The Bride of Abydos
The Bride of Abydos
The Bride of Abydos
The Bride is a curious narrative in that it is dominated by a single speech – that of Selim, which goes from
line 633 to line 972, that is, takes up 339 lines in a poem 1204 lines long – over a quarter of the work’s
length. The statistic emphasises both the hero’s wordiness, and the paucity of action in the story. When
the action comes, it is over quickly, and it comes as no surprise, given Selim’s predilection for rhetoric
over action, that he is soon dead. It is not clear that this is an effect at which Byron aims. Faulty
craftsmanship may be to blame – though the long speech followed by the quick extinction may be a
metaphor for Byron’s own political career in the House of Lords.
TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
LORD HOLLAND,
THIS TALE IS INSCRIBED,
WITH EVERY SENTIMENT OF REGARD AND RESPECT,
BY HIS GRATEFULLY OBLIGED AND SINCERE FRIEND,
BYRON.
† “Souls made of fire, and children of the Sun, / With whom revenge is virtue.” – YOUNG’S “REVENGE.”
2.
2: B.’s first line echoes the first line of Goethe’s Kennst du das Land wo die citronen blühn? B. had no German, but the line is
quoted in Madame de Staël’s Corinne (1807), II iii: Connaissez-vous cette terre où les orangers fleurissent, que les rayons des
cieux fécondent avec amour?
3
Old Giaffir sate in his Divan,
Deep thought was in his aged eye; 25
And though the face of Mussulman
Not oft betrays to standers by
The mind within, well skilled to hide
All but unconquerable pride,
His pensive cheek and pondering brow 30
Did more than he was wont avow.
3.
* Mejnoun and Leila, the Romeo and Juliet of the East.3 Sadi, the moral poet of Persia.4
4.
5.
3: In the Persian myth, Mejnoun loved his cousin Leila, and she him; but her father forbade the match, and forced her to marry
another man. Mejnoun went mad, but she remained constant in her love for him. They were buried together. See Vathek: These
personages are esteemed among the Arabians as the most beautiful, chaste, and impassioned of lovers; and their amours have
been celebrated with all the charms of verse in every Oriental language. The Mahometans regard them, and the poetical records
of their love, in the same light as the Bridegroom and Spouse, and the Song of Songs are regarded by the Jews (1786 p.294:
Lonsdale p.147 / 65n1).
4: Sadi (1213-92) Persian author of the Ghulistan, which contains the story of Mejnoun and Leila. See Vathek p.147 / 65n1.
5: For the contempt of the old man for the younger, compare Parisina, 227-8.
5
Son of a slave! – and who my sire?”
Thus held his thoughts their dark career,
And glances even of more than ire
Flash forth – then faintly disappear.
Old Giaffir gazed upon his son 115
And started – for within his eye
He read how much his wrath had done,
He saw rebellion there begun –
“Come hither, boy – what, no reply?
I mark thee – and I know thee too; 120
But there be deeds thou dar’st not do:
But if thy beard had manlier length,
And if thy hand had skill and strength,
I’d joy to see thee break a lance,
Albeit against my own perchance.” 125
* The Turks abhor the Arabs (who return the compliment a hundred-fold) even more than they hate the
Christians.
6: See Vathek ed. Lonsdale, p.125 3 / n1 (quoted elsewhere on this website at Giaour 486n).
6
6.
* This expression has met with objections. I will not refer to “Him who hath not Music in his soul,” but
merely request the reader to recollect, for ten seconds, the features of the woman whom he believes to be
the most beautiful; and if he then does not comprehend fully what is feebly expressed in the above line, I
shall be sorry for us both. For an eloquent passage in the latest work of the first female writer of this,
perhaps of any age, on the analogy (and the immediate comparison excited by that analogy) between
“painting and music,” see vol. iii. cap. 10, “De L’Allemagne.”8 And is not this connexion still stronger
with the original than the copy? with the colouring of Nature than of Art? After all, this is rather to be felt
than described; still, I think there are some who will understand it, at least they would have done had they
beheld the countenance whose speaking harmony suggested the idea; for this passage is not drawn from
imagination but memory, that mirror which Affliction dashes to the earth, and looking down upon the
fragments, only beholds the reflection multiplied.
7: The Koran does not hold that Eve was the first person responsible for the Fall, and in fact never mentions her; both she and
Adam fell together.
8: Madame de Staël’s de l’Allemagne had been published by Murray earlier in 1813.
7
7.
