Letters and Journals of Lord Byron
Lord Byron to John Murray, 6 July 1821
“Ravenna, July 6th, 1821.
“In agreement with a wish expressed by Mr. Hobhouse, it is my determination to omit the stanza
upon the horse of Semiramis in the Fifth Canto of Don Juan. I mention this, in case you are, or intend to be,
the publisher of the remaining Cantos.
“At the particular request of the Contessa G. I have promised not to continue Don Juan. You will therefore look upon these
three Cantos as the last of the poem. She had read the two first in the French
translation, and never ceased beseeching me to write no more of it. The reason of this
is not at first obvious to a superficial observer of foreign
manners; but it arises from the wish of all women to exalt the sentiment ![]()
| A. D. 1821. | LIFE OF LORD BYRON. | 499 |
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of the passions, and to keep up the illusion which is
their empire. Now Don Juan strips off this illusion,
and laughs at that and most other things. I never knew a woman who did not protect Rousseau, nor one who did not dislike De Grammont, Gil Blas, and all the comedy, of the passions, when
brought out naturally. But ‘king’s blood must keep word,’ as
Serjeant Bothwell says.”
Teresa Guiccioli (1800-1873)
Byron's lover, who in 1818 married Alessandro Guiccioli. She composed a memoir of Byron,
Lord Byron,
Jugé par les Témoines de sa Vie (1868).
John Cam Hobhouse, baron Broughton (1786-1869)
Founder of the Cambridge Whig Club; traveled with Byron in the orient, radical MP for
Westminster (1820); Byron's executor; after a long career in politics published
Some Account of a Long Life (1865) later augmented as
Recollections of a Long Life, 6 vols (1909-1911).
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.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
Swiss-born man of letters; author of, among others,
Julie ou la
Nouvelle Heloïse (1761),
Émile (1762) and
Les Confessions (1782).
George Gordon Byron, sixth Baron Byron (1788-1824)
Don Juan. (London: 1819-1824). A burlesque poem in ottava rima published in installments: Cantos I and II published in
1819, III, IV and V in 1821, VI, VII, and VIII in 1823, IX, X, and XI in 1823, XII, XIII,
and XIV in 1823, and XV and XVI in 1824.
