CXCV.

"You will proceed in pleasure, and in pride, Beloved and loving many; all is o'er

For me on earth, except some years to hide

My shame and sorrow deep in my heart's core ;(1) These I could bear, but cannot cast aside

The passion which still rages as before,And so farewell-forgive me, love me—No, That word is idle now-but let it go.(2)

CXCVI.

"My breast has been all weakness, is so yet;
But still I think I can collect my mind; (3)
My blood still rushes where my spirit's set,
As roll the waves before the settled wind;
My heart is feminine, nor can forget-

To all, except one image, madly blind;
So shakes the needle, and so stands the pole,
As vibrates my fond heart to my fix'd soul.(4)

-our confidence in virtue shaken to the foundation- and our reliance on truth and fidelity at an end for ever. Of this it is that we complain.JEFFREY.]

(1) [The unlucky incident of the shoe, followed up by the discovery and flight of the lover, were astounding facts, that neither the wit nor the eloquence of Donna Julia could overcome. She retires to a nunnery, and writes a letter to Don Juan, quite equal, in its way, to the celebrated epistle of Eloisa.- - COLTON.]

(2) [MS. — Or, "That word is

fatal now
lost for me
deadly now

but let it go."]

(3) [MS. -"I struggle, but can not collect my mind."]
(4) [MS." As turns the needle trembling to the pole
It ne'er can reach-so turns to you my soul."]

CXCVII.

"I have no more to say, but linger still,
And dare not set my seal upon this sheet,
And yet I may as well the task fulfil,

My misery can scarce be more complete:
I had not lived till now, could sorrow kill;

[meet, Death shuns the wretch who fain the blow would And I must even survive this last adieu, And bear with life, to love and pray for

CXCVIII.

you!"

This note was written upon gilt-edged paper

With a neat little crow-quill, slight and new ;(1) Her small white hand could hardly reach the taper, It trembled as magnetic needles do,

And yet she did not let one tear escape her;

The seal a sun-flower; "Elle vous suit partout," The motto, cut upon a white cornelian;

The wax was superfine, its hue vermilion.

CXCIX.

This was Don Juan's earliest scrape; but whether I shall proceed with his adventures is Dependent on the public altogether;

We'll see, however, what they say to this, Their favour in an author's cap's a feather,

And no great mischief's done by their caprice; And if their approbation we experience, Perhaps they'll have some more about a year hence.

(1) [MS." With a neat crow-quill, rather hard, but new."]

CC.

My poem's epic, and is meant to be

Divided in twelve books; each book containing, With love, and war, a heavy gale at sea,'(1)

A list of ships, and captains, and kings reigning, New characters; the episodes are three: (2)

A panoramic view of hell's in training,
After the style of Virgil and of Homer,
So that my name of Epic's no misnomer. (3)

CCI.

All these things will be specified in time,
With strict regard to Aristotle's rules,
The Vade Mecum of the true sublime,

Which makes so many poets, and some fools:

(1) [For your tempest, take Eurus, Zephyr, Auster, and Boreas, and cast them together in one verse: add to these, of rain, lightning and thunder (the loudest you can), quantum sufficit. Mix your clouds and billows well together till they foam, and thicken your description here and there with a quicksand. Brew your tempest well in your head, before you set it a blowing. For a battle: pick a large quantity of images and descriptions from Homer's Iliad, with a spice or two of Virgil, and, if there remain any overplus, you may lay them by for a skirmish. Season it well with similes, and it will make an excellent battle. -SWIFT: Recipe for an Epic.]

(2) [MS." And there are other incidents remaining Which shall be specified in fitting time,

With good discretion, and in current rhyme."]

(3) [Lord Byron can scarcely be said to have written an epic poem, if the definition of the Dictionnaire de Trévoux be right:

"EPIQUE, qui appartient à la poésie héroique, ou poème qui décrit quelque action, signaleé d'un héros. Le poème épique est un discours inventé avec art pour former les mœurs par des instructions déguisées sous les allégories d'une action importante, racontée d'une manière vraisemblable et merveilleuse. La différence qu'il y a entre la poème épique et la tragédie, c'est que dans la poème épique les personnes n'y sont point introduites aux yeux des spectateurs agissant par elles-mêmes, comme dans la tragédie; mais l'action est raconteé par le poète."- BRYDGES.]

