in the
possession
of Mr.
Byron
.
.
he always kept the
sword . . . in his bed-chamber, where it still was when he
died. "--_Ibid. _, p. 445. ]
[585] [Ralph de Burun held Horestan Castle and other manors from the
Conqueror. Byron's mother was descended from James I. of Scotland. ]
[586] {544}[See _The Dream_, line 127, _et passim_, _vide ante_, p. 31,
_et sq. _]
[587] [From an autograph MS.
in the possession of Mr. Murray, now for
the first time printed. ]
[588] {545} [There has been some misunderstanding with regard to this
poem. According to the statement of the Countess Guiccioli (see _Works
of Lord Byron_, ed. 1832, xii. 14), "Stanzas to the Po" were composed
about the middle of April, 1819, "while Lord Byron was actually sailing
on the Po," _en route_ from Venice to Ravenna. Medwin, who was the first
to publish the lines (_Conversations, etc. _, 1824, 410, pp. 24-26), says
that they were written when Byron was about to "quit Venice to join" the
Countess at Ravenna, and, in a footnote, explains that the river
referred to is the Po. Now, if the Countess and Medwin (and Moore, who
follows Medwin, _Life_, p. 396) are right, and the river is the Po, the
"ancient walls" Ravenna, and the "Lady of the land" the Guiccioli, the
stanzas may have been written in June (not April), 1819, possibly at
Ferrara, and the river must be the Po di Primaro. Even so, the first
line of the first stanza and the third and fourth lines of the ninth
stanza require explanation. The Po does not "roll by the ancient walls"
of Ravenna; and how could Byron be at one and the same time "by the
source" (stanza 9, line 4), and sailing on the river, or on some
canalized tributary or effluent? Be the explanation what it may--and it
is possible that the lines were _not_ originally designed for the
Countess, but for another "Lady of the land" (see letter to Murray, May
18, 1819)--it may be surmised that "the lines written last year on
crossing the Po," the "mere verses of society," which were given to
Kinnaird (see letter to Murray, May 8, 1820, and _Conversations of Lord
Byron with Lady Blessington_, 1834, p. 143), were not the sombre though
passionate elegy, "River, that rollest," but the bitter and somewhat
cynical rhymes, "Could Love for ever, Run like a river" (_vide post_, p.
549).
sword . . . in his bed-chamber, where it still was when he
died. "--_Ibid. _, p. 445. ]
[585] [Ralph de Burun held Horestan Castle and other manors from the
Conqueror. Byron's mother was descended from James I. of Scotland. ]
[586] {544}[See _The Dream_, line 127, _et passim_, _vide ante_, p. 31,
_et sq. _]
[587] [From an autograph MS.
in the possession of Mr. Murray, now for
the first time printed. ]
[588] {545} [There has been some misunderstanding with regard to this
poem. According to the statement of the Countess Guiccioli (see _Works
of Lord Byron_, ed. 1832, xii. 14), "Stanzas to the Po" were composed
about the middle of April, 1819, "while Lord Byron was actually sailing
on the Po," _en route_ from Venice to Ravenna. Medwin, who was the first
to publish the lines (_Conversations, etc. _, 1824, 410, pp. 24-26), says
that they were written when Byron was about to "quit Venice to join" the
Countess at Ravenna, and, in a footnote, explains that the river
referred to is the Po. Now, if the Countess and Medwin (and Moore, who
follows Medwin, _Life_, p. 396) are right, and the river is the Po, the
"ancient walls" Ravenna, and the "Lady of the land" the Guiccioli, the
stanzas may have been written in June (not April), 1819, possibly at
Ferrara, and the river must be the Po di Primaro. Even so, the first
line of the first stanza and the third and fourth lines of the ninth
stanza require explanation. The Po does not "roll by the ancient walls"
of Ravenna; and how could Byron be at one and the same time "by the
source" (stanza 9, line 4), and sailing on the river, or on some
canalized tributary or effluent? Be the explanation what it may--and it
is possible that the lines were _not_ originally designed for the
Countess, but for another "Lady of the land" (see letter to Murray, May
18, 1819)--it may be surmised that "the lines written last year on
crossing the Po," the "mere verses of society," which were given to
Kinnaird (see letter to Murray, May 8, 1820, and _Conversations of Lord
Byron with Lady Blessington_, 1834, p. 143), were not the sombre though
passionate elegy, "River, that rollest," but the bitter and somewhat
cynical rhymes, "Could Love for ever, Run like a river" (_vide post_, p.
549).
