The Life of Lord Byron Part 14

I found him, in one respect, greatly improved; there was more of a formed character about him; he was evidently, at the first glance, more mannered, or endeavouring to be so, and easier with the proprieties of his rank; but he had risen in his own estimation above the honours so willingly paid to his genius, and was again longing for additional renown. Not content with being acknowledged as the first poet of the age, and a respectable orator in the House of Lords, he was aspiring to the eclat of a man of gallantry; so that many of the most ungracious peculiarities of his temper, though brought under better discipline, were again in full activity.

Considering how much he was then caressed, I ought to have been proud of the warmth with which he received me. I did not, however, so often see him as in the previous year; for I was then on the eve of my marriage, and I should not so soon, after my return to London, have probably renewed my visits, but a foreign n.o.bleman of the highest rank, who had done me the honour to treat me as a friend, came at that juncture to this country, and knowing I had been acquainted with Lord Byron, he requested me to introduce him to his Lordship. This rendered a visit preliminary to the introduction necessary; and so long as my distinguished friend remained in town, we again often met. But after he left the country my visits became few and far between; owing to nothing but that change in a man's pursuits and a.s.sociates which is one among some of the evils of matrimony. It is somewhat remarkable, that of the last visit I ever paid him, he has made rather a particular memorandum. I remember well, that it was in many respects an occasion not to be at once forgotten; for, among other things, after lighter topics, he explained to me a variety of tribulations in his affairs, and I urged him, in consequence, to marry, with the frankness which his confidence encouraged; subjoining certain items of other good advice concerning a liaison which he was supposed to have formed, and which Mr Moore does not appear to have known, though it was much talked of at the time.

During that visit the youthful peculiarities of his temper and character showed all their original blemish. But, as usual, when such was the case, he was often more interesting than when in his discreeter moods. He gave me the copy of The Bride of Abydos, with a very kind inscription on it, which I have already mentioned; but still there was an impression on my mind that led me to believe he could not have been very well pleased with some parts of my counselling. This, however, appears not to have been the case; on the contrary, the tone of his record breathes something of kindness; and long after I received different reasons to believe his recollection of me was warm and friendly.

When he had retired to Genoa, I gave a gentleman a letter to him, partly that I might hear something of his real way of life, and partly in the hope of gratifying my friend by the sight of one of whom he had heard so much. The reception from his Lordship was flattering to me; and, as the account of it contains what I think a characteristic picture, the reader will, I doubt not, be pleased to see so much of it as may be made public without violating the decorum which should always be observed in describing the incidents of private intercourse, when the consent of all parties cannot be obtained to the publication.

Edinburgh, June 3, 1830.

"DEAR GALT,--Though I shall always retain a lively general recollection of my agreeable interview with Lord Byron, at Genoa, in May, 1823, so long a time has since elapsed that much of the aroma of the pleasure has evaporated, and I can but recall generalities. At that time there was an impression in Genoa that he was averse to receive visits from Englishmen, and I was indeed advised not to think of calling on him, as I might run the risk of meeting with a savage reception. However, I resolved to send your note, and to the surprise of every one the messenger brought a most polite answer, in which, after expressing the satisfaction of hearing of his old friend and fellow-traveller, he added that he would do himself the honour of calling on me the next day, which he accordingly did; but owing to the officious blundering of an Italian waiter, who mentioned I was at dinner, his Lordship sent up his card with his compliments that he would not deranger the party. I was determined, however, that he should not escape me in this way, and drove out to his residence next morning, when, upon his English valet taking up my name, I was immediately admitted.

"As every one forms a picture to himself of remarkable characters, I had depicted his Lordship in my mind as a tall, sombre, Childe Harold personage, tinctured somewhat with aristocratic hauteur. You may therefore guess my surprise when the door opened, and I saw leaning upon the lock, a light animated figure, rather pet.i.te than otherwise, dressed in a nankeen hussar-braided jacket, trousers of the same material, with a white waistcoat; his countenance pale but the complexion clear and healthful, with the hair coming down in little curls on each side of his fine forehead.

"He came towards me with an easy cheerfulness of manner, and after some preliminary inquiries concerning yourself, we entered into a conversation which lasted two hours, in the course of which I felt myself perfectly at ease, from his Lordship's natural and simple manners; indeed, so much so, that, forgetting all my antic.i.p.ations, I found myself conversing with him with as fluent an intercourse of mind as I ever experienced, even with yourself.

