Letters and Journals of Lord Byron
Lord Byron to John Murray, 12 October 1813
You must look the
Giaour again over carefully; there are a few lapses, particularly in the last
page.—‘I know ’twas false; she could not die;’
it was, and ought to be—‘I knew.’ Pray observe this
and similar mistakes.
“I have received and read the British Review. I really think the writer in most points very
right. The only mortifying thing is the
* This is written on a separate slip of paper
enclosed. |
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| A. D. 1813. | LIFE OF LORD BYRON. | 419 |
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accusation of imitation. Crabbe’s passage I never saw*; and Scott I no further meant to follow than in his lyric measure, which is Gray’s, Milton’s, and
any one’s who likes it. The Giaour is
certainly a bad character, but not dangerous; and I think his fate and his feelings will
meet with few proselytes. I shall be very glad to hear from or of you, when you please;
but don’t put yourself out of your way on my account.”
George Crabbe (1754-1832)
English poet renowned for his couplet verse and gloomy depictions of country persons and
places; author of the
The Village (1783),
The
Parish Register (1807),
The Borough (1810), and
Tales of the Hall (1819).
Thomas Gray (1716-1771)
English poet, author of “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College,” “Elegy written in a
Country Churchyard,” and “The Bard”; he was professor of history at Cambridge
(1768).
John Milton (1608-1674)
English poet and controversialist; author of
Comus (1634),
Lycidas (1638),
Areopagitica (1644),
Paradise Lost (1667), and other works.
John Murray II (1778-1843)
The second John Murray began the
Quarterly Review in 1809 and
published works by Scott, Byron, Austen, Crabbe, and other literary notables.
