George Gordon Noel Byron

Romances paint at full length people's wooings,
But only give a bust of marriages:
For no one read more

Romances paint at full length people's wooings,
But only give a bust of marriages:
For no one cares for matrimonial cooings.
There's nothing wrong in a connubial kiss.
Think you, if Laura had been Petrarch's wife,
He would have written sonnets all his life?

Oh, for one hour of blind old Dandolo,
Th' octogenarian chief, Byzantium's conquering foe!

Oh, for one hour of blind old Dandolo,
Th' octogenarian chief, Byzantium's conquering foe!

Of all the horrid, hideous notes of woe,
Sadder than owl-songs or the midnight blast;
Is that read more

Of all the horrid, hideous notes of woe,
Sadder than owl-songs or the midnight blast;
Is that portentous phrase, "I told you so."

A man must serve his time to every trade
Save censure--critics all are ready made.
Take hackney'd read more

A man must serve his time to every trade
Save censure--critics all are ready made.
Take hackney'd jokes from Miller, got by rote,
With just enough of learning to misquote;
A mind well skill'd to find or forge a fault;
A turn for punning, call it Attic salt;
To Jeffrey go, be silent and discreet,
His pay is just ten sterling pounds per sheet;
Fear not to lie, 'twill seem a lucky hit;
Shrink not from blasphemy, 'twill pass for wit;
Care not for feeling--pass your proper jest,
And stand a critic, hated yet caress'd.

Hereditary bondsmen! Know ye not
Who would be free themselves must strike the blow?

Hereditary bondsmen! Know ye not
Who would be free themselves must strike the blow?