Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 1.djvu/152

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112
HOURS OF IDLENESS.

11.

Who kneels to the God, on his altar of light
Must myrtle and cypress alternately strew:
His myrtle, an emblem of purest delight,
His cypress, the garland of Love's last adieu!


LINES.[1]

ADDRESSED TO THE REV. J. T. BECHER,[2] ON HIS ADVISING THE AUTHOR TO MIX MORE WITH SOCIETY.

1.

Dear Becher, you tell me to mix with mankind;
I cannot deny such a precept is wise;
But retirement accords with the tone of my mind:
I will not descend to a world I despise.


  1. To the Rev. J. T. Becher.—[P. on V. Occasions.]
  2. [The Rev. John Thomas Becher (1770-1848) was Vicar of Rympton and Midsomer Norton, Somers., and made the acquaintance of Byron when in residence at Southwell. To him was submitted an early copy of the Quarto, and on his remonstrance at the tone of some of the verses, the whole edition (save one or two copies) was burnt. Becher assisted in the revision of P. on V. Occasions, published in 1807. He was in 1818 appointed Prebendary of Southwell, and, all his life, took an active interest and prominent part in the administration of the poor laws and the welfare of the poor. (See Byron's letters to him of February 26 and March 28, 1808.)]