"It is impossible for me at present to overtake a detail of what pa.s.sed, but as it produced a kind of scene, I may mention one incident.

"Having remarked that in a long course of desultory reading, I had read most of what had been said by English travellers concerning Italy; yet, on coming to it I found there was no country of which I had less accurate notions: that among other things I was much struck with the harshness of the language. He seemed to jerk at this, and immediately observed, that perhaps in going rapidly through the country, I might not have had many opportunities of hearing it politely spoken. 'Now,' said he, 'there are supposed to be nineteen dialects of the Italian language, and I shall let you hear a lady speak the princ.i.p.al of them, who is considered to do it very well.'

I p.r.i.c.ked up my ears at hearing this, as I considered it would afford me an opportunity of seeing the far-famed Countess Guiccioli. His Lordship immediately rose and left the apartment, returning in the course of a minute or two leading in the lady, and while arranging chairs for the trio, he said to me, 'I shall make her speak each of the princ.i.p.al dialects, but you are not to mind how I p.r.o.nounce, for I do not speak Italian well.' After the scene had been performed he resumed to me, 'Now what do you think?' To which I answered, that my opinion still remained unaltered. He seemed at this to fall into a little revery, and then said, abruptly, 'Why 'tis very odd, Moore thought the same.' 'Does your Lordship mean Tom Moore?' 'Yes.'

'Ah, then, my Lord, I shall adhere with more pertinacity to my opinion, when I hear that a man of his exquisite taste in poetry and harmony was also of that opinion.'

"You will be asking what I thought of the lady; I had certainly heard much of her high personal attractions, but all I can say is, that in my eyes her graces did not rank above mediocrity. They were youth, plumpness, and good-nature."

CHAPTER XXVIII

A Miff with Lord Byron--Remarkable Coincidences--Plagiarisms of his Lordship

There is a curious note in the memoranda which Lord Byron kept in the year 1813, that I should not pa.s.s unnoticed, because it refers to myself, and moreover is characteristic of the excoriated sensibility with which his Lordship felt everything that touched or affected him or his.

When I had read The Bride of Abydos, I wrote to him my opinion of it, and mentioned that there was a remarkable coincidence in the story, with a matter in which I had been interested. I have no copy of the letter, and I forget the expressions employed, but Lord Byron seemed to think they implied that he had taken the story from something of mine.

The note is:

"Galt says there is a coincidence between the first part of The Bride and some story of his, whether published or not, I know not, never having seen it. He is almost the last person on whom any one would commit literary larceny, and I am not conscious of any witting thefts on any of the genus. As to originality, all pretensions are ludicrous; there is nothing new under the sun."

It is sufficiently clear that he was offended with what I had said, and was somewhat excited. I have not been able at present to find his answer to my letter, but it would appear by the subjoined that he had written to me something which led me to imagine he was offended at my observations, and that I had in consequence deprecated his wrath.

"Dec. 11, 1813.

"MY DEAR GALT,--There was no offence--there COULD be none. I thought it by no means impossible that we might have hit on something similar, particularly as you are a dramatist, and was anxious to a.s.sure you of the truth, viz. that I had not wittingly seized upon plot, sentiment, or incident; and I am very glad that I have not in any respect trenched upon your subjects. Something still more singular is, that the FIRST part, where you have found a coincidence in some events within your observations on LIFE, was DRAWN from OBSERVATION of mine also, and I meant to have gone on with the story, but on SECOND thoughts, I thought myself TWO CENTURIES at least too late for the subject; which, though admitting of very powerful feeling and description, yet is not adapted for this age, at least this country. Though the finest works of the Greeks, one of Schiller's and Alfieri's, in modern times, besides several of our OLD (and best) dramatists, have been grounded on incidents of a similar cast, I therefore altered it as you perceive, and in so doing have weakened the whole, by interrupting the train of thought; and in composition I do not think SECOND thoughts are the best, though SECOND expressions may improve the first ideas.

