[33] 'I think it proper to state to you that this stanza alludes to an event which has taken place since my arrival here, and not to the death of any _male_ friend.'--Lord Byron to Mr. Dallas. [34] That this Thyrza was no passing fancy is proved by Lord Lovelace's statement in 'Astarte' (p. 138): 'He had occasionally spoken of Thyrza to Lady Byron, at Seaham and afterwards in London, _always with strong but contained emotion_. He once showed his wife a beautiful tress of Thyrza's hair, _but never mentioned her real name_.' [35] Captain (afterwards Commodore) Walter Bathurst was mortally wounded at the Battle of Navarino, on October 20, 1827.--'Battles of the British Navy,' Joseph Allen, vol. ii., p. 518. [36] The last line was in the first draft. [37] Medwin (edition of 1824), p. 63. [38] 'A power of fascination rarely, if ever, possessed by any man of his age' ('Recollections of a Long Life,' by Lord Broughton, vol. ii., p. 196). [39] 'Letters and Journals of Byron,' vol. iii., p. 406, edited by Rowland E. Prothero. [40] Moore had rented a cottage in Nottinghamshire, not very remote from Newstead Abbey. [41] See 'Letters and Journals of Lord Byron,' edited by Rowland Prothero, vol. ii., pp. 267, 269, 278, 292. [42] 'Had I not written "The Bride" (in four nights), I must have gone mad by eating my own heart--bitter diet.'--'Journals and Letters,' vol. ii., p. 321. [43] 'Hail be you, Mary, mother and May, Mild, and meek, and merciable!' _An Ancient Hymn to the Virgin._ [44] Mary was 'the last of a time-honoured race.' The line of the Chaworths ended with her. [45] It will be remembered that Byron had announced 'The Corsair' as 'the last production with which he should trespass on public patience for some years.' With the loss of Mary's love his inspiration was gone. [46] 'With hackbut bent, my secret stand, Dark as the purposed deed, I chose, And mark'd where, mingling in his band, Trooped Scottish pikes and English bows.' SIR WALTER SCOTT: _Cadyow Castle_. [47] Mary's allusion to the seal is explained by an entry in Byron's journal, November 14, 1813. The seal is treasured as a memento of Byron by the Musters family. [48] No one, we presume, will question the identity of the person mentioned in 'The Dream': 'Upon a tone, A touch of hers, his blood would ebb and flow, And his cheek change tempestuously--his heart Unknowing of its cause of agony.' [49] 'Astarte,' p. 134. [50] Lady Caroline Lamb also asserted that Byron showed her some letters which contained some such expression as this: "Oh! B----, if we loved one another as we did in childhood--_then_ it was innocent." The reader may judge whether such a remark would be more natural from Augusta, or from Mary Chaworth. [51] October 14, 1814. [52] See the poem 'Remember Him': 'Thy soul from long seclusion pure.' [53]