. Worn out with the search, the poet flings himself down in the woods of doubt and dreams "Don Juan." We look in vain for the right adjective with which to qualify this poem: it is so full of strength, so lavish of splendid resources, and yet in sum so disappointing. It has no true ending, and never could have had one. It is a mountain stream, plunging down dreadful chasms, singing through grand forests, and losing itself in a lifeless gray alkali desert. Here is romantic selfcriticism pushed to its farthest consequences. Here is the self-confession of an heroic soul that has made too high demands on life, and that has found in its own experience and in the world nothing worthy of true heroism.-ROYCE, JOSIAH, 1885, The Religious Aspect of Philosophy, p. 119. He could exhibit only two squeaking and disjointed puppets: there is, as far as I can remember, just one passage in the whole range of his writings which shows. any power of painting any phase of any kind of character at all: and this is no doubt a really admirable (if not wholly original) instance of the very broadest comedy-the harangue addressed by Donna Julia to her intruding husband.-SWINBURNE, ALGERNON CHARLES, 1886, Wordsworth and Byron, Miscellanies, p. 85. Some of Byron's most powerful writing is found in "Don Juan;" some of his tenderest; and the possible flexibility of the English language is often fully realized. But when he wrote this poem, his better nature was more or less eclipsed; but wherever it asserts itself, we feel its presence in the moulding of the verse, as much as we do in the sentiments expressed. CORSON, HIRAM, 1892, A Primer of English Verse, p. 29. If a novel in verse is a novel all the liberty to skip when you like) than in "Don same, where is better reading (given Juan?"-HAWKINS, ANTHONY HOPE, 1897, My Favorite Novelist and His Best Book, Munsey's Magazine, vol. 18, p. 351. MARINO FALIERO 1820 "Marino Faliero," has, we believe, been pretty generally pronounced a failure by the public voice, and we see no reason to call for a revision of their sentence. It contains, beyond all doubt, many passages of commanding eloquence and some of genuine poetry, and the scenes, more particularly, in which Lord Byron has neglected the absurd greed of his pseudoHellenic writers, are conceived and elaborated with great tragic effect and dexterity. But the subject is decidedly illchosen. In the main tissue of the plot and in all the busiest and most interesting parts of it, it is, in fact, no more than another "Venice Preserved," in which the author has had to contend (nor has he contended successfully) with our recollections of a former and deservedly popular play on the same subject.-HEBER, REGINALD, 1822, Lord Byron's Dramas, Quarterly Review, vol. 27, p. 487. Notwithstanding his predominant personality, has sometimes had the power of renouncing himself altogether, as may be seen in some of his dramatic pieces, particularly in his "Marino Faliero." In this piece one quite forgets that Lord Byron, or even an Englishman, wrote it. We live entirely in Venice, and entirely in the time in which the action takes place.-GOETHE, JOHANN WOLFGANG, 1830, Conversations, ed. Eckermann, vol. II, p. 253. A composition that abounds in noble passages and rests on a fine and original conception of character.-MORLEY, JOHN, 1870, Byron, Fortnightly Review, vol. 14, p. 659. "Marino Faliero," one of Byron's less important works, may be cited as a fair example of his eloquence and concentrated passion. The theme of the drama is perfectly simple, -the conflict in Marino's breast between aristocratic pride and the love of liberty (predominant characteristics, be it observed, of the poet himself); and about this conflict the whole action of the play revolves, without any minor issues to dissipate the effect. The mind is held gripped to one emotion and one thought; we seem to hear the mighty pleading of a Demosthenes. There is no poem of Shelley's (with the possible exception of "The Cenci," where he resorts to monstrous and illegitimate means) which begins to leave on the mind so distinct and powerful an impression as this, yet the whole drama contains perhaps not a single line of the illusive charm to be found in passages on every page of Shelley's works. -MORE, PAUL ELMER, 1898, The Wholesome Revival of Byron, Atlantic Monthly, vol. 82, p. 802. CAIN 1821 "Cain, a Mystery," was worse and worse. Byron dared to measure himself with Milton, and came off as poorly as Belial might have done from a contest with Michael. Crude metaphysics, as old as the hills, and as barren-bald, thread-bare blasphemies, and peurile ravings, formed the staple of the piece. The only tolerable touches, those of domestic love and the like, were visibly borrowed from Gesner's "Death of Abel:" and in short, one of the most audacious of all the insults that have ever been heaped upon the faith and feelings of a Christian land, was also one of the most feeble and ineffectual. Thank God! Cain was abandoned to the Radicals and thank God, it was too radically dull to be popular even among them. -MAGINN, WILLIAM, 1822, Odoherty on Werner, Blackwood's Magazine, vol. 12, p. 711. Though it abounds in beautiful passages, and shows more power perhaps than any of the author's dramatical compositions, we regret very much that it should ever have been published. It will give great scandal and offence to pious persons in general and may be the means of suggesting the most painful doubts and distressing perplexities, to hundreds of minds that might never otherwise have been exposed to such dangerous disturbance.