* Carasman Oglou, or Kara Osman Oglou, is the principle landholder in Turkey; he governs Magnesia.
Those who, by a kind of feudal tenure, possess land on condition of service, are called Timariots; they
serve as Spahis, according to the extent of territory, and bring a certain number into the field, generally
cavalry.
† When a Pacha is sufficiently strong to resist, the single messenger, who is always the first bearer of the
order for his death, is strangled instead, and sometimes five or six, one after the other, on the same errand,
by command of the refractory patient; if, on the contrary, he is weak or loyal, he bows, kisses the Sultan’s
respectable signature, and is bowstrung with great complacency. In 1810, several of “these presents” were
exhibited in the niche of the Seraglio gate:10 among others, the head of the Pacha of Bagdad, a brave
young man, cut off by treachery, after a desperate resistance.
8.
9: This implies that the dowry will make her more valuable; but in Islam the dowry is the bride’s property alone.
10: B. visited the Seraglio in Constantinople in 1810; he saw the severed heads on Monday May 21st.
8
So sweet the blush of Bashfulness,
Even Pity scarce can wish it less!
* Clapping of the hands calls the servants.11 The Turks hate a superfluous expenditure of voice, and they
have no bells.
† “Chibouque,” the Turkish pipe, of which the amber mouth-piece, and sometimes the ball which contains
the leaf, is adorned with precious stones, if in possession of the wealthier orders.
§ “Delhis,” bravoes who form the forlorn-hope of the cavalry, and always begin the action.12
9.
* A twisted fold of felt is used for scimitar practice by the Turks, and few but Mussulman arms can cut
through it at a single stroke: sometimes a tough turban is used for the same purpose. The jerreed is a game
of blunt javelins, animated and graceful.
† “Ollahs,” Alla il Allah, the “Leilles,” as the Spanish poets call them; the sound is Ollah; a cry of which
the Turks, for a silent people, are somewhat profuse, particularly during the jerreed, or in the chase, but
mostly in battle. Their animation in the field, and gravity in the chamber, with their pipes and comboloios,
form an amusing contrast.
11: See Vathek: This was the ordinary method in the East of calling the attendants in waiting (1786 p.308: Lonsdale p.150 / 71n5.
12: Compare CHP II, song, tenth stanza; Siege, 190-1, or Don Juan VII, 62, 2.
9
10.
† The ceiling and wainscots, or rather walls, of the Mussulman apartments are generally painted, in great
houses, with one eternal and highly-coloured view of Constantinople, wherein the principle feature is a
noble contempt of perspective; below, arms, scimitars, &c., are generally fancifully and not inelegantly
disposed.
‡ It has been much doubted whether the notes of this “Lover of the rose” are sad or merry; and Mr Fox’s
remarks on the subject have provoked some learned controversy as to the opinions of the ancients on the
10
subject. I dare not venture a conjecture on the point, though a little inclined to the “errare mallem,” &c.,
if Mr Fox was mistaken.13
11.
12.
13: The Whig politician Charles James Fox said in a letter that of all English poets, Chaucer was fondest of the nightingale;
others disagreed.
14: In Islam, women have the same access to holy shrines as men. The Ka’aba is the only location where strangers of opposite
sexes may touch, and where men and women pray together.
15: See Vathek: The name of this exterminating angel is Azrael, and his office is to conduct the dead to the abode assigned them;
which is said by some to be near the place of their interment (1786 p.313: Lonsdale p.151 / 79n1).
11
When it rushes revealed
In the light of its billows, – 335
As the bolt bursts on high
From the black cloud that bound it –
Flashed the soul of that eye
Through the long lashes round it.
A war-horse at the trumpet’s sound, 340
A lion roused by heedless hound;
A tyrant waked to sudden strife
By graze of ill-directed knife,
Starts not to more convulsive life
Than he, who heard that vow, displayed, 345
And all, before repressed, betrayed.
“Now thou art mine, for ever mine,
With life to keep, and scarce with life resign; –
Now thou art mine, that sacred oath,
Though sworn by one, hath bound us both. 350
Yes, fondly, wisely hast thou done,
That vow hath saved more heads than one: –
But blench not thou – thy simplest tress
Claims more from me than tenderness;
I would not wrong the slenderest hair 355
That clusters round thy forehead fair,
For all the treasures buried far
Within the caves of Istakar. *
This morning clouds upon me lowered,
Reproaches on my head were showered, 360
And Giaffir almost called me coward!
