Chapter I: Preface: To the Fifth Volume

The plays and poems contained in this volume were written within the space of two years--the last two years of Byron's career as a poet. But that was not all. Cantos VI.-XV. of _Don Juan_, _The Vision of Judgment_, _The Blues_, _The Irish Avatar_, and other minor poems, belong to the same period. The end was near, and, as though he had received a warning, he hastened to make the roll complete.

Proof is impossible, but the impression remains that the greater part of this volume has been passed over and left unread by at least two generations of readers. Old play-goers recall Macready as "Werner," and many persons have read _Cain_; but apart from students of literature, readers of _Sardanapalus_ and of _The Two Foscari_ are rare; of _The Age of Bronze_ and _The Island_ rarer still. A few of Byron's later poems have shared the fate of Southey's epics; and, yet, with something of Southey's persistence, Byron believed that posterity would weigh his "regular dramas" in a fresh balance, and that his heedless critics would kick the beam. But "can these bones live"? Can dramas which excited the wondering admiration of Goethe and Lamartine and Sir Walter Scott touch or lay hold of the more adventurous reader of the present day? It is certain that even the half-forgotten works of a great and still popular poet, which have left their mark on the creative imagination of the poets and playwrights of three quarters of a century, will always be studied by the few from motives of curiosity, or for purposes of reference; but it is improbable, though not impossible, that in the revolution of taste and sentiment, moribund or extinct poetry will be born again into the land of the living. Poetry which has never had its day, such as Blake's _Songs of Innocence_, the _Lyrical Ballads_, or Fitzgerald's _Omar Khayyam_, may come, in due time, to be recognized at its full worth; but it is a harder matter for a poem which has lost its vogue to recapture the interest and enthusiasm of the many.

Byron is only an instance in point. Bygone poetry has little or no attraction for modern readers. This poem or that drama may be referred to, and occasionally examined in the interests of general culture, or in support of a particular belief or line of conduct, as a classical or quasi-scriptural authority; but, with the rarest exceptions, plays and narrative poems are not read spontaneously or with any genuine satisfaction or delight. An old-world poem which will not yield up its secret to the idle _reader_ "of an empty day" is more or less "rudely dismissed," without even a show of favour or hospitality.

And yet these forgotten works of the imagination are full of hidden treasures! There is not one of Byron's "impressionist studies" of striking episodes of history or historical legend, flung, as it were, with a "Take it or leave it" in the face of friend or foe, which does not transform names and shadows into persons and substance, which does not contain lines and passages of unquestionable beauty and distinction.

But some would have it that Byron's plays, as a whole, are dull and uninspiring, monotonous harpings on worn-out themes, which every one has mastered or wishes to forget. A close study of the text, together with some knowledge of the subject as it presented itself to the author and arrested _his_ attention, may compel these impatient critics to a different conclusion. Byron did not scruple to refer the reader to his "sources," and was at pains to publish, in the notes and appendices to his dramas and poems, long extracts from old chronicles, from Plutarch's _Lives_, from French and Italian histories, which he had read himself, and, as he fondly believed, would be read by others, who were willing to submit themselves to his guidance. He expected his readers to take some trouble and to display some intelligence.

Poetry is successful only so far as it is intelligible. To a clear cry an answer comes, but not to a muffled call. The reader who comes within speaking distance of his author can hear him, and to bring the living within speaking distance of the dead, the living must know the facts, and understand the ideas which informed and inspired the dead. Thought and attention are scarcely to be reckoned among necromantic arts, but thought and knowledge "can make these bones live," and stand upon their feet, if they do not leap and sing.

I desire to renew my acknowledgments of the generous assistance of the officials of the British Museum, and, more especially, of Mr. Ernest Wallis Budge, Litt.D., M.A., _Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities_; of Mr. Leonard W. King, M.A., of the same department; and of Mr. George F. Barwick, _Superintendent of the Reading Room_.

To Dr. Garnett, C.B., I am greatly indebted for invaluable hints and suggestions with regard to the interpretation of some obscure passages in _The Age of Bronze_ and other parts of the volume, and for reading the proofs of the "Introduction" and "Note to the Introduction to _Werner_."

I have also to acknowledge the assistance and advice of Mr. W. Hale White, and of my friend Mr. Frank E. Taylor, of Chertsey.