-JEFFREY, FRANCIS LORD, 1822-44, Contributions to the Edinburgh Review, vol. II, p.362. I said that I had lately been reading Byron's "Cain," and had been particularly struck by the third act, and the manner in which the murder is brought about. "It is, indeed, admirable," said Goethe. "Its beauty is such as we shall not see a second time in the world." "Cain, said I, "was at first prohibited in England; but now everybody reads it, and young English travellers usually carry a complete Byron with them." "It was folly" said Goethe;"for, in fact, there is nothing in the whole of 'Cain' which is not taught by the English bishops themselves. ECKERMANN, JOHN PETER, 1827, Conversations of Goethe, vol. I, p. 419. Like a lion impatiently beating against the iron bars of his cage, so Byron precipitates himself in this poem on the mysteries of revealed faith. He never, indeed, succeeds in bursting his cage; rather he remains in a state of indecision, and never comes to a positive conclusion in either direction. To Englishmen this scepticism was, with few exceptions, an insurmountable stone of offence. In Eng land freedom of action is cramped by the want of freedom in thought; the converse is the case with us Germans, freedom of thought is restricted by the want of freedom in action. To us this scepticism presents nothing in the least degree fearful; we, like Faust, are afraid neither of the devil nor of hell.-ELZE, KARL, 187072, Lord Byron, p. 415. "Cain" is the most complete and finished work of the poet, and we cannot contradict Shelley when he calls it the greatest of Byron's poems. Cain is a Titanic Manfred, a creation similar to Job and Prometheus. The spirit of Eschylus seems to breath in the poem, and with the exception of a few passages in "Paradise Lost" and in "Faust," modern poetry has produced nothing similar in boldness and in grandeur to Cain's flight with Lucifer through illimitable space, and the conversations of the two in Hades. In England the poem was appreciated by few at first, and Byron called it jestingly "the Waterloo of his popularity.' But it is an æsthetic truth that the creation of Satan in "Cain" must be considered as one of the greatest achievements of modern poetry. There are altogether only four poets who have succeeded in portraying Satan: Vandel, Milton, Goethe, and Byron. Vandel's satan was created fourteen years before that of Milton; it is a powerful conception, and undoubtedly the greatest poetical figure which Holland has produced. Goethe's Mephisto is such a peculiar impersonation of the Satanic idea that he cannot be compared to the others. Byron's Satan ranks next to Milton's. detailed delineation only produces a somewhat ridiculous monster which leaves us perfectly indifferent, while Milton's and Byron's Satan is a colossal extension of the human form surrounded by a darkness as of thunder-clouds, and exciting our terror as well as a feeling of sympathy.SCHERR, J., 1874, A History of English Literature, tr. M. V., p. 236. Dante's It may be true, Basrandes observes, that in Cain, Byron is dashing about like a wild beast in the cage of dogma; it may be true that this poem is simply an expression of man's monotonous fate in this world; but the power of personal force, the strength of the individual's will, must have been an inspiring influence to that younger generation whose fate it was to stand firm against the efforts of the Holy Alliance to crush out the spirit of liberty. Certainly the poem is another revelation. of that fierce assertion of self-sufficiency which enabled Byron, in the later days, to take up the heritage of leadership left him by Rousseau. HANCOCK, ALBERT ELMER, 1899, The French Revolution and the English Poets, p. 117. LETTERS The Letters, at least those which were sent from Italy, are among the best in our language. They are less affected than those of Pope and Walpole; they have more matter in them than those of Cowper. Knowing that many of them were not written merely for the person to whom they were directed, but were general epistles, meant to be read by a large circle, we expected to find them clever and spirited, but deficient in ease. We looked with vigilance for instances of stiffness in the language, and awkwardness in the transitions. We have been agreeably disappointed; and we must confess, that if the epistolary style of Lord Byron was artificial, it was a rare and admirable instance of that highest art which cannot be distinguished from nature.-MACAULAY, THOMAS BABINGTON, 1830, Moore's Life of Lord Byron, Edinburgh Review, Critical and Miscellaneous Essays. His letters from Italy, alone, -things thrown off in every variety of mood, and some of them bearing strong evidence of the bottle, display more genius than can be found in all the first two cantos of "Childe Harold."