Now I have motive to be brave,
The son of his neglected slave:
Nay, start not, – ’twas the term he gave –
May shew, though little apt to vaunt, 365
A heart his words nor deeds can daunt.
His son, indeed! – yet, thanks to thee,
Perchance I am, at least shall be!
But let our plighted secret vow
Be only known to us as now. 370
I know the wretch who dares demand
From Giaffir thy reluctant hand;
More ill-got wealth, a meaner soul
Holds not a Musselim’s controul; †
Was he not bred in Egripo? ‡ 375
A viler race let Israel show!
But let that pass – to none be told
Our oath – the rest let time unfold;
To me and mine leave Osman Bey,
I’ve partizans for peril’s day; 380
Think not I am what I appear,
I’ve arms, and friends, and vengeance near.”
16: For the pre-Adamite Sultans, See Vathek: These monarchs, which were seventy-two in number, are said to have governed
each a distinct species of rational Beings, prior to the existence of Adam ... (1786 p.232: Lonsdale p.131 / 36n3). For Istakar, see
also Vathek: This city was the ancient Persepolis, and capital of Persia … The origin of this city is ascribed by some to
12
† “Musselim,” a governor, the next in rank after a Pacha; a Waywode is the third; and then come the
Agas.
‡ “Egripo” – the Negropont. According to the proverb, the Turks of Egrip, the Jews of Salonica, and the
Greeks of Athens are the worst of their respective races.17
13.
Giamschid, and others carry it higher; but the Persian tradition is, that it was built by the Peris, or Faeries, when the world was
governed by Gian Ben Gian (1786 pp.230-1: Lonsdale p.155 / 106n2).
17: Hobhouse had travelled to Egripo (Negroponte, modern Chalcis) on February 8th 1810, without B.; and had not enjoyed his
reception by the Turks there.
13
These cherished thoughts with life begun, 425
Say, why must I no more avow?
What change is wrought to make me shun
The truth – my pride – and thine till now?
To meet the gaze of strangers’ eyes
Our law, our creed, our God denies, 430
Nor shall one wandering thought of mine
At such, our Prophet’s will, repine;
No – happier made by that decree,
He left me all in leaving thee.
Deep were my anguish, thus compelled 435
To wed with one I ne’er beheld –
This – wherefore should I not reveal?
Why wilt thou urge me to conceal?
I know the Pacha’s haughty mood
To thee hath never boded good; 440
And he so often storms at nought,
Alla! forbid that e’er he ought!
And why I know not, but within
My heart concealment weighs like sin.
If then such secrecy be crime, 445
And such it feels while lurking here,
Oh, Selim! tell me yet in time,
Nor leave me thus to thoughts of fear.
Ah! yonder see the Tchocadar, *
My father leaves the mimic war; 450
I tremble now to meet his eye –
Say, Selim, canst thou tell me why?”
14.
END OF CANTO I.
18: But see Vathek: It was the office of Shaban, as Chief Eunuch, to keep the key of the Ladies’ apartment (1786, pp.308-9:
Lonsdale omits).
19: See Gulnare’s words at The Corsair, 1639; but compare also Cain, II, i 88: I seem that which I am.
15
CANTO THE SECOND.
1.
2.
3.
* The wrangling about this epithet, “the broad Hellespont,” or the “boundless Hellespont,” whether it
means one or the other, or what it means at all, has been beyond all possibility of detail. I have even heard
it disputed on the spot; and not foreseeing a speedy conclusion to the controversy, amused myself by
4.
* Before his Persian invasion, and crowned the altar with laurel, &c. He was afterwards imitated by
Caracalla26 in his race. It is believed that the last also poisoned a friend, named Festus, for the sake of new
Patroclan games. I have seen the sheep feeding on the tombs of Æyietes and Antilochus:27 the first is in
the centre of the plain.
5.
22: B. swam the Hellespont on May 3rd 1810. See Don Juan II, 105, 6-8, and B.’s note.
23: απείρος (apeiros) is Homer’s favourite word to describe the Hellespont.
24: Achilles.
25: Ammon’s son is Alexander the Great.
26: Caracalla (176-217) tyrannous Roman emperor. Assassinated.
27: See Don Juan IV, 77, 7-8.
