Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 1: With His Letters and JournalsMoore, Thomas
General
Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 1: With His Letters and Journals
Moore, Thomas
Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824; Poets, English -- 19th century -- Biography
"And so H.'s _boke_ is out,[135] with some sentimental sing-song of my
own to fill up,--and how does it take, eh? and where the devil is the
second edition of my Satire, with additions? and my name on the title
page? and more lines tagged to the end, with a new exordium and what
not, hot from my anvil before I cleared the Channel? The Mediterranean
and the Atlantic roll between me and criticism; and the thunders of
the Hyperborean Review are deafened by the roar of the Hellespont.
"Remember me to Claridge, if not translated to college, and present to
Hodgson assurances of my high consideration. Now, you will ask, what shall
I do next? and I answer, I do not know. I may return in a few months, but
I have intents and projects after visiting Constantinople.--Hobhouse,
however, will probably be back in September.
"On the 2d of July we have left Albion one year--'oblitus meorum
obliviscendus et illis.' I was sick of my own country, and not much
prepossessed in favour of any other; but I 'drag on' 'my chain'
without 'lengthening it at each remove.' I am like the Jolly Miller,
caring for nobody, and not cared for. All countries are much the same
in my eyes. I smoke, and stare at mountains, and twirl my mustachios
very independently. I miss no comforts, and the musquitoes that rack
the morbid frame of H. have, luckily for me, little effect on mine,
because I live more temperately.
"I omitted Ephesus in my catalogue, which I visited during my sojourn
at Smyrna; but the Temple has almost perished, and St. Paul need not
trouble himself to epistolise the present brood of Ephesians, who have
converted a large church built entirely of marble into a mosque, and I
don't know that the edifice looks the worse for it.
"My paper is full, and my ink ebbing--good afternoon! If you address
to me at Malta, the letter will be forwarded wherever I may be. H.
greets you; he pines for his poetry,--at least, some tidings of it. I
almost forgot to tell you that I am dying for love of three Greek
girls at Athens, sisters. I lived in the same house. Teresa, Mariana,
and Katinka,[136] are the names of these divinities,--all of them
under fifteen.
Your ταπεινοτατοϛ δουλοϛ,
"BYRON."
LETTER 43.
TO MR. HODGSON.
"Salsette frigate, in the Dardanelles, off Abydos, May 5. 1810.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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