George Gordon Byron, English Bards, And Scotch Reviewers

Mary O'Connell (University College Cork)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1809

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)
Satire

Resources

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English Bards and Scotch Reviewers

is Byron's first major work after his volume of juvenilia

Hours of Idleness

. It is a satire (just over a thousand lines long) written in heroic couplets and largely in imitation of Alexander Pope. Byron would later admit he did not have the “cunning” for this form. The foundation for

English Bards

was a poem called

British Bards

, written by Byron in October 1807. By December 1807 it was over 400 lines long and was initially intended to be a satire on contemporary poetry and a lament for the lost models of the neoclassical era. Byron expanded the poem following the publication of a particularly venomous critique of

Hours of Idleness

in the influential Scottish journal, the

Edinburgh Review

in February 1808. Byron thought the review had been…

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1565 words

Citation: O'Connell, Mary. "English Bards, And Scotch Reviewers". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 April 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16884, accessed 04 May 2024.]

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