The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero)/Poetry/Volume 7/Epigram (4)

by George Gordon Byron

For works with similar titles, see Epigram and Epigram (Byron).

EPIGRAM.

ON THE BRAZIERS' ADDRESS TO BE PRESENTED IN ARMOUR BY THE COMPANY TO QUEEN CAROLINE.^[1]

It seems that the Braziers propose soon to pass
An Address and to bear it themselves all in brass;
A superfluous pageant, for by the Lord Harry!
They'll find, where they're going, much more than they carry.

Or—

The Braziers, it seems, are determined to pass
An Address, and present it themselves all in brass;—

A superfluous

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pageant trouble

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for, by the Lord Harry!

They'll find, where they're going, much more than they carry.

January 6, 1821.
[First published, Letters and Journals, 1830, ii. 442.]

1. [The allusion is explained in Rivington's Annual Register, October 30, 1820 (vol. lxii. pp. 114, 115)—

   "ADDRESSES TO THE QUEEN.

   "... The most splendid exhibition of the day was that of the brass-founders and braziers. The procession was headed by a man dressed in a suit of burnished plate armour of brass, and mounted on a handsome black horse, the reins being held by pages ... wearing brass helmets.... A man in a complete suite of brass armour ... was followed by two persons, bearing on a cushion a most magnificent imitation of the imperial Crown of England. A small number of the deputation of brass-founders were admitted to the presence of her Majesty, and one of the persons in armour advanced to the throne, and bending on one knee, presented the address, which was enclosed in a brass case of excellent workmanship."—See Letters, 1901, v. 219, 220, note 2.

   In a postscript to a letter to Murray, dated January 19, 1821, he writes, "I sent you a line or two on the Braziers' Company last week, not for publication. The lines were even worthy

   'Of ——dsworth the great metaquizzical poet,
   A man of great merit amongst those who know it,
   Of whose works, as I told Moore last autumn at Mestri
   I owe all I know to my passion for Pastry.'"

   He adds, in a footnote, "Mestri and Fusina are the ferry trajects to Venice: I believe, however, that it was at Fusina that Moore and I embarked in 1819, when Thomas came to Venice, like Coleridge's Spring, 'slowly up this way.'"

   Again, in a letter to Moore, dated January 22, 1821, he encloses slightly different versions of both epigrams, and it is worth noting that the first line of the pendant epigram has been bowdlerized, and runs thus—

   "Of Wordsworth the grand metaquizzical poet."

   —Letters, 1901, v. 226, 230.]