The Works of Lord Byron Volume VI Part 29

Trifling as such an incident may appear, we all considered it a _propitious omen_."--"Loss of the _Lady Hobart_, 1803," _s.h.i.+pwrecks and Disasters at Sea_, 1812, iii. 389.]

[140] ["I found it necessary to caution the people against being deceived by the _appearance of land_, or calling out till we were quite convinced of its reality, more especially as _fog-banks_ are often mistaken for land: several of the poor fellows nevertheless repeatedly exclaimed _they heard breakers_, and some the _firing of guns_."--"Loss of the _Lady Hobart," s.h.i.+pwrecks and Disasters at Sea_, 1812, iii. 391.]

{110}[141] ["_At length one of them broke out into a most immoderate swearing fit of joy_, which I could not restrain, and declared, that _he had never seen land in his life, if what he now saw was not so_."--"Loss of the _Centaur," ibid_., p. 55.]

[142] ["The joy at a speedy relief affected us all in a most remarkable way. Many _burst into tears; some looked at each other with a stupid stare, as if doubtful_ of the reality of what they saw; while several were in such a lethargic condition, that no animating words could rouse them to exertion. At this affecting period, I proposed offering up our solemn thanks to Heaven for the miraculous deliverance."--"Loss of the _Lady Hobart," ibid_., p. 391.]

[143] [After having suffered the horrors of hunger and thirst for many days, "they accidentally descried a _small_ turtle _floating on the surface of the water asleep_."--"Sufferings of the Crew of the _Thomas,"

ibid_., p. 356.]

{111}[144] ["An indifferent spectator would have been at a loss which most to admire; the eyes of famine sparkling at immediate relief, or the horror of their preservers at the sight of so many spectres, whose ghastly countenances, if the cause had been unknown, would rather have excited terror than pity. Our bodies were nothing but skin and bones, our limbs were full of sores, and we were clothed in rags."--_Narrative of the Mutiny of the Bounty_, by William Bligh, 1790, p. 80. Compare _The Siege of Corinth_, lines 1048, 1049, _Poetical Works_, 1900, iii.

494, note 3.]

{112}[145] ["They discovered land _right ahead_, and steered for it.

There being a very _heavy surf_, they endeavoured to turn the boat's head to it, which, from weakness, they were unable to accomplish, and soon afterwards _the boat upset_."--"Sufferings of Six Deserters from St. Helena, 1799," _s.h.i.+pwrecks and Disasters at Sea_, 1812, iii, 371.]

[146] [Compare lines "Written after swimming from Sestos to Abydos,"

_Poetical Works_, 1900, iii. 13, note 1; see, too, _Letters_, 1898, i.

262, 263, note 1.]

{114}[147] [Compare--

"How long in that same fit I lay I have not to declare."

_The Ancient Mariner_, Part V. lines 393, 394.]

{115}[bh] ---- _in short she's one_.--[MS.]

{116}[bi]

_A set of humbug rascals, when all's done_-- _I've seen much finer women, ripe and real_, _Than all the nonsense of their d----d ideal_.--[MS.]

[148] [Compare _Childe Harold_, Canto IV. stanza 1. lines 6-9, _Poetical Works_, 1899, ii. 366, note 1.]

[149] [Probably that "Alpha and Omega of Beauty," Lady Adelaide Forbes (daughter of George, sixth Earl of Granard), whom Byron compared to the Apollo Belvidere. See _Letters_, 1898, ii. 230, note 3.]

[150] ["The _saya_ or _basquina_ ... the outer petticoat ... is always black, and is put over the indoor dress on going out." Compare ?e?a?e???e? ?pa?te? t ?p???? ?? s?????, [Greek: Melanei/mones a(/pantes t ople/on e)n sa/gois,] Strabo, lib. iii. ed. 1807, i. 210. Ford's _Handbook for Spain_, 1855, i. 111.]

