Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 5.djvu/120

 114

NOTES AND QUERIES.

(.128. V. MAY. 1919.

The piece (three stanzas of eight lines each) is apparently in praise of the wife of Count Lavalette who escaped from Paris in January, 1816 ; it celebrates her virtue, constancy, and intelligence. 3. ' Farewell to England.' This and the next three items were published in " Lord Byron's

Farewell to England ; with three other poems

London : J. Johnston, 1816." For Byron's repudiation of them see ' Letters and Journals,' iii. 337 ; for the injunction proceedings brought against Johnston, see ibid. iv. 19 f. The 'Fare- well ' obtained a wide circulation. It is in the collections of Thomas, Sheppard, Limbird, Bumpus, Knight & Lacy, Cole, Bembow, Dove, and Jones. It is quoted in full as by Byron in that curious production ' The Life, Writings, Opinions, and Times of Lord Byron,' 1825 (i. 273 f.). For a description of this and the other three pieces in Johnston's volume, see an article by the present writer on ' The Pamphlets of the Byron Separa- tion ' forthcoming in Modern Language Notes. It is in no Galignani edition, but is in Bohn 1851.

4. ' Ode to the Island of Saint Helena.' See 3 above ; this ' Ode ' occurs in the miscellaneous collections mentioned there. It is also in Galignani 1828 and 1831, but was removed from the 1835 edition, from which many spurious pieces were weeded out. Also in Bohn 1851.

5. ' To my Daughter, on the Morning of her Birth.' Byron remarked : " On the ' Morning of my Daughter's Birth ' I had other things to think ofthan verses " (' Letters and Journals,' iii. 337 f.). It is in all collections mentioned i > 3 above, and in all Galignani editions except 1835. Also in Bohn 1851 ; and quoted in part in ' Life, Writings,' &c., i. 288.

6. ' To the Lyly of France.' Byron remarked : " As to the ' Lyly of France,' I "should as soon think of celebrating a turnip " (' Letters and Journals,' iii. 337). In all pirated collections already mentioned (see 3 above) except Galig- nani 1835. In Bohn 1851.

7. " Reflections on Shipboard, by Lord Byron. London : R. S. Kirby & W. Allason, 1816."- Besides the title-poem this volume includes the next three items on the present list. For a full description of all four see the forthcoming article already referred to. The ' Reflections ' appar- ently obtained no circulation whatsoever.

8. ' The Poet Refuses Consolation. 'The second piece in ' Reflections ' ; apparently never reprinted entire.

9. The Birth of Hope.' The third piece in 'Reflections' ; apparently never reprinted entire.

10. ' The Poet Moralizes on Waterloo.' The fourth piece in ' Reflections ' ; apparently never reprinted entire. On these four pieces see further Kolbing, Englische Studien, xxvi. 76 f.

11. ' JBnigma ' (H). " ' Twas whispered in heaven, 'twas muttered in hell." A discussion of the authorship of this piece was carried on in ' N. & Q.,' First Series, vol. v. According to B. P. (p. 522) it was written by Miss Fanshawe in 1816 in an alburn (which ' D.N.B.' says is still in existence). J. Sansom, reprinting the ' JEnigma ' on I (see 12 below), asks : " How came Miss Fanshawe's enigmas to be attributed to Lord Byron?" (First Series, v. 427). This question remains unanswered. The author of this, by far the most famous poem in the " Byron Apocrypha," was Catherine Maria Fanshawe,

not "Harriet" as E. H. Coleridge calls her. The piece was apparently first ascribed to Byron in " Three Poems, not included in the Works of Lord Byron. London : Effingham Wilson, 1818." (The other two pieces are genuine.) From there it got into W. Clark's edition of ' The Wai/.,' 1821 ; the ' Works,' Moses Thomas, Philadelphia, 1820 ; and into numerous later piracies. It is not in Galignani 1835, but is in Bohn 1851.

12. ' JEnigma ' (I). This enigma was not so widely ascribed to Byron as that on H. It occurs in Galignani 1831, and (which is note- worthy) Galignani 1835. It is not in Bohn 1851. For the text of this piece see ' N. & Q.,' First Series, v. 427.

13. ' The Burial of Sir John Moore.' This famous poem can be brought into the compass of this list only by stretching definitions. The single edition of Bvron's Works into which it seems to have intruded is that of H. L. Broenner, Frankfort O.M., 1829. Note, however, the dis- agreeable incident recorded in Medwin's ' Con- versations ' (p. 75 of edition published by Wilder & Campbell, New York, 1824) when the poem was read in Byron's presence, and after- it had been much praised Byron did not deny the authorship of it. Medwin prints it entire and ascribes it to Byron, saying that after the poet had himself praised it so highly he could not admit outright that it was his own com- position.

14. " Lord Byron's Pilgrimage to the Holy Land . A Poem .... To which is added The Tempest. A Fragment. London : J. Johnston, 1817." For Byron's repudiation, and for the proceedings to obtain an injunction against this fraudulent publication, see ' Letters and Journals,' iv. 9 f. The injunction was granted ; hence a second edition, published the same year, had on the title merely ' A Pilgrimage,' &c. The title piece is in two cantos and is written in heroic couplets. The pilgrim's name is Flavius. He journeys through the Mediterranean, moralizing on the various countries and cities that he passes by, and occasionally, seizing his harp, he relieves himself of very mediocre lyrics. He does not arrive in the Holy Land until the second canto. The -promptness with which an injunction was obtained against this volume, together with its inherent worthlessness, served to prevent its obtaining (in this unlike Johnston's previous hoax) any circulation as by Lord Byron.

15. ' The Tempest. A Fragment.' See 14 above. This piece is in octosyllabic couplets in the manner of ' The Giaour.' " The theme is the escape of one mysterious stranger from a ship- wreck ; the stranger afterwards dies in the arms of a friendly leech, who hears his dying words and could tell strange tales, an he would. This poem apparently obtained no circulation.

16. " Leon to Annabella. An Epistle after the Manner of Ovid. . . .London : Mac John, Raymur & Co.," n.d. (1818 ? it belongs to Byron's Venetian period). This rare little piece of disreputableness is hard to come by. A copy is in the library of Mr. J. P. Morgan, through whose courtesy I have been able to examine it. For a description of it see my article on ' The Pamphlets of the Byron Separation ' mentioned above. It was reprinted with 'Don Leon ' (see 22 below) in 1866. Note that " Leon " is merely Noel spelt backwards.