For assistance during the preparation of the volume, and more especially in the revision of proofs, I desire to express my cordial thanks to Mr. John Murray.

ERNEST HARTLEY COLERIDGE.

_December_ 3, 1901.

CONTENTS OF VOL. V

Preface to Vol. V. of the Poems v

SARDANAPALUS: A TRAGEDY.

Introduction to _Sardanapalus_ 3 Dedication 7 Preface 9 _Sardanapalus_ 13

THE TWO FOSCARI: AN HISTORICAL TRAGEDY.

Introduction to _The Two Foscari_ 115 _The Two Foscari_ 121

CAIN: A MYSTERY.

Introduction to _Cain_ 199 Dedication 205 Preface 207 _Cain_ 213

HEAVEN AND EARTH; A MYSTERY.

Introduction to _Heaven and Earth_ 279 _Heaven and Earth_ 285

WERNER; OR, THE INHERITANCE: A TRAGEDY.

Introduction to _Werner_ 325 Note to the Introduction to _Werner_ 329 Dedication 335 Preface 337 _Werner_ 341 _Werner_. [First Draft.] 453

THE DEFORMED TRANSFORMED: A DRAMA.

Introduction to _The Deformed Transformed_ 469 Advertisement 473 _The Deformed Transformed_ 477 Fragment of the Third Part of _The Deformed Transformed_ 531

THE AGE OF BRONZE; OR, CARMEN SECULARE ET ANNUS HAUD MIRABILIS.

Introduction to _The Age of Bronze_ 537 _The Age of Bronze_ 541

THE ISLAND; OR, CHRISTIAN AND HIS COMRADES.

Introduction to _The Island_ 581 Advertisement 585 _The Island_. Canto the First 587 Canto the Second 598 Canto the Third 618 Canto the Fourth 626

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1. LORD BYRON, FROM A PORTRAIT IN OILS BY W. E. WEST,
IN THE POSSESSION OF MR. PERCY KENT _Frontispiece_

2. ASSUR-BANI-PAL, FROM A SLAB IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM To face p. 12

3. THE LION OF S. MARK'S 138

4. GOETHE, FROM A DRAWING BY D. MACLISE, R.A., IN THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM 282

5. GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE, FROM THE MEZZOTINT BY VALENTINE GREEN, AFTER SIR J. REYNOLDS, P.R.A. 330

6. MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT SHELLEY, FROM A PICTURE BY R. ROTHWELL, R.H.A., IN THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY (1841) 474

SARDANAPALUS

A TRAGEDY.

[_Sardanapale, Tragedie Imitee de Lord Byron_, par L. Alvin, was performed at the Theatre Royal at Brussels, January 13, 16, 1834.

_Sardanapalus_, a Tragedy, was played for the first time at Drury Lane Theatre, April 10, 1834, and (for the twenty-second time) June 5, 1834. Macready appeared as "Sardanapalus," Miss Phillips as "Zarina," and Miss Ellen Tree as "Myrrha." [In his diary for April 11, 1834 (see _Reminiscences_, 1875, i. 414, 415) Macready wrote, "On arriving at my chambers ... I found a letter without a signature; the seal was the head of Byron, and in the envelope was a folded sheet with merely the words, 'Werner, Nov., 1830. Byron, Ravenna, 1821,' and 'Sardanapalus, April 10th, 1834.' Encircling the name of Byron, etc., was a lock of grey hair fastened by a gold thread, which I am sure was Byron's, ... it surprised and pleased me."]

_Sardanapalus, King of Assyria_, was produced at the Princess's Theatre, June 13, 1853, and played till September 2, 1853. Charles Kean appeared as "Sardanapalus," Miss Heath as "Zarina," and Mrs. Charles Kean as "Myrrha."

_Sardanapale, Opera en Trois Actes_, par M. Henry Becque, Musique de M. Victorin Joncieres, was performed for the first time at the Theatre Imperial-Lyrique, February 8, 1867.

_Lord Byron's Tragedy of Sardanapalus_, in four acts, was performed at the Theatre Royal, Manchester, March 31-April 28, 1877. Charles Calvert (the adapter) played "Sardanapalus," Miss Hathaway "Zarina," and Miss Fanny Ensor "Myrrha;" and June 26-July 27, 1877, at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Liverpool. Calvert's adaptation was also performed at Booth's Theatre, New York.]