The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-02-19
LAMPO0NING DAYS.
HAVE HAo THEN RUN AND PASSED
OUT OF ENGLISH uTERAruRe.


Reviewers" When byron wrets His Bi,
ser saaires-The Way They Manage Sue
Masters In France.
It is said that "Ianthe" and "The Mai
~ Athens are the only two surviyin
persons whom Byron had described or n
ferred to In his poems Whether this be at
curately true or not, the generations agains
which that brilliant literary lshmae
waged such constant and such futil
war has almost entirely passed away. an
with IL has passed the fashion of lampoon
ing ones rivals-and even of extollin
ones friends-in verse. Time was when
spice of personality was an indispensable
attraction in a book meant TO catch tn
public ear, and IL young or inexperienced
author neglected this important point th'
publisher would be sure TO urge the neoes
sity of catering for the general taste and
would perhaps himself suggest worthy
subject for an epigram. We are not refer
ring to the Curlls of a century and hall
ago. but to the very honorable and gener
Gus publishers with whom our grandfa.
theirs had to do. The literary controversies
which were so rife in the age OF English
Bards and Scotch Reviewers, but which
are nowadays comparatively rare, were
gloated over by an eager public, and 1t is
not 20 be wondered mt If the publishers, who
had their fingers continuously upon their
customers pulse, preferred such books as
were calculated to stimulate the fever OF
curiosity. These personal references were,
of course, very various In their character.
No lady could complain of being immor
talized as Ianthe, but we can imagine that
a considerable number of Byron's victims
would have given round sum to be ex.
cluded from his bitter satires 1t must
have been "bad quarter of an hour" foi
the Scotch reviewers when they read the
retaliation which one of their company has
brought upon them, almost as uncomfort.
able as the five minutes In which the poor,
Ill treated governess read the description
of herself, commencing with the words,
Born In garret, in kitchen bred"
Few of Byron's friends or acquaintance
escaped without single splutter from his
pen Of gall, and some, as is well known,
felt the injury very keenly. But at the
same time he knew how to speak favorably
both Of the living and the dead 1t Is
strange instance Of the vast power welded
for good or evil by the maker of simple
verses that one lady Is at the present mo-
ment enjoying q comfortable annuity to
which she had no other claim whatever
than that OF having been extolled by Byron
in q few complimentary stanzas. To do
Byron justice, he rarely showed up" his
contemporaries unless they had previously
turned their pens against him, whereas
there were poets in those times who hated
in verse for no better reason than that
their victims took different view Of poll
tics from their own. Shehey's outburst
against Castlereagh, and many of Peter
Pindar's unmeasured diatribes, exceed in
their bitterness anything which we should
consider justifable today. When we
say that the fashion of personal allusions
among poets has passed away, we do not
mean that the circumstance Is unknown
in the present generation. The laureate's
escapade In Punch, In which he applied
the lash TO the shoulders of brother poet.
is not likely TO be forgotten and he has
taken several other occasions of belaborine
his critic, and the race of irresponsible
reviewers In general. 1t Is but shor.
time ago that two of our most popular
poets took up the cudgels to one another In
the public prints, and overloaded theii
genius by mist Of hard words and re
examinations perhaps quite as virulent az
anything that Byron wrote OF rival.
There can be no doubt that personal allu
sions Of the kind which we have instancec
are In every sense Objectionable, and that
the decay OF the fashion is matter foI
much congratulation. Two reasons In par.
ticular might be given which would amply
suffice TO condemn the practice In the
first place. 1t is so very easy to lash oneself
into rage by the whip cracking Of oui
own rhymes and meters. just as certain
animals are said 10 do by the application
OF their tails
1t Is quite possible to work oneself into
literary fury against literary rival
while at the club or In the street we should
take him by the hand and exchange the
idle gossip of the day. Again. It Is beyond
all question that literary wrangles have
tendency TO debase literature itself There
Ia no such thing as sublime personality
The only lofty satire is that which is thor
oughly general in Its application. A better
poet who Is either prejudiced or angry nee
essarily descends from the back of Pega
sus and holds on. IL at all, by the tail. In
other words, his verses limp, his ideas
grow commonplace. and the SAVIOR Of his
poetry is destroyed. English poets in par
ticular do we'll TO let this species of satire
alone, for. though az q rule an Englishman
Is an admirable fighter. no Is decidedly lin
tied In his mastery Of weapons Poetry is
a foil that should always have the buttons
on, but we have too straightforward way
OF taking the buttons of In France they
manage these things differently There
they can cross foils without hurting each
other IL Is a national characteristic. Mo.
mere used occasionally to hit living persons
very hard but we read Of one instance 10
which he completely dlsarmed the resent.
ment OF the object Of his satire by reading
mas play to him privately before II was put
upon the stage. He had satirized his man
In such polite style that the latter was
easily persuaded TO take 30 much individ
nal attention as a compliment. The th,n,
wouId have been impossible In England
For us, As all events, the day Of per.onsli.
ties IN literature is past, and we ,mnv,n,
THAI no sensibie Engiishmas resrrts A.
Hvep nsttery 10 In questionable tAste R,,
thAs man should be iampoonsd bv M.
fellow on account " Q mere al Yerencs -
opinion 10 no longer tc be tolerated. .-sar.
nrdAy Review