Robert Southey was a poet of the English Romantic
school. He is considered one of the renowned Lake Poets, the other two notable
Lake Poets being William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Mr. Southey recorded his thoughts regarding
prize-fighting in 1807.
“When a match is
made between two prize-fighters, the tidings are immediately communicated to
the public in the newspapers; a paragraph occasionally appears saying the
rivals are in training, what exercise they take, what diet—for some of them
feed upon raw beef as a preparative, and the state of the bets appears also in
the newspapers; not infrequently the whole is a concerted scheme, that a few
rogues may cheat a great many fools.”
Aspects of the above remind us that there is nothing
new under the sun.
For a view of Mr. Southey’s versifying I offer the
following. It has nothing to do with combat, but I do love my hound dog.
“On the Death of a Favourite Old Spaniel”
And they have drown'd thee then at last! poor Phillis!
The burthen of old age was heavy on thee.
And yet thou should'st have lived! what tho' thine eye
Was dim, and watch'd no more with eager joy
The wonted call that on thy dull sense sunk
With fruitless repetition, the warm Sun
Would still have cheer'd thy slumber, thou didst love
To lick the hand that fed thee, and tho' past
Youth's active season, even Life itself
Was comfort.
Poor old
friend! most earnestly
Would I have pleaded for thee: thou hadst been
Still the companion of my childish sports,
And, as I roam'd o'er Avon's woody clifts,
From many a day-dream has thy short quick bark
Recall'd my wandering soul.
I have beguil'd
Often the melancholy hours at school,
My Hound & the Missus |
Sour'd by some little tyrant, with the thought
Of distant home, and I remember'd then
Thy faithful fondness: for not mean the joy,
Returning at the pleasant holydays,
I felt from thy dumb welcome.
Pensively
Sometimes have I remark'd thy slow decay,
Feeling myself changed too, and musing much
On many a sad vicissitude of Life!
Ah poor companion! when thou followedst last
Thy master's parting footsteps to the gate
That clos'd for ever on him, thou didst lose
Thy truest friend, and none was left to plead
For the old age of brute fidelity!
But fare thee well! mine is no narrow creed,
And HE who gave thee being did not frame
The mystery of life to be the sport
Of merciless man! there is another world
For all that live and move--a better one!
Where the proud bipeds, who would fain confine
INFINITE GOODNESS to the little bounds
Of their own charity, may envy thee!
For more such observations see this blog, and for pragmatic applications of old school tactics historically accurate and viciously verified see our RAW Subscription Service.]
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