Cantos IV to VII 


IV 
Nelson was once Britannia's god of War, 
And still should be so, but the tide is turn'd; 
There's no more to be said of Trafalgar, 
'Tis with our hero quietly inurn'd; 
Because the army's grown more popular, 
At which the naval people are concern'd; 
Besides, the Prince is all for the land-service, 
Forgetting Duncan, Nelson, Howe, and Jervis. 

V 
Brave men were living before Agamemnon 
And since, exceeding valorous and sage, 
A good deal like him too, though quite the same none; 
But then they shone not on the poet's page, 
And so have been forgotten: I condemn none, 
But can't find any in the present age 
Fit for my poem (that is, for my new one); 
So, as I said, I'll take my friend Don Juan. 

VI 
Most epic poets plunge "in medias res" 
(Horace makes this the heroic turnpike road), 
And then your hero tells, whene'er you please, 
What went before--by way of episode, 
While seated after dinner at his ease, 
Beside his mistress in some soft abode, 
Palace, or garden, paradise, or cavern, 
Which serves the happy couple for a tavern. 

VII 
That is the usual method, but not mine-- 
My way is to begin with the beginning; 
The regularity of my design 
Forbids all wandering as the worst of sinning, 
And therefore I shall open with a line 
(Although it cost me half an hour in spinning), 
Narrating somewhat of Don Juan's father, 
And also of his mother, if you'd rather.