254—to Lord Holland
September 28, 1812.
Will this do better? The metaphor is more complete.
Till slowly ebb'd the {lava of the}/{spent volcanic} wave,
And blackening ashes mark'd the Muse's grave.
If not, we will say "burning wave," and instead of "burning clime," in the line some couplets back, have "glowing."
Is
Whitbread
determined to castrate all my
cavalry
lines
? I
don't
see why t'other house should be spared; besides it is the public, who ought to know better; and you recollect Johnson's was against similar buffooneries of Rich's—but, certes, I am not Johnson
.
Instead of "effects," say "labours"—"degenerate" will do, will it? Mr. Betty is no longer a babe, therefore the line cannot be personal.
Will
this do?
Till ebb'd the lava of {the burning}/{that molten} wave 3
with "glowing dome," in case you prefer "burning" added to this "wave" metaphorical. The word "fiery pillar" was suggested by the "pillar of fire" in the book of
Exodus
, which went before the Israelites through the Red Sea. I once thought of saying "like Israel's pillar," and making it a simile, but I did not know,—the great temptation was leaving the epithet "fiery" for the supplementary wave. I want to work up that passage, as it is the only new ground us prologuizers can go upon:
This is the place where, if a poet
Shined in description, he might show it.
If I part with the possibility of a future conflagration, we lessen the compliment to Shakspeare. However, we will e'en mend it thus:
Yes, it shall be—the magic of that name,
That scorns the scythe of Time, the torch of Flame,
On the same spot, etc., etc.
There—the deuce is in it, if that is not an improvement to Whitbread's content. Recollect, it is the "name," and not the "magic," that has a noble contempt for those same weapons. If it were the "magic," my metaphor would be somewhat of the maddest—so the "name" is the antecedent. But, my dear Lord, your patience is not quite so immortal—therefore, with many and sincere thanks, I am,
Yours ever most affectionately.
P.S.—I foresee there will be charges of partiality in the papers; but you know I sent in no
Address
; and glad both you and I must be that I did not, for, in that case, their plea had been plausible. I doubt the Pit will be testy; but conscious innocence (a novel and pleasing sensation) makes me bold.
Footnote 1:
The lines which were omitted by the Committee ran thus:
"Nay, lower still, the Drama yet deplores
That late she deigned to crawl upon all-fours.
When Richard roars in Bosworth for a horse,
If you command, the steed must come in course.
If you decree, the Stage must condescend
To soothe the sickly taste we dare not mend.
Blame not our judgment should we acquiesce,
And gratify you more by showing less.
Oh, since your Fiat stamps the Drama's laws,
Forbear to mock us with misplaced applause;
That public praise be ne'er again disgraced,
From {brutes to man recall}/{babes and brutes redeem} a nation's taste;
Then pride shall doubly nerve the actor's powers,
When Reason's voice is echoed back by ours."
The last couplet but one was altered in a subsequent copy, thus:
"The past reproach let present scenes refute,
Nor shift from man to babe, from babe to brute."
On February 18, 1811, at Covent Garden, a troop of horses were introduced in
Bluebeard
. For the manager, Juvenal's words, "
Lucri bonus est odor ex re Qualibet
" (
Sat
. xiv. 204) may have been true; but, as the dressing-room of the equine comedians was under the orchestra, the stench on the first night was to the audience intolerable. At the same theatre, April 29, 1811, the horses were again brought on the stage in Lewis's
Timour the Tartar
. At the same theatre, on the following December 26, a live elephant appeared. The novelty had, however, been anticipated in the Dublin Theatre during the season of 1771-72 (Genest's
English Stage
, vol. viii. p. 287). At the Haymarket, and Drury Lane, the introduction of live animals was ridiculed.
The Quadrupeds of Quedlinburgh
was given at the Haymarket, July 26, 1811, as a burlesque on
Timour the Tartar
and the horses. The Prologue, by Colman the Younger, attacks the passion for German plays and animal actors:
"Your taste, recover'd half from foreign quacks,
Takes airings, now, on English horses' backs;
While every modern bard may raise his name,
If not on lasting praise, on stable fame."
At the Lyceum, during the season 1811-12,
Quadrupeds, or the Manager's Last Kick
, in which the tailors were mounted on asses and mules, was given by the Drury Lane Company with success. It was this introduction of animal performers which Byron wished to attack.
cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 255
Footnote 2:
The following are the lines in Johnson's
Prologue
to which Byron refers:
"Then crush'd by rules, and weaken'd as refined,
For years the power of Tragedy declined;
From bard to bard the frigid caution crept,
Till Declamation roared, whilst Passion slept.
Yet still did Virtue deign the stage to tread,
Philosophy remained though Nature fled.
But forced, at length, her ancient reign to quit,
She saw great Faustus lay the ghost of Wit;
Exulting Folly hailed the joyous Day,
And Pantomime and Song confirmed her sway.
But who the coming changes can presage,
And mark the future periods of the Stage?
Perhaps if skill could distant times explore,
New Behns, new Durfeys, yet remain in store;
Perhaps, where Lear has raved, and Hamlet died,
On flying cars new sorcerers may ride;
Perhaps (for who can guess th' effects of chance?)
Here Hunt may box, or Mahomet may dance."
John Rich (circ. 1682-1761) was the creator of pantomime in England, which he introduced at Lincoln's Inn Fields in April, 1716, and in which, under the stage name of Lun, he played the part of Harlequin. At Lincoln's Inn Fields, January 29, 1728, he produced
The Beggar's Opera
, which, after being refused at Drury Lane, made "Gay
rich
, and Rich
gay
." "Great Faustus" probably alludes to the war between the two theatres, and the rival productions of
Harlequin Dr. Faustus
at Drury Lane in 1723, and of
The Necromancer, or the History of Dr. Faustus
at Lincoln's Inn Fields in December of the same year. On December 7, 1732, Rich opened the new theatre at Covent Garden, of which he remained manager till his death in 1761.
cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 255
Footnote 3:
The form of this couplet, as printed, is as follows:
"Till blackening ashes and lonely wall
Usurp'd the Muse's realm, and mark'd her fall."
