The Works of Lord Byron, Vol. 1 (To E--)

Lyrics

To E—-[1]         Let Folly smile, to view the names         Of thee and me, in Friendship twin'd;         Yet Virtue will have greater claims         To love, than rank with vice combin'd.         And though unequal is thy fate,         Since title deck'd my higher birth;         Yet envy not this gaudy state,         Thine is the pride of modest worth.         Our souls at least congenial meet,         Nor can thy lot my rank disgrace;         Our intercourse is not less sweet,         Since worth of rank supplies the place.         November, 1802. [Footnote 1: E—-was, according to Moore, a boy of Byron's own age, the son of one of the tenants at Newstead.]