CLXXXIII. None can say that this was not good advice, A sort of income-tax laid on by fate : Who threaten'd death-so Juan knock'd him down. CLXXXIV. Dire was the scuffle, and out went the light; Swore lustily he 'd be revenged this night : And Juan, too, blasphemed an octave higher. His blood was up; though young, he was a Tartar, And not at all disposed to prove a martyr. CLXXXV. Alfonso's sword had dropp'd ere he could draw it, His temper not being under great command, CLXXXVI. Alfonso grappled to detain the foe, And Juan throttled him to get away, And blood ('t was from the nose) began to flow; And then his only garment quite gave way; CLXXXVII. Lights came at length, and men and maids, who found An awkward spectacle their eyes before: Antonia in hysterics, Julia swoon'd, Alfonso leaning, breathless, by the door; Some half-torn drapery scatter'd on the ground, Some blood, and several foosteps, but no more : Juan the gate gain'd, turn'd the key about, CLXXXVIII. Here ends this canto.-Need I sing or say, way, And reach'd his home in an unseemly plight? The pleasant scandal which arose next day, The nine days' wonder which was brought to light, And how Alfonso sued for a divorce, Were in the English newspapers, of course. CLXXXIX. If you would like to see the whole proceedings, There's more than one edition, and the readings CXC. But Donna Inez, to divert the train Of one of the most circulating scandals That had for centuries been known in Spain, At least since the retirement of the Vandals, First vow'd (and never had she vow'd in vain) To Virgin Mary several pounds of candles And then, by the advice of some old ladies, She sent her son to be shipp'd off from Cadiz. CXCI. She had resolved that he should travel through (At least this is the thing most people do). Julia was sent into a convent; she.. Grieved, but, perhaps, her feelings may be better CXCII. They tell me 't is decided, you depart : CXCIII. "I loved, I love you; for this love have lost So dear is still the memory of that dream; CXCIV. "Man's love is of man's life a thing apart, "T is woman's whole existence; man may range And few there are whom these cannot estrange; CXCV. "You will proceed in pleasure and in pride, The passion, which still rages as before; CXCVI. "My breast has been all weakness, is so yet; To all, except one image, madly blind: CXCVII. "I have no more to say, but linger still, And dare not set my seal upon this sheet, And yet I may as well the task fulfil, My misery can scarce be more complete : I had not lived till now, could sorrow kill; Death shuns the wretch who fain the blow would meet, And I must even survive this last adieu, And bear with life, to love and pray for you!" CXCVIII This note was written upon gilt-edged paper, And yet she did not let one tear escape her; The seal a sun-flower; " Elle vous suit partout," The motto cut upon a white cornelian, The wax was superfine, its hue vermilion. CXCIX. This was Don Juan's earliest scrape; but whether Dependent on the public altogether: We 'll see, however, what they say to this (Their favour in an author's cap 's a feather, And no great mischief 's done by their caprice); And, if their approbation we experience, Perhaps they 'll have some more about a year hence. My poem CC. 's epic, and is meant to be Divided in twelve books; each book containing, With love, and war, a heavy gale at sea, A list of ships, and captains, and kings reigning, New characters; the episodes are three : A panorama view of hell 's in training, After the style of Virgil and of Homer, So that my name of epic 's no misnomer. CCI. All these things will be specified in time, The vade mecum of the true sublime, Which makes so many poets, and some fools. Prose poets like blank verse-I 'm fond of rhymeGood workmen never quarrel with their tools; I've got new mythological machinery, And very handsome supernatural scenery. CCII. There's only one slight difference between They so embellish, that 't is quite a bore CCIII. If any person doubt it, I appeal To history, tradition, and to facts, To newspapers, whose truth all know and feel, If ever I should condescend to prose, I'll write poetical commandments, which Shall supersede beyond all doubt all those That went before; in these I shall enrich My text with many things that no one knows, And carry precept to the highest pitch: I'll call the work " Longinus o'er a Bottle, Or, Every poet his own Aristotle." CCV. Thou shalt believe in Milton, Dryden, Pope : Thou shalt not set up Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey ;. Because the first is crazed beyond all hope, The second drunk, the third so quaint and mouthey: With Crabbe it may be difficult to cope, And Campbell's Hippocrene is somewhat drouthy: Thou shalt not steal from Samuel Rogers, nor CCVI. Thou shalt not covet Mr. Sotheby's Muse, CCVII. If any person should presume to assert (But, doubtless, nobody will be so pert) That this is not a moral tale, though gay; Besides, in canto twelfth, I mean to show The very place where wicked people go. |