Note 294 — Chapter VIII · “DON JUAN”

Many details of Byron’s satire may be traced to corresponding passages in the works of Moore, whose Fudge Family in Paris (1818) was familiar to him, and whose Fables for the Holy Alliance (1823), many of which were written while the two poets were together in Venice, was dedicated to Byron. Moore denounced Castlereagh as a despot, a bigot, and a time-server, ridiculing him especially for the absurdity of his speeches, which were notorious for their mixed metaphors and poorly chosen phrasing.