No More Learning

[First published, _Nicnac_, March 25, 1823. ]

FOOTNOTES:

[64] ["A short time before Lord Byron quitted England, in 1816, he
addressed these lines to an individual by whom he deemed himself
injured; they are but little known. "--_Nicnac_, March 25, 1823. ]



SONG FOR THE LUDDITES. [65]

1.

AS the Liberty lads o'er the sea
Bought their freedom, and cheaply, with blood,
So we, boys, we
Will _die_ fighting, or _live_ free,
And down with all kings but King Ludd!

2.

When the web that we weave is complete,
And the shuttle exchanged for the sword,
We will fling the winding sheet
O'er the despot at our feet,
And dye it deep in the gore he has poured.

3.

Though black as his heart its hue,
Since his veins are corrupted to mud,
Yet this is the dew
Which the tree shall renew
Of Liberty, planted by Ludd!

December 24, 1816.
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 58. ]

FOOTNOTES:

[65] [The term "Luddites" dates from 1811, and was applied first to
frame-breakers, and then to the disaffected in general. It was derived
from a half-witted lad named Ned Lud, who entered a house in a fit of
passion, and destroyed a couple of stocking-frames.
The song was an
impromptu, enclosed in a letter to Moore of December 24, 1816. "I have
written it principally," he says, "to shock your neighbour [Hodgson? ]
who is all clergy and loyalty--mirth and innocence--milk and water. " See
_Letters_, 1900, iv. 30; and for General Lud and "Luddites," see
_Letters_, 1898, ii. 97, note 1. ]



TO THOMAS MOORE.

What are you doing now,
Oh Thomas Moore?
What are you doing now,
Oh Thomas Moore?
Sighing or suing now,
Rhyming or wooing now,
Billing or cooing now,
Which, Thomas Moore?

But the Carnival's coming,
Oh Thomas Moore!
The Carnival's coming,
Oh Thomas Moore!
Masking and humming,
Fifing and drumming,
Guitarring and strumming,
Oh Thomas Moore!

December 24, 1816.
[First published, _Letters and Journals_, 1830, ii. 58, 59.