The works of Lord Byron A new, revised and enlarged edition, with illustrations. Edited by Ernest Hartley Coleridge and R. E. Prothero |
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ON A CHANGE OF MASTERS AT A GREAT
PUBLIC SCHOOL. |
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| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| 7. |
 | The works of Lord Byron |  |
ON A CHANGE OF MASTERS AT A GREAT PUBLIC SCHOOL.
Where are those honours, Ida! once your own,When Probus fill'd your magisterial throne?
As ancient Rome, fast falling to digrace,
Hail'd a Barbarian in her Cæsar's place,
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And seat Pomposus where your Probus sate.
Of narrow brain, yet of a narrower soul,
Pomposus holds you in his harsh controul;
Pomposus, by no social virtue sway'd,
With florid jargon, and with vain parade;
With noisy nonsense, and new-fangled rules,
(Such as were ne'er before enforc'd in schools.)
Mistaking pedantry for learning's laws,
He governs, sanction'd but by self-applause;
With him the same dire fate, attending Rome,
Ill-fated Ida! soon must stamp your doom:
Like her o'erthrown, for ever lost to fame,
No trace of science left you, but the name.
Harrow, July, 1805.
| The works of Lord Byron | |