|
“My dear Mr. Murray,
You’re in a damn’d hurry
To get up this ultimate Canto;
But (if they don’t rob us)
You’ll see Mr. Hobhouse
Will bring it safe in his portmanteau.
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2.
“For the Journal you hint of,
As ready to print off,
No doubt you do right to commend it;
But as yet I have writ off
The devil a bit of
Our ‘Beppo;’—when copied, I’ll send it.
* * * * *
*
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4.
“Then you’ve * * *’s Tour,—
No great things, to be sure,—
You could hardly begin with a less work;
|
| A. D. 1818. | LIFE OF LORD BYRON. | 157 |
|
For the pompous rascallion,
Who don’t speak Italian
Nor French, must have scribbled by guess-work.
* * * * *
*
|
|
7.
You can make any toss up
With ‘Spence’ and his gossip,
A work which must surely succeed;
Then Queen Mary’s
Epistle-craft,
With the new ‘Fytte’ of ‘Whistlecraft,’
Must make people purchase and read.
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|
8.
“Then you’ve General Gordon,
Who girded his sword on,
To serve with a Muscovite master,
And help him to polish
A nation so owlish,
They thought shaving their beards a disaster.
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9.
“For the man, ‘poor and shrewd*,’
With whom you’d conclude
A compact without more delay,
Perhaps some such pen is
Still extant in Venice;
But please, sir, to mention your
pay.”
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* * * * *
* *
* * * * *
* *
|
