Letters and Journals of Lord Byron
Lord Byron to John M. B. Pigot, 13 January 1807
“Southwell, Jan. 13, 1807.
“I ought to begin with sundry
apologies, for my own negligence, but the variety of my avocations in prose and verse must plead my excuse.
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| 84 | NOTICES OF THE | A. D. 1807. |
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With this epistle you will receive a volume of all my Juvenilia published
since your departure: it is of considerably greater size than the copy in your possession, which I beg you will destroy, as the present is much
more complete. That unlucky
poem to my poor Mary* has been the cause
of some animadversion from ladies in years. I have not printed it
in this collection, in consequence of my being pronounced a most profligate sinner, in short, a ‘young Moore,’ by ——, your * * * friend. I believe in general they have been favourably
received, and surely the age of their author will preclude severe
criticism. The adventures of my life from sixteen to nineteen, and the dissipation into
which I have been thrown in London, have given a voluptuous tint to my ideas; but the
occasions which called forth my muse could hardly admit any other colouring. This volume
is vastly correct and miraculously chaste. Apropos, talking of
love, * * * * * *
*
“If you can find leisure to answer this farrago of
unconnected nonsense, you need not doubt what gratification will accrue from your reply
to yours ever, &c”
Francis Boyce (1807 fl.)
Byron's valet at Cambridge, who he had transported for theft in 1807.
Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
Irish poet and biographer, author of the
Irish Melodies (1807-34),
The Fudge Family in Paris (1818), and
Lalla
Rookh (1817); he was Byron's close friend and designated biographer.
John M. B. Pigot (1785 c.-1871)
Byron's early correspondent who lived with his sister Elizabeth at Southwell Green before
pursuing medical studies in Edinburgh.
