And, too unjust to other Pictish men,
Enjoys thy person, and inspires thy pen!
Illustrious Holland! hard would be his lot,540
His hirelings mentioned, and himself forgot![1]
Holland, with Henry Petty[2] at his back,
The whipper-in and huntsman of the pack.
Blest be the banquets spread at Holland House,
Where Scotchmen feed, and Critics may carouse!
Long, long beneath that hospitable roof[3]
Shall Grub-street dine, while duns are kept aloof.
See honest Hallam[4] lay aside his fork,
Resume his pen, review his Lordship's work,
And, grateful for the dainties on his plate,[5]550
- ↑ "Bad enough, and on mistaken grounds too."—B., 1816. [The comment applies to the whole passage on Lord Holland.]
[Henry Richard Vassall, third Lord Holland (1773-1840), to whom Byron dedicated the Bride of Abydos (1813). His Life of Lope de Vega (see note 4) was published in 1806, and Three Comedies from the Spanish, in 1807.]
- ↑ [Henry Petty (1780-1863) succeeded his brother as third Marquis of Lansdowne in 1809. He was a regular attendant at the social and political gatherings of his relative, Lord Holland; and as Holland House was regarded as one of the main rallying-points of the Whig party and of the Edinburgh Reviewers, the words, "whipper-in and huntsman," probably refer to their exertions in this respect.]
- ↑ Lo! long beneath——.—[British Bards.]
- ↑ [See note 1, p. 337.]
- ↑ And grateful to the founder of the feast
Declare his landlord can translate at least.—
[MS. British Bards. First to Fourth Editions.] - ↑ Lord Holland has translated some specimens of Lope