Prose poets like blank-verse, I'm fond of rhyme, Good workmen never quarrel with their tools; I've got new mythological machinery,

And very handsome supernatural scenery.(1)

CCII.

There's only one slight difference between
Me and my epic brethren gone before,
And here the advantage is my own, I ween;
(Not that I have not several merits more,
But this will more peculiarly be seen ;)

They so embellish, that 't is quite a bore
Their labyrinth of fables to thread through,
Whereas this story's actually true.

CCIII.

If any person doubt it, I appeal

To history, tradition, and to facts,

To newspapers, whose truth all know and feel,
To plays in five, and operas in three acts; (2)
All these confirm my statement a good deal,

But that which more completely faith exacts
Is, that myself, and several now in Seville,
Saw Juan's last elopement with the devil. (3)

(1) ["For your machinery, take of deities, male and female, as many as you can use separate them into two equal parts, and keep Jupiter in the middle; let Juno put him in a ferment, and Venus mollify him. Remember on all occasions to make use of volatile Mercury. If you have need of devils, draw them out of Milton's Paradise, and extract your spirits from Tasso. The use of these machines is evident; and, since no epic poem can subsist without them, the wisest way is to reserve them for your greatest necessities." SWIFT.]

(2) [MS."To newspapers, to sermons, which the zeal

Of pious men have published on his acts."]

(3) [The popularity of the old Spanish play, entitled, "Atheista Fulminato," the original of "Don Juan," has been so extensive as to claim

CCIV.

If ever I should condescend to prose,

I'll write poetical commandments, which Shall supersede beyond all doubt all those

That went before; in these I shall enrich

philosophical attention and investigation. The first point to be noticed is, that the play is throughout imaginative. Nothing of it belongs to the real world, but the names of the places and persons. The comic parts, equally with the tragic; the living, equally with the defunct characters, are creatures of the brain; as little amenable to the rules of ordinary probability, as the Satan of Paradise Lost, or the Caliban of the Tempest, and therefore to be understood as impersonated abstractions. The very extravagance of the incidents, and the superhuman entireness of Don Juan's agency, prevents the wickedness from shocking our minds to any painful degree. Meantime the qualities of his character are too desirable, too flattering to our pride and our wishes, not to make up on this side as much additional faith as was lost on the other. There is no danger (thinks the spectator or reader) of my becoming such a monster of iniquity as Don Juan! I never shall be an atheist! I shall never disallow all distinction between right and wrong! I have not the least inclination to be so outrageous a drawcansir in my love affairs! But, to possess such a power of captivating and enchanting the affections of the other sex! to be capable of inspiring, in a charming and even a virtuous woman, a love so deep, and so entirely personal to me! that even my worst vices, if I were vicious, even my cruelty and perfidy, if I were cruel and perfidious, could not eradicate the passion! To be so loved for my own self, that, even with a distinct knowledge of my character, she yet died to save me! this takes hold of two sides of our nature, the better and the worse. * * In fine, the character of Don Juan consists in the union of every thing desirable to human nature, as means, and which, therefore, by the well known law of association, become at length desirable on their own account. The ingredients, too, are mixed in the happiest proportion, so as to uphold and relieve each other-more especially in that counterpoise of wit, gaiety, and social generosity, which prevents the criminal, even in the most atrocious moments, from sinking into the mere ruffian, as far, at least, as our imagination sits in judgment. Above all, the fine suffusion through, the whole, with the characteristic manners and feelings of a highly-bred gentleman, gives life to the drama. Thus, having invited the statue-ghost of the governor whom he had murdered, to supper, which invitation the marble ghost accepted by a nod of the head, Don Juan has prepared a banquet. "D. Juan. Some wine, sirrah! Here's to Don Pedro's ghost- he should have been welcome.

"D. Lop. The rascal is afraid of you after death. (One knocks at the door.) "D. Juan (to the servant). Rise, and do your duty.