ed him, that to aim at tracing
through his stories these links with his own fate and fortunes, which
were, after all, perhaps, visible but to his own fancy, would be a task
as uncertain as unsafe;--and this remark applies not only to The Bride
of Abydos, but to The Corsair, Lara, and all the other beautiful
fictions that followed, in which, though the emotions expressed by the
poet may be, in general, regarded as vivid recollections of what had at
different times agitated his own bosom, there are but little
grounds,--however he might himself, occasionally, encourage such a
supposition,--for connecting him personally with the groundwork or
incidents of the stories.

While yet uncertain about the fate of his own new poem, the following
observations on the work of an ingenious follower in the same track were
written.

LETTER 143. TO MR. MURRAY.

"Dec. 4. 1813.

"I have redde through your Persian Tales[105], and have taken the
liberty of making some remarks on the _blank_ pages. There are many
beautiful passages, and an interesting story; and I cannot give you
a stronger proof that such is my opinion, than by the _date_ of the
_hour_--_two o'clock_, till which it has kept me awake _without a
yawn_. The conclusion is not quite correct in _costume_; there is
no _Mussulman suicide_ on record--at least for _love_. But this
matters not. The tale must have been written by some one who has
been on the spot, and I wish him, and he deserves, success. Will
you apologise to the author for the liberties I have taken with his
MS.? Had I been less awake to, and interested in, his theme, I had
been less obtrusive; but you know _I_ always take this in good
part, and I hope he will. It is difficult to say what _will_
succeed, and still more to pronounce what _will not_. _I_ am at
this moment in _that uncertainty_ (on our _own_ score); and it is
no small proof of the author's powers to be able to _charm_ and
_fix_ a _mind_'s attention on similar subjects and climates in such
a predicament. That he may have the same effect upon all his
readers is very sincerely the wish, and hardly the _doubt_, of
yours truly, B."

[Footnote 105: Poems by Mr. Gally Knight, of which Mr. Murray had
transmitted the MS. to Lord Byron, without, however, communicating the
name of the author.]

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To The Bride of A