-WHIPPLE, EDWIN P., 1845, Byron, Essays and Reviews. We are indebted to the poet's misfortune for all that series of delightful letters which in themselves form one of the most perfect biographies, and which reflect the whole contemporary life like the literary correspondence of Grimm. A slender thread of criticism and by-play links them together in Moore's Life, and with this are blended corollary recollections of observers and travellers, critics, and intimates; never, however, obscuring the splendid figure of the chief actor, embellishing his surroundings like living coulisses, shifting or shoving in landscapes or backgrounds, stories, and scenes, and throwing right upon him as he stands in the centre of the stage the whole affluence of their light. There is no better illuminated figure on the whole canvas of history. Turning to the memoirs of this man is like walking down a corridor of the Louvre, where the Pagan mythology shimmers before us in marble, and far at the end, queen-like and alone, stands the Venus of Milo. Turn down what corridor you will, an excess of illumination falls upon the head of Byron; it is cloudless save for one great cloud; it is put to the torture of endless light: it is the story of Regulus and the Carthaginian sun; it is the glare of the dogstar upon the bald ruins of the Parthenon. -HARRISON, JAMES ALBERT, 1875, A Group of Poets and Their Haunts, p. 33. GENERAL Byron, with eager indifference.-HUNT, LEIGH, 1814, The Feast of the Poets. His verse, with all its lofty aspirations and endowments, is lost in the mazes of infidelity and despair; groping in a vast crowd of strange unearthly shapes conjured up by midnight fancy, it deifies only a morbid heroism, which it invests with the gloomy spell of varied passion. This atheistic inspiration was not altogether alien to German poetry at an earlier epoch; but a purer sphere was soon attained, the monstrosities of false tragic grandeur being banished to the extreme confines of the drama. In the higher regions of art it was speedily discovered that modern poetry cannot flow in transparent stream from the turbid eddy of forward passion; but founded on eternal hope, it must become a glorified admixture of Faith and Love, radiant as the rainbow after the storm, or the dawn of morn after the shades of night.-SCHLEGEL, FRIEDRICH, 1815-59, Lectures on the History of Literature. "Parisina," is the most interesting and best conceived and best told story I ever read. I was never more affected. MURRAY, JOHN, 1815, William Blackwood and His Sons, by Oliphant, vol. 1, p.49. He has not the variety of Scott-nor the delicacy of Campbell-nor the absolute truth of Crabbe-nor the polished sparkling of Moore; but in force of diction, and inextinguishable energy of sentiment, he clearly surpasses them all.-JEFFREY, FRANCIS LORD, 1816-44, Lord Byron's Poetry, Contributions to the Edinburgh Review, vol. III, p. 164. Lord Byron is a splendid and noble egotist. He vists Classical shores; roams over romantic lands, and wanders through magnificent forests; courses the dark and restless waves of the sea, and rocks his spirit on the midnight lakes; but no spot is conveyed to our minds, that is not peopled by the gloomy and ghastly feelings of one proud and solitary man. It is as if he and the world were the only two things which the air clothed.-His lines are majestic vanities;-his poetry always is marked with a haughty selfishness;-he writes loftily, because he is the spirit of an ancient family; he is liked by most of his readers, because he is a Lord. If a common man were to dare to be as moody, as contemptuous, and as misanthropical, the world would laugh at him. There must be a coronet marked on all his little pieces of poetical insolence, or the world would not countenance them.-REYNOLDS, JOHN HAMILTON, 1818, West of England Journal and General Advertiser, Oct. 6. What, then, should be said of those for whom the thoughtlessness and inebriety of wanton youth can no longer be pleaded, but who have written in sober manhood, and with deliberate purpose?-men of diseased hearts and depraved imaginations, who, forming a system of opinions to suit their own unhappy course of conduct, have rebelled against the holiest ordinances of human society, and, hating that revealed religion, which, with all their efforts and bravadoes, they are unable entirely to disbelieve, labour to make others as miserable as themselves, by infecting them with a moral virus that eats into the soul! The school which they have set up may properly be called the Satanic School; for, though their productions breathe the spirit of Belial in their lascivious parts, and the spirit of Moloch in those loathsome images of atrocities and horrors which they delight to represent, they are more especially characterized by a satanic pride and audacious impiety, which still betrays the wretched feeling of hopelessness wherewith it is allied.-SOUTHEY, ROBERT, 1821, The Vision of Judgment, Preface. The Pilgrim of Eternity, whose fame -SHELLEY, PERCY BYSSHE, 1821, Adonais, st. xxx. It seems, to my ear, that there is a sad want of harmony in Lord Byron's verses. Is it not unnatural to be always connecting very great intellectual power with utter depravity? Does such a combination often really exist in rerum naturâ ?– COLERIDGE, SAMUEL TAYLOR, 1822, Table Talk, ed. Ashe, Dec. 29, p. 16. Even I-albeit I'm sure I did not know it, Nor sought of foolscap subjects to be kingWas reckon'd a considerable time, The grand Napoleon of the realms of rhyme. -BYRON, LORD, 1823, Don Juan, Canto x. He has filled a leaf in the book of fame, but it is a very blotted leaf.-BARBAULD, ANNA LÆTITIA, 1824, Works, vol. II, p. 137. There are things in Byron's poetry so exquisite, that fifty or five hundred years hence, they will be read, felt, and adored throughout the world. No, no! give me Byron, with all his spite, hatred, depravity, dandyism, vanity, frankness, passion, and idleness, to Wordsworth, |