{117}[151] ["When Ajax, Ulysses, and Phoenix stand before Achilles, he rushes forth to greet them, brings them into the tent, directs Patroclus to mix the wine, cuts up the meat, dresses it, and sets it before the amba.s.sadors." (_Iliad_, ix. 193, sq.)--_Study of the Cla.s.sics_, by H.N.

Coleridge, 1830, p, 71]

{119}[bj] _And such a bed of furs, and a pelisse_.--[MS.]

{120}[bk]

---- _which often spread_, _And come like opening h.e.l.l upon the mind_, _No "baseless fabric" but "a wrack behind."_--[MS.]

{121}[bl]

_Had e'er escaped more dangers on the deep_;-- _And those who are not drowned, at least may sleep_.--[MS.]

[152] [Ent.i.tled "_A Narrative of the Honourable John Byron_ (Commodore in a late expedition round the world), containing an account of the great distresses suffered by himself and his companions on the coast of Patagonia, from the year 1740, till their arrival in England, 1746.

Written by Himself," London, 1768, 40. For the Hon. John Byron, 1723-86, younger brother of William, fifth Lord Byron, see _Letters_, 1898, i.

3.]

[bm] _Wore for a husband--or some such like brute_.--[MS.]

[bn]

---- _although of late_ _I've changed, for some few years, the day to night_.--[MS.]

[153] [The second canto of _Don Juan_ was finished in January, 1819, when the Venetian Carnival was at its height.]

{122}[154] [Strabo (lib. xvi. ed. 1807, p. 1106) gives various explanations of the name, a.s.signing the supposed redness to the refraction of the rays of the vertical sun; or to the shadow of the scorched mountain-sides which form its sh.o.r.es; or, as Ctesias would have it, to a certain fountain which discharged red oxide of lead into its waters. "Abyssinian" Bruce had no doubt that "large trees or plants of coral spread everywhere over the bottom," made the sea "red," and accounted for the name. But, according to Niebuhr, the Red Sea is the Sea of Edom, which, being interpreted, is "Red."]

[bo]

---- _just the same_ _As at this moment I should like to do;--_ _But I have done with kisses--having kissed_ _All those that would--regretting those I missed_.--[MS.]

{124}[bp]

_Fair as the rose just plucked to crown the wreath_, _Soft as the unfledged birdling when at rest_.--[MS.]

[155] [Compare _Mazeppa_, lines 829, sq., _Poetical Works_, 1901, iv.

232.]

{125}[bq]

_That finer melody was never heard_, _The kind of sound whose echo is a tear_, _Whose accents are the steps of Music's throne_.[*]--[MS.]

[*] ["To the Publisher. Take of these varieties which is thought best. I have no choice."]

{128}[156] [Moore, quoting from memory from one of Byron's MS. journals, says that he speaks of "making earnest love to the younger of his fair hostesses at Seville, with the help of a dictionary."--_Life,_ p. 93.

See, too, letter to his mother, August 11, 1809, _Letters,_ 1898, i.

240.]

[br] _Pressure of hands, et cetera--or a kiss_.--[MS. Alternative reading.]

[bs] _Italian rather more, having more teachers_.--[MS. erased.]

[157] ["In 1813 ... in the fas.h.i.+onable world of London, of which I then formed an item, a fraction, the segment of a circle, the unit of a million, the nothing of something.... I had been the lion of 1812."--Extracts from a Diary, January 19, 1821, _Letters_, 1901, v.

177, 178.]

[bt]

_foes, friends, s.e.x, kind, are nothing more to me_ _Than a mere dream of something o'er the sea_.--[MS.]

{129}[158] [For the same archaism or blunder, compare _Manfred_, act i.

sc. 4, line 19, _Poetical Works_, 1901, iv. 132.]

[159] [Compare _The Prisoner of Chillon_, line 78, _ibid_., p. 16.]

[bu]

_Holding her sweet breath o'er his cheek and mouth_, _As o'er a bed of roses, etc_.--[MS.]

[160] [_Vide post_, Canto XVI. stanza lx.x.xvi. line 6, p. 598, note 1.]