[93] Pope, in the Dunciad, had bantered Sir Richard Blackmore, author of epics, in the lines:—
“All hail him victor in both gifts of song,
Who sings so loudly, and who sings so long.”
(Dunciad, ii., 267–268.)
The possibility that Byron may have had this passage in mind is increased by his note to his lines in English Bards: “Must he [Southey] be content to rival Sir Richard Blackmore in the quantity as well as the quality of his verse?”
[94] Simpliciad, 212–213.
[95] It must be remembered, however, that practically every charge that Byron brings against the “Lakists” has a counterpart in Mant’s Simpliciad, printed only a year before Byron’s poem.
[96] Baviad, 248–261.
[97] Letters, v., 590.
[98] Letters, v., 539.