Fourth Edition.Fifth Edition.

Line. Line.
28And men through life her willing slaves obey.
Obeyed by all who nought beside obey.28
30Unfolds her motley store to suit the time.
Bedecks her cap with bells of every clime.30
32When Justice halts, and Right begins to fail.
And weigh their Justice in a golden scale.32
71Fear not to lie, 'twill seem a lucky hit.
Fear not to lie,'twill seem a sharper hit.71
173Low may they sink to merited contempt,
174And scorn remunerate the mean attempt.
Still for stern Mammon may they toil in vain!179
And sadly gaze on Gold they cannot gain.180
257How well the subject suits his noble mind!
258"A fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind."
So well the subject suits his noble mind,263
He brays, the Laureate of the long-eared kind.264
303In many marble-covered volumes view
304Hayley, in vain attempting something new:
305Whether he spin his comedies in rhyme,
306Or scrawl, as Wood and Barclay walk, 'gainst time.
Behold—Ye Tarts!—one moment spare the text!309
Hayley's last work, and worst—until his next;310
Whether he spin poor couplets into plays,311
Or damn the dead with purgatorial praise.312
323And shows, dissolved in thine own melting tears.
And shows, still whimpering thro' threescore of years. 329
327Whether in sighing winds thou seek'st relief
328Or consolation in a yellow leaf.
Whether thou sing'st with equal ease and grief,333
The fall of empires or a yellow leaf.334
385Fresh fish from Helicon! Who'll buy! Who'll buy?
Fresh fish from Hippocrene! who'll buy? who'll buy?391
387Too much in turtle Bristol's sons delight,
388Too much o'er bowls of Rack prolong the night.
Your turtle-feeder's verse must needs be flat,393
Though Bristol bloat him with the verdant fat.394
502First in the ranks illustrious shall be seen.
First in the oat-fed phalanx shall be seen.508
511As he himself was damned, shall try to damn.
Damned like the Devil—Devil-like will damn.517
532And grateful to the founder of the feast,
533Declare his landlord can translate, at least,
And, grateful for the dainties on his plate,550
Declare his landlord can at least translate.551
552While Kenny's World just suffered to proceed,
553Proclaims the audience very kind indeed.
While Kenney's "World"—ah! where is Kenney's wit?—570
Tires the sad gallery, lulls the listless Pit.571
563Let Comedy resume her throne again.
Let Comedy assume her throne again.581
569Where Garrick trod, and Kemble lives to tread.
Where Garrick trod, and Siddons lives to tread.587
614Raise not your scythe, Suppressors of our Vice.
Whet not your scythe, Suppressors of our Vice.632
625The Arbiter of pleasure and of play.
Our arbiter of pleasure and of play.643
661And, kinder still, a Paget for your wife.
And, kinder still, two Pagets for your wife.679
728Want your defence, let Pity be your screen.
Want is your plea, let Pity be your screen.746
742Some stragglers skirmish round their columns still.
Some stragglers skirmish round the columns still.760
815The spoiler came; and all thy promise fair
816Has sought the grave, to sleep for ever there.
The Spoiler swept that soaring Lyre away,834
Which else had sounded an immortal lay.835
891The native genius with their feeling given.
The native genius with their being given.909
903Let Moore be lewd; let Strangford steal from Moore.
Let Moore still sigh; let Strangford steal from Moore.921
922For outlawed Sherwood's tales of Robin Hood.
For Sherwood's outlaw tales of Robin Hood.940
946And even spurns the great Seatonian prize.
Even from the tempting ore of Seaton's prize.964
965So sunk in dullness and so lost in shame,
966That Smythe and Hodgson scarce redeem thy fame.
So lost to Phoebus, that nor Hodgson's verse983
Can make thee better, nor poor Hewson's worse.984
969On her green banks a greener wreath is wove.
On her green banks a greener wreath she wove.987
972And modern Britons justly praise their Sires.
And modern Britons glory in their Sires.990
984Earth's chief Dictatress, Ocean's mighty Queen.
Earth's chief Dictatress, Ocean's lovely Queen.1002
1005But should I back return, no lettered rage
1006Shall drag my common-place book on the stage:
1007Let vain Valentia rival luckless Carr,
1008And equal him whose work he sought to mar.
But should I back return, no tempting press1023
Shall drag my Journal from the desk's recess;1024
Let coxcombs, printing as they come from far,1025
Snatch his own wreath of Ridicule from Carr.1026
1016I leave topography to classic Gell.
I leave topography to rapid Gell.1034
1018To stun mankind with Poesy or Prose.
To stun the public ear—at least with Prose.1036
1049Thus much I've dared to do; how far my lay.
Thus much I've dared: if my incondite lay.1067

Note (3).—The Annotated Copies of the Fourth Edition of 1811.

Two annotated copies of the genuine Fourth Edition of English Bards, etc. [1811], with MS. corrections in Byron's handwriting, are extant—one in Mr. Murray's possession, and a second in the Forster Library at the South Kensington Museum. The former, which contains the marginal comments marked "B. 1816," has been assumed to have been prepared as a press copy for the Fifth Edition; but, as the following collation reveals, the latter, which belonged to Leigh Hunt, represents a fuller and later, though not a final revision. The half-title bears the inscription, "Byron, Dec. 31st, 1811. N—d. Ay [i.e. Newstead Abbey] B.

"Dum relego—scripsisse pudet—quia plurima cerno—
Me quoque—qui feci—judice digna lini—B. Jy 20, 1812."

and the verso the words, "Given me by the author on my birthday, Oct. 19, 1815. Leigh Hunt."

u

P. 5. ingen i ous. [The misprint is a note of a genuine copy.]

Lines 173, 174.

Low may they sink to merited contempt
And scorn remunerate the mean attempt.
Still for stern Mammon may they toil in vain,
And sadly gaze on Gold they cannot gain.