Letters and Journals of Lord Byron
Lord Byron to William Bankes, 6 March 1807
“Southwell, March 6, 1807.
“Your critique is valuable for many reasons: in the first
place, it is the only one in which flattery has borne so slight a part; in the next, I am cloyed with insipid compliments.
I have a better opinion of your
* Of this “Mary,” who is not to
be confounded either with the heiress of
Annesley, or “Mary” of Aberdeen, all I can record is, that she was of an
humble, if not equivocal, station in life,—that she had long, light golden hair,
of which he used to show a lock, as well as her picture, among his friends; and
that the verses in his “Hours of
Idleness,” entitled “To Mary, on receiving her Picture,” were
addressed to her. |
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| A. D. 1807. | LIFE OF LORD BYRON. | 85 |
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judgment and ability than your feelings. Accept my most sincere thanks for your kind decision, not less
welcome, because totally unexpected. With regard to a more exact estimate, I need not
remind you how few of the best poems, in our language, will stand
the test of minute or verbal criticism: it
can therefore hardly be expected the effusions of a boy (and most of these pieces have
been produced at an early period) can derive much merit either from the subject or
composition. Many of them were written under great depression of spirits, and during
severe indisposition;—hence the gloomy turn of the ideas. We coincide in opinion that
the ‘poesies érotiques’ are the
most exceptionable; they were, however, grateful to the deities,
on whose altars they were offered—more I seek not.
“The portrait of Pomposus was drawn at Harrow, after a long
sitting; this accounts for the resemblance, or rather the caricatura. He is your friend,
he never was mine—for both our sakes I shall be silent on this
head. The collegiate rhymes are not personal—one of the notes may
appear so, but could not be omitted. I have little doubt they will be deservedly
abused—a just punishment for my unfilial treatment of so excellent an Alma Mater. I sent
you no copy, lest we should be placed in the situation of
Gil Blas and the Archbishop of Grenada: though
running some hazard from the experiment, I wished your verdict to be unbiassed. Had my
‘Libellus’ been presented
previous to your letter, it would have appeared a species of bribe to purchase
compliment. I feel no hesitation in saying, I was more anxious to hear your critique
however severe, than the praises of the million. On the same day
I was honoured with the encomiums of Mackenzie, the celebrated author of the ‘Man of Feeling.’ Whether his approbation or yours elated me most, I cannot
decide.
“You will receive my Juvenilia,—at least all yet
published. I have a large volume in manuscript, which may in part appear hereafter; at
present I have neither time nor inclination to prepare it for the press. In the spring I
shall return to Trinity, to dismantle my rooms, and bid you a final adieu. The Cam will not be much increased by my tears
on the occasion. Your further remarks, however caustic or bitter
to a palate ![]()
| 86 | NOTICES OF THE | A. D. 1807. |
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vitiated with the sweets of
adulation, will be of service. Johnson
has shown us that no poetry is perfect; but to correct mine would be an Herculean
labour. In fact I never looked beyond the moment of composition, and published merely at
the request of my friends. Notwithstanding so much has been said concerning the
‘Genus irritabile vatum,’ we shall never quarrel on
the subject—poetic fame is by no means the ‘acme’ of my wishes. Adieu.
“Yours ever,
“Byron.”
William John Bankes (1786-1855)
Byron's Cambridge friend; the son of Henry Bankes, MP, he was MP for Truro, Cambridge,
Marlborough, and Dorset, and an Egyptian traveller who translated
Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Giovanni Finati 2 vols (1830).
George Butler (1774-1853)
Educated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, he succeeded Joseph Drury as headmaster at
Harrow after a contentious election (1805) and was dean of Peterborough (1842-1853).
Mary Cockburn [née Duff] (1788-1858)
Byron's distant cousin and object of his affection as a boy at Aberdeen; in 1805 she
married Robert Cockburn, a wine-merchant.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
English man of letters, among many other works he edited
A Dictionary
of the English Language (1755) and Shakespeare (1765), and wrote
Lives of the Poets (1779-81).
Henry Mackenzie (1745-1831)
Scottish man of letters, author of
The Man of Feeling (1770) and
editor of
The Mirror (1779-80) and
The
Lounger (1785-87).
Mary Ann Musters [née Chaworth] (1785-1832)
The grand-niece of the Chaworth who was killed by “Wicked Jack” Byron; she was the object
of Byron's affections before and after she married John Musters in 1805.