17
Could smooth this life, and win the next;
And by her Comboloio lies ‡
A Koran of illumined dyes; 555
And many a bright emblazoned rhyme
By Persian scribes redeemed from time;
And o’er those scrolls, not oft so mute,
Reclines her now neglected lute;
And round her lamp of fretted gold 560
Bloom flowers in urns of China’s mould;
The richest work of Iran’s loom,
And Sheeraz’28 tribute of perfume;
All that can eye or sense delight
Are gathered in that gorgeous room – 565
But yet it hath an air of gloom. –
She, of this Peri29 cell the sprite,
What doth she hence, and on so rude a night?
* When rubbed, the amber is susceptible of a perfume, which is slight but not disagreeable.
† The belief in amulets engraved on gems, or enclosed in gold boxes, containing scraps from the Koran,
worn round the neck, wrist, or arm, is still universal in the East. The Koorsee (throne) verse in the second
cap. of the Koran describes the attributes of the Most High, and is engraved in this manner, and worn by
the pious, as the most esteemed and sublime of all sentences.
‡ “Comboloio,” a Turkish rosary. The MSS., particularly those of the Persians, are richly adorned and
illuminated. The Greek females are kept in utter ignorance; but many of the Turkish girls are highly
accomplished, though not actually qualified for a Christian coterie.30 Perhaps some of our own “blues”
might not be the worse for bleaching.31
6.
7.
28: Shiraz, capital of Fars in Persia, where carpets are woven and atar-gul (above, 270) manufactured.
29: See Vathek: The word Peri, in the Persian language, signifies that beautiful race of creatures which constitutes the link
between angels and men. The Arabians call them Ginn … (1786 p.292: Lonsdale p.146 / 63n1).
30: It is not clear that B. met any Turkish women, apart from prostitutes, during his time in the east.
31: “blues” – bluestockings – sneering term for intellectual women. See Don Juan IV, 112; or The Blues, passim.
18
And oft her Koran conned apart; 585
And oft in youthful reverie
She dreamed what Paradise might be –
Where woman’s parted soul shall go
Her Prophet had disdained to show;32
But Selim’s mansion was secure, 590
Nor deemed she, could he long endure
His bower in other worlds of bliss,
Without her, most beloved in this!
Oh! who so dear with him could dwell?
What Houri soothe him half so well? 595
8.
9.
32: The Koran leaves no doubt that women will enter paradise.
33: A Candiote is a native of Crete.
19
All that a careless eye could see
In him was some young Galiongée. *
* “Galiongée,” or Galiongi, a sailor, that is, a Turkish sailor; the Greeks navigate, the Turks work the
guns. Their dress is picturesque; and I have seen the Capitan Pacha more than once wearing it as a kind of
incog. Their legs, however, are generally naked. The buskins described in the text as sheathed behind with
silver are those of an Arnaut robber, who was my host (he had quitted the profession) at his Pyrgo, near
Gastouni in the Morea; they were plated in scales one over the other, like the back of an armadillo.
10.
11.
12.
* The characters on all Turkish scimitars contain sometimes the name of the place of their manufacture,
but more generally a text from the Koran, in letters of gold. Amongst those in my possession is one with a
blade of singular construction; it is very broad, and the edge notched into serpentine curves like the ripple
of water, or the wavering of flame. I asked the Armenian who sold it what possible use such a figure
could add: he said, in Italian, that he did not know; but the Mussulmans had an idea that those of this form
gave a severer wound; and liked it because it was “più feroce.” I did not much admire the reason, but
bought it for its peculiarity.
† It is to be observed, that every allusion to anything or personage in the Old Testament, such as the Ark,
or Cain, is equally the privilege of Mussulman and Jew: indeed, the former profess to be much better
acquainted with the lives, true and fabulous, of the patriarchs, than is warranted by our own sacred writ;
and not content with Adam, they have a biography of Pre-Adamites. Solomon is the monarch of all
necromancy, and Moses a prophet inferior only to Christ and Mohammed. Zuleika is the Persian name of
Potiphar’s wife; and her amour with Joseph constitutes one of the finest poems in their language. It is,
therefore, no violation of costume to put the names of Cain, or Noah, into the mouth of a Moslem.
13.
* Paswan Oglou, the rebel of Widdin;35 who, for the last years of his life, set the whole power of the Porte
at defiance.36
14.
† Giaffir, Pacha of Argyro Castro, or Scutari, I am not sure which, was actually taken off by the Albanian
Ali, in the manner described in the text. Ali Pacha, while I was in the country, married the daughter of his
victim, some years after the event had taken place at a bath in Sophia, or Adrianople. The poison was
mixed in the cup of coffee, which is presented before the sherbet by the bath-keeper, after dressing.
