***
Why do you say that I dislike your poesy [1]? I have expressed no such
opinion, either in _print_ or elsewhere. In scribbling myself, it was
necessary for me to find fault, and I fixed upon the trite charge of
immorality, because I could discover no other, and was so perfectly
qualified in the innocence of my heart, to "pluck that mote from my
neighbour's eye."
I feel very, very much obliged by your approbation; but, at _this
moment_, praise, even _your_ praise, passes by me like "the idle wind."
I meant and mean to send you a copy the moment of publication; but now I
can think of nothing but damned, deceitful,--delightful woman, as Mr.
Liston says in the 'Knight of Snowdon' [2]? Believe me, my dear Moore,
Ever yours, most affectionately, BYRON.
[Footnote: 1. Of Moore's early poems Byron was an admirer. The influence
of "Little" and "Anacreon" is strongly marked throughout 'Hours of
Idleness'. For the "trite charge of immorality," see 'English Bards,
etc.', lines 283-294; and 'Letters', vol. i. p. 113. Byron's opinion of
Moore's later poetry was thus stated by him to Lady Blessington
('Conversations', pp. 354, 355):
"Having compared Rogers's poems to a flower-garden, to what shall I
compare Moore's?--to the Valley of Diamonds, where all is brilliant
and attractive, but where one is so dazzled by the sparkling on every
side that one knows not where to fix, each gem beautiful in itself,
but overpowering to the eye from their quantity.
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