CHAPTER PAGE I.--INTRODUCTORY 1 II.--ENGLISH SATIRE FROM DRYDEN TO BYRON 10 III.--BYRON’S EARLY SATIRIC VERSE 39 IV.--“ENGLISH BARDS, AND SCOTCH REVIEWERS” 48 V.--“HINTS FROM HORACE” AND “THE CURSE OF MINERVA” 77 VI.--THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 93 VII.--THE ITALIAN INFLUENCE 113 VIII.--“DON JUAN” 163 IX.--“THE VISION OF JUDGMENT” 188 X.--“THE AGE OF BRONZE” AND “THE BLUES” 202 XI.--CONCLUSION 210 BIBLIOGRAPHY 219 INDEX 225 Lord Byron as a Satirist in Verse CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY Byron’s puzzling character and fascinating career have been tempting themes for many biographers, little and great, from Sir Egerton Brydges and Tom Moore to Professor Emil Koeppel and Mr. Richard Edgcumbe. His literary product, too, has been, for the most part, so carefully and exhaustively treated by the critics of many nationalities that there is small excuse for adding one more volume to a bibliography already so comprehensive. It happens, however, that though his contribution to satiric poetry was extensive and important, his actual work in that field has been made the subject of no intensive study. It is the object of this essay to fill this gap by considering, so far as it is possible in a brief treatise, the special qualities which distinguish Byron’s satiric spirit, and by analyzing and classifying the modifications of that spirit as they are shown in his poetry. The wide range of material to be investigated naturally precludes any attention to the events of his life, except when these throw light on the inception or composition of particular satires. Nor is it practicable to devote any space, except by way of illustration or reference, to his poetry in general, or to his letters and prose pamphlets. The scope of the dissertation will be restricted to include a discussion only of his satire in verse.