Letters and Journals of Lord Byron
Lord Byron to John Murray, 14 June 1817
“La Mira, near Venice, June 14th. 1817.
“I write to you from the banks of the Brenta, a few miles
from Venice, where I have colonized for six months to come. Address, as usual, to
Venice.
“Three months after date (17th March),—like the unnegotiable
bill despondingly received by the reluctant tailor,—your despatch has arrived,
containing the extract from Moore’s
Italy and Mr. Maturin’s bankrupt
tragedy. It is the absurd work of
a clever man. I think it might have done upon the stage, if he had made Manuel (by some trickery, in a masque or vizor) fight his
own battle, instead of employing Molineux as his
champion; and, after the defeat of Torrismond, have
made him spare the son of his enemy, by some revulsion of feeling, not incompatible ![]()
| A. D. 1817. | LIFE OF LORD BYRON. | 125 |
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with a character of extravagant and distempered emotions.
But as it is, what with the Justiza, and the
ridiculous conduct of the whole dram. pers. (for they are all as
mad as Manuel, who surely must have had more
interest with a corrupt bench than a distant relation and heir presumptive, somewhat
suspect of homicide), I do not wonder at its failure. As a play, it is impracticable; as
a poem, no great things. Who was the ‘Greek that grappled with glory naked?’
the Olympic wrestlers? or Alexander the Great, when
he ran stark round the tomb of t’ other fellow? or the Spartan who was fined by
the Ephori for fighting without his armour? or who? And as to ‘flaying off life
like a garment,’ helas! that’s in Tom Thumb—see king Arthur’s
soliloquy: ‘Life’s a mere rag, not worth a prince’s wearing; I’ll cast it off.’ |
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And the stage-directions—‘Staggers among the bodies;’—the slain are too
numerous, as well as the blackamoor knights-penitent being one too many: and De Zelos is such a shabby Monmouth-street villain, without
any redeeming quality—Stap my vitals! Maturin seems to be declining
into Nat. Lee. But let him try again; he has
talent, but not much taste. I ’gin to fear, or to hope, that Sotheby after all is to be the Æschylus of the age, unless Mr.
Shiel be really worthy his success. The more I see of the stage, the less
I would wish to have any thing to do with it; as a proof of which, I hope you have
received the Third Act of Manfred, which
will at least prove that I wish to steer very clear of the possibility of being put into
scenery. I sent it from Rome.
“I returned the proof of Tasso. By the way, have you never received a translation
of St. Paul, which I sent you, not for publication, before I went to Rome?
“I am at present on the Brenta. Opposite is a Spanish
marquis, ninety years old; next his casino is a Frenchman’s,—besides the natives;
so that, as somebody said the other day, we are exactly one of Goldoni’s comedies (La Vedova Scaltra), where a Spaniard, English, and
Frenchman are introduced: but we are all very good neighbours, Venetians, &c.
&c. &c.
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| 126 |
NOTICES OF THE |
A. D. 1817. |
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“I am just getting on horseback for my evening ride, and a
visit to a physician, who has an agreeable family, of a wife and four unmarried
daughters all under eighteen, who are friends of Signora
S * *, and enemies to nobody. There are, and are to be, besides,
conversaziones and I know not what, at a Countess Labbia’s
and I know not whom. The weather is mild; the thermometer 110 in the sun this day, and 80 odd in the shade.
“Yours, &c.
“N.”
Aeschylus (525 BC c.-456 BC c.)
Greek tragic poet, author of
Oresteia and
Prometheus Bound.
Alexander the Great (356 BC-323 BC)
Macedonian conqueror; the son of Philip II, he was king of Macedon, 336-323 BC.
Carlo Goldoni (1707-1793)
Italian playwright; author of
Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de sa
vie (1787).
Nathaniel Lee (1649 c.-1692)
English tragic poet, author of
The Rival Queens (1677); he was
confined to Bedlam, 1684-89.
Charles Robert Maturin (1780-1824)
Anglo-Irish clergyman, novelist, and playwright patronized by Walter Scott; author of the
tragedy
Betram (1816) and the novel
Melmoth the
Wanderer (1820).
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.
St Paul (5 c.-67 c.)
Apostle to the Gentiles.
Marianna Segati (1816 fl.)
Byron's first mistress in Venice, the wife of his landlord, a draper near the Piazza San
Marco.
Richard Lalor Sheil (1791-1851)
Irish barrister and playwright; author of
Adelaide, or the
Emigrants (1814),
The Apostle (1817), and other tragedies.
He was an Irish MP (1830-50).
William Sotheby (1757-1833)
English man of letters; after Harrow he joined the dragoons, married well, and published
Poems (1790) and became a prolific poet and translator,
prominent in literary society.
