With these facts in view, it is convenient and not illogical to arrange the major part of Byron’s satiric verse into two distinct groups. The one, deeply rooted in classical and English tradition, conforming to established conventions and obeying precedents well understood in our language, includes _English Bards_, _Hints from Horace_, _The Curse of Minerva_, _The Waltz_, and _The Age of Bronze_, besides other works shorter and less noteworthy. The other, retaining something of the “sæva indignatio” of Juvenal and Swift, but embodying it in what may be called, for want of a better term, the Italian burlesque spirit--that mood which, varying in individual authors, but essentially the same, prevails in the poetry of Pulci, Berni, and Casti--comprises _Beppo_, _Don Juan_, and _The Vision of Judgment_. Generally speaking, this division on the basis of sources corresponds to a difference in metre: the classical satires employ, almost from necessity, the iambic pentameter couplet, while those in the Italian manner adopt the exotic ottava rima. This classification is also partly chronological, for the English satires, with the exception of _The Age of Bronze_ and some short epigrams, were written before 1817, and the Italian satires appeared during the eight years following that date, while Byron was in Italy and Greece. The numerous ballads, political verses, and personal epigrams, some printed in the daily newspapers, others sent in letters to his friends, constitute another interesting group of satires, about which, however, no very satisfactory generalizations can be made. There are also lines and passages of a satiric nature in other poems, but these, casual as they are, need to be mentioned only because of their connection with ideas advanced in the genuine Verse-Satires, or because of some especial interest attaching to them. In taking up the separate poems included in this mass of material it seems best to observe, as far as practicable, a chronological order, for by so doing, we may observe the steady growth and broadening of Byron’s ability as a satirist, and trace his connection with the events of his time. However, before proceeding directly to an analysis of the poet’s work and methods, it is necessary to say something of his predecessors in English satire, from many of whom he derived so much. CHAPTER II ENGLISH SATIRE FROM DRYDEN TO BYRON