[67] The Fight appeared in the New Monthly Magazine in 1822. It was itself antedated by The Fancy of John Hamilton Reynolds, Keats’s friend and Hood’s brother-in-law, which was printed in 1820. The jolly iambics are as inspired as the essay. “P. C.” is, of course, Pugilistic Club.
“Oh, it is life! to see a proud
And dauntless man step, full of hopes,
Up to the P. C. stakes and ropes,
Throw in his hat, and with a spring
Get gallantly within the ring;
Eye the wide crown, and walk awhile
Taking all cheerings with a smile;
To see him strip; his well-trained form,
White, glowing, muscular, and warm,