Letters and Journals of Lord Byron
Lord Byron to Thomas Moore, 4 May 1814
“Last night we supp’d at R—fe’s board,
&c.*
* * * * * *
“I wish people would not shirk their dinners—ought it not to have been a dinner†?—and that d—d anchovy
sandwich!
“That plaguy voice of yours made me sentimental, and almost
fall in love with a girl who was recommending herself, during your song, by hating music. But the song is past, and my passion can wait, till
the pucelle is more harmonious.
“Do you go to Lady
Jersey’s to-night? It is a large party, and
performance but his answer was (punning upon
Shakspeare’s word,
“unanealed,”) “No—I’m resolved to continue un-Oneiled.” To the great queen of all actresses, however, it will be seen,
by the following extract from one of his Journals, he rendered due justice. “Of actors, Cooke was the most natural, Kemble the most supernatural,—Kean the medium between the two. But Mrs. Siddons was worth them all put together.”—Detached Thoughts.
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* An epigram here followed which, as founded on a scriptural
allusion, I thought it better to omit. |
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† We had been invited by Lord
R. to dine after the play,—an arrangement
which, from its novelty, delighted Lord Byron exceedingly.
The dinner, however, afterwards dwindled into a mere supper, and this change was
long a subject of jocular resentment with him. |
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| 554 | NOTICES OF THE | A. D. 1814. |
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you won’t be bored into ‘softening
rocks,’ and all that. Othello
is to-morrow and Saturday too. Which day shall we go? when shall I see you? If you call,
let it be after three and as near four as you please. Ever, &c.”
George Frederick Cooke (1756-1812)
Shakespearean actor in London and the United States; his journals became the basis for
the biography by the American playwright William Dunlop (1766-1839).
Edmund Kean (1787-1833)
English tragic actor famous for his Shakespearean roles.
John Philip Kemble (1757-1823)
English actor renowned for his Shakespearean roles; he was manager of Drury Lane
(1783-1802) and Covent Garden (1803-1808).
Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
Irish poet and biographer, author of the
Irish Melodies (1807-34),
The Fudge Family in Paris (1818), and
Lalla
Rookh (1817); he was Byron's close friend and designated biographer.
George Augustus Parkyns, second baron Rancliffe (1785-1850)
He succeeded his father Thomas Parkyns MP in the title in 1800 and married in 1807
Elizabeth Maria Theresa Forbes (1787 c.-1852), daughter of Sir George Forbes, sixth Earl of
Granard.
Sarah Siddons [née Kemble] (1755-1831)
English tragic actress, sister of John Philip Kemble, famous roles as Desdemona, Lady
Macbeth, and Ophelia. She retired from the stage in 1812.
