The Complete Works of Lord Byron (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1835 edition. Excerpt: ...days a class of persons holding the same place in Cttrirendotn, and more especially in Italy, which their brothers still maintain all over the East, ----Fosculo thus procecds: " The customary forms of the narrative all flnd a place in romantic poctry: such are the scntcntious reflections suggested by the matters which he has just related, or arising in anticipation of those which bc is about to relate, and which the story-tcller always opens when he resumes his recitations; his defence of his own merits against the attacks of rivals in trade; and his formal leavetaking when he parts from his audience, and invites them to meet him again on the morrow. Tins method of winding up each portion of the poem is a favourite among the romantic poets; who constantly finish their cantos with a distich, of which the words may vary, but the sense is uniform. ' All altro canto vc faro sentire, Se all altro canto mi vcrretc a udirc.'--.ntos'ro. _ Dr at the end of another canto, according to Harrington's translation, --' I now cut off abruptly here my rhytnc. And keep my tale unto another time. The forms and materials of these popular stories wcrc adopted by writers of a superior class, who considered the vulgar titles of their predecessors as blocks of marble finely tinted and variegated by the hand of nature. but which might afford a master-piece. when tastefully workcd and polished. The romantic poets treated the traditionary fictions just as Dante did the legends invented by the monks to maintain their mastery over weak minds. Ilc formed them into a poem, which became the admiration of every age and nation = but Dante and Pctrarca were poets, who, though universally celebrated, were not universally understood. The teamed found...