What matters—a heart which, though faulty, was feeling,
Be driven to excesses which once could appal—
That the Sinner should suffer is only fair dealing,
As the Saint keeps her charity back for "the Ball!"
December 10, 1820.
[First published, Letters and Journals, 1830, ii. 540.]
FOOTNOTES:
[118] [Written on seeing the following paragraph in a newspaper: "Lady Byron is this year the lady patroness at the annual Charity Ball, given at the Town Hall, at Hinckley, Leicestershire...."—Life, p. 535. Moore adds that "these verses [of which he only prints two stanzas] are full of strong and indignant feeling,—every stanza concluding pointedly with the words 'Charity Ball.'">[
EPIGRAM
ON THE BRAZIERS' ADDRESS TO BE PRESENTED IN ARMOUR BY THE COMPANY TO QUEEN CAROLINE.[119]
It seems that the Braziers propose soon to pass
An Address and to bear it themselves all in brass;
A superfluous pageant, for by the Lord Harry!
They'll find, where they're going, much more than they carry.
Or—
The Braziers, it seems, are determined to pass
An Address, and present it themselves all in brass:—
A superfluous {pageant/trouble} for, by the Lord Harry!
They'll find, where they're going, much more than they carry.
January 6, 1821.
[First published, Letters and Journals, 1830, ii. 442.]