"I do not know how other men feel towards those they have met abroad, but to me there seems a kind of tie established between all who have met together in a foreign country, as if we had met in a state of pre-existence, and were talking over a life that has ceased; but I always look forward to renewing my travels; and though YOU, I think, are now stationary, if I can at all forward your pursuits THERE as well as here, I shall be truly glad in the opportunity. Ever yours very sincerely,

"B.

"P.S. I believe I leave town for a day or two on Monday, but after that I am always at home, and happy to see you till half-past two."

This letter was dated on Sat.u.r.day, the 11th of December, 1813. On Sunday, the 12th, he made the following other note in his memorandum book:

"By Galt's answer, I find it is some story in REAL life, and not any work with which my late composition coincides. It is still more singular, for mine is drawn from EXISTENCE also."

The most amusing part of this little fracas is the denial of his Lordship, as to pilfering the thoughts and fancies of others; for it so happens, that the first pa.s.sage of The Bride of Abydos, the poem in question, is almost a literal and unacknowledged translation from Goethe, which was pointed out in some of the periodicals soon after the work was published.

Then, as to his not thieving from me or mine, I believe the fact to be as he has stated; but there are singular circ.u.mstances connected with some of his other productions, of which the account is at least curious.

On leaving England I began to write a poem in the Spenserian measure.

It was called The Unknown, and was intended to describe, in narrating the voyages and adventures of a pilgrim, who had embarked for the Holy Land, the scenes I expected to visit. I was occasionally engaged in this composition during the pa.s.sage with Lord Byron from Gibraltar to Malta, and he knew what I was about. In stating this, I beg to be distinctly understood, as in no way whatever intending to insinuate that this work had any influence on the composition of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, which Lord Byron began to write in Albania; but it must be considered as something extraordinary, that the two works should have been so similar in plan, and in the structure of the verse. His Lordship never saw my attempt that I know of, nor did I his poem until it was printed. It is needless to add, that beyond the plan and verse there was no other similarity between the two works; I wish there had been.

His Lordship has published a poem, called The Curse of Minerva, the subject of which is the vengeance of the G.o.ddess on Lord Elgin for the rape of the Parthenon. It has so happened that I wrote at Athens a burlesque poem on nearly the same subject (mine relates to the vengeance of all the G.o.ds) which I called The Atheniad; the ma.n.u.script was sent to his Lordship in Asia Minor, and returned to me through Mr Hobhouse. His Curse of Minerva, I saw for the first time in 1828, in Galignani's edition of his works.

In The Giaour, which he published a short time before The Bride of Abydos, he has this pa.s.sage, descriptive of the anxiety with which the mother of Ha.s.san looks out for the arrival of her son:

The browsing camels' bells are tinkling-- His mother look'd from her lattice high; She saw the dews of eve besprinkling The parterre green beneath her eye: She saw the planets faintly twinkling-- 'Tis twilight--sure his train is nigh.

She could not rest in the garden bower, But gazed through the grate of his steepest tower: Why comes he not--and his steeds are fleet-- Nor shrink they from the summer heat?

Why sends not the bridegroom his promised gift; Is his heart more cold or his barb less swift?

His Lordship was well read in the Bible, and the book of Judges, chap. 5, and verse 28, has the following pa.s.sage:--

"The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming; why tarry the wheels of his chariot?"

It was, indeed, an early trick of his Lordship to filch good things.

In the lamentation for Kirke White, in which he compares him to an eagle wounded by an arrow feathered from his own wing, he says,

So the struck eagle, stretch'd upon the plain, No more through rolling clouds to soar again, View'd his own feather on the fatal dart And winged the shaft that quivered in his heart.

The ancients have certainly stolen the best ideas of the moderns; this very thought may be found in the works of that ancient-modern, Waller:

That eagle's fate and mine are one, Which on the shaft that made him die, Espied a feather of his own Wherewith he wont to soar on high.

His Lordship disdained to commit any larceny on me; and no doubt the following pa.s.sage from The Giaour is perfectly original:

It is as if the dead could feel The icy worm around them steal; And shudder as the reptiles creep To revel o'er their rotting sleep, Without the power to scare away The cold consumers of their clay.

I do not claim any paternity in these lines: but not the most judicious action of all my youth was to publish certain dramatic sketches, and his Lordship had the printed book in his possession long before The Giaour was published, and may have read the following pa.s.sage in a dream, which was intended to be very hideous: