Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1876-02-05
N IlstIIIlT- 5 ~60ICL q Ile iN7I-l
lord Byron's Love AZ Venice.


/ The friends who visited Lord Byron at
! this time did not recognize him. His
I wasted form and his paid face gave him
! the appearance of a corpse, animated only
| by the brilliaucy Of his fatally beautiful
! ewes. Pleasure was CONSUMING his exist
! ence. Among his passing affections, was
"a lovely woman of da.k complexion,
black eyes, and sauguine temperament
| Tall in stature. and robust as a Venus OF
Titian, sensual as a Bacchante, but capa-
bic OF love and Of selEsacriice. This
was Mariana, che mistress of the house
in which Byron lodged; a married wo-
man the mother Of q family, but ready to
leave all for the sake Of the poet. Byron
| soon discovered that Mariana was both
violent and jealous. One day while he
was speaking to the sister-in-law OF Ma
riana, the latter came in and gave blow
to the poor girl. Another time she sold
jewel which Byron had given her, and
which he purchased again, in order 10
present it TO her a.scce q. time. SyrOn
soon feft the house and ta6 lady, afiu yve,sft
to reside in the Palace Moncenigo, about
the middle Of the Grand Canal OF Ven
ice.
This was the scene of the adventures
of Marghcrita CO@ui, the well-knOwn
Venetian baker. There are some who
have compared her to the FOrnarina, but
between the only love Of Raphael COR at
least the preferred love- and this fancy of
a few dayS-bctween that fountain of in
spiratiOn and this source Of disgust
there was an immense difference. Mar
ghcrita was woman of the people, in
the bad sense of the word; a woman who
could neither read nor write; a woman
accustomed TO tyrauize over her family
almost in public; who concealed neither
fold of her soul nor a thrOb of her heart,
and consequently did not trouble herself
to put any restraint upon her actions.
Lord Byron sought with much anxiety
burial place among those lovely islands.
Floating along in his gondOla, he went
among the Venetian Archipelago to
choose a spot where TO plant a willow
tree, of which the branches, droOping
over the waters, should be a shadow over
his tomb, erected under the azure sky of
the south, close TO the Adriatic. But as
If wishing TO hasten his repOSe in the
dreamless bed, he gave himself up to the
study of different races, TO the plastic art,
to the intOXicatiOnS Of the carnival, to
orgies without intermissiOn. Often, /
turning away weary from q festival, he
wandered among the tombs, and there
met Margh6ritR. who at this time eSer-
eised much influence ON his life.
The boiling Venetian blood flowed in
her veins, and excited her passions. She
was tall, her shoulders broad, and her
arms robust; her face was handsome and
her head vulgar; her eyes seemed to con
sumo like a flaming fire. She loved al /
most to folly, but was jealous to madness. /
She caressed Lord ByrOu, and she NAL
treated him. She met him with the smile
of an angel, and she struck her nails into
him with the ferOcity of Il tigress. The
golden pin with which she confined her
hair served her for a stileIto, She was a
woman to bring forth a race of gladia- |
tors. She might have wrestled with any
vigorous Englishman, and have won the
victory. Her peculiar elOquence was in |
terarded with shameful expressions. !
Her ideas were no clearer than those of q
primitive savage. Her passions were as
ardent as Il giant volcano in eruption. !
Her character was formed by the wind of
the lagoons, and her soul was opened by
the Southern sun; there was something
grand in her whole being, although it
was Il brutal grandeur. In the Palazzo
AoncenigO Byron had collected horses, /
numbers of eats and dogs, parrots and all
kinds of birds; and this wOmau-like a
wild Eve in a strange paradise, angry
with Adam, intoxicated with wine and
pleasure.
But, ii0t sitaIstsu 8ing itgis SerSeisys, BY
ron deceived. One day there was terri
bic uprOar. The parrots uttered indie
scribable noises, the cats mewed, the dogs
| barked; the furniture flew in pieces, the
| Venetian mirrors strewed with a rain of
little crystals the pavement Of the palace
everything was in cOmmOtiOn, as if
struck by a hurricane or shaken by an
earthquake. 1t was caused by Narghe-
rita, VINO had encountered a rival, and
had with her terrible battle, which was
sustained on both sides vigOr and hero
ism. Imagine the fascination exercised
by that powerful nature on the wasted
frame of the poet. Her glance put new
| fire in the cold blood of those almost eX-
! haustcd veins. Her violence and her un-
| expected blows pleased him like a food
tasted for the first time. He laughed at
| the impassiOucd letters, written by pub
/ lie scrivener for a charge of y sous
! apiece, and dictated by the bakers wife
on her return to the market with her bas-
I ket on her head.
! One night, at q masked ball, Lord By
/ ron gave his arm to lady of respectable
/ ity, Signora COntaTina; he was covered
| by 4 domino and was quite concealed by
/ his mask. MargheTita arrived, inSulted
/ the lady, and with loud vociferations
| snatched away his mask. On another oc-
/ casiOn she quarrcIed with her husband,
/ whose flesh she tore with her sharp nails.
/ In the middle of the night loud knock
! ing was heard at the door of Byron's
/ house when every one was sleeping at
/ the same time Margherita's husband ap-
! peared and demanded his wife. The pO-
/ lice interfercd, and the woman was
| brought back by force 10 her forsaken
/ home. But she soon left it again, and
/ took refuge in the Palazzo Moncenigo
/ with her lover.
There She assumed command of the
/ household, but she exercised her power
/ in a most tyraunical manner. She tried
! to copy the air of a great lady-wOre a
splendid dress, a Partisan hat, costly
| iewelry, Flemish lace, and the train of a
/ Princess. And in this costume, and
/ wearing gloves, which greatly incom-
mOded her, she would catch up { stout
I stick, and tlinging about her arms, apply
| it all around, from the dogs to the SER
wants. 1t was wonderful that she made
an exception in favor of the master
/ though nothing prevented her from re-
/ Wiling him.