15.
35: Widdin is a town in modern Bulgaria. See Don Juan VII, 61, 1.
36: Paswan Oglou (1758-1807) beat so many Turkish armies that the Porte capitulated and made him a pasha.
22
Why me the stern usurper spared,
Why thus with me the palace shared,
I know not. Shame, regret, remorse,
And little fear from infant’s force; 745
Besides, adoption of a son
Of him whom Heaven accorded none,
Or some unknown cabal – caprice –
Preserved me thus; but not in peace;
He cannot curb his haughty mood, 750
Nor I forgive a father’s blood!
16.
17.
18.
37: B. inserts but then erases the following note here: I must here shelter myself with the Psalmist – is it not David that makes the
“Earth reel to and fro like a Drunkard”? If the Globe can be thus lively on seeing its Creator, a liberated Captive can hardly feel
less on a first view of his work.
24
19.
* The Turkish notions of almost all islands are confined to the Archipelago, the sea alluded to.
20.
38: B. is anxious that his audience should understand there to be no political threat in Selim’s dreaming.
25
Or, since that hope denied in worlds of strife, 880
Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life!
The evening beam that smiles the cloud away,
And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray!
Blest – as the Muezzin’s strain from Mecca’s wall
To pilgrims pure and prostrate at his call; 885
Soft – as the melody of youthful days,
That steals the trembling tear of speechless praise;
Dear – as his native song to Exile’s ears,
Shall sound each tone thy long-loved voice endears.
For thee in those bright isles is built a bower 890
Blooming as Aden in its earliest hour. ||
A thousand swords, with Selim’s heart and hand,
Wait – wave – defend – destroy – at thy command!39
Girt by my band, Zuleika at my side,
The spoil of nations shall bedeck my bride. 895
The Haram’s languid years of listless ease
Are well resigned for cares – for joys like these –
Not blind to fate, I see, where’er I rove,
Unnumbered perils – but one only love!
Yet well my toils shall that fond breast repay, 900
Though fortune frown or falser friends betray.
How dear the dream in darkest hours of ill,
Should all be changed, to find thee faithful still!
Be but thy soul, like Selim’s, firmly shown;
To thee be Selim’s tender as thine own; 905
To soothe each sorrow, share in each delight,
Blend every thought, do all but disunite!
Once free, ’tis mine our horde again to guide;
Friends to each other, foes to aught beside –
Yet there we follow but the bent assigned 910
By fatal Nature to man’s warring kind;
Mark! where his carnage and his conquests cease!
He makes a solitude – and calls it – peace!40
I like the rest must use my skill or strength,
But ask no land beyond my sabre’s length: 915
Power sways but by division – her resource
The blest alternative of fraud or force!
Ours be the last; in time deceit may come
When cities cage us in a social home:
There ev’n thy soul might err – how oft the heart 920
Corruption shakes which Peril could not part!
And woman, more than man, when death or woe,
Or even Disgrace, would lay her lover low,
Sunk in the lap of Luxury will shame –
Away suspicion! – not Zuleika’s name! 925
But life is hazard at the best; and here
No more remains to win, and much to fear:
Yes, fear! – the doubt, the dread of losing thee,
By Osman’s power, and Giaffir’s stern decree.
That dread shall vanish with the favouring gale, 930
Which Love to-night hath promised to my sail –
* Lambro Canzani, a Greek, famous for his efforts in 1789-90, for the independence of his country.
Abandoned by the Russians, he became a pirate, and the Archipelago was the scene of his enterprises. He
is said to be still alive at St Petersburg. He and Riga are the two most celebrated of the Greek
revolutionists.42
† “Rayahs,” all who pay the capitation tax, called the “Haratch.”
‡ This first of voyages is one of the few with which the Mussulmans profess much acquaintance.
§ The wandering life of the Arabs, Tartars, and Turkomans, will be found well detailed in any book of
Eastern travels. That it possesses a charm peculiar to itself, cannot be denied. A young French renegado
confessed to Chateaubriand, that he never found himself alone, galloping in the desart, without a
sensation approaching to rapture, which was indescribable.
21.
41: Echoes the words of Medea at Ovid, Metamorphoses, VII, 66-9: Scylla rapax canibus Siculo latrare profundo? / nempe
tenens, quod amo, gremioque in Iasonis haerens / per freta longa ferar; nihil illum amplexa verebor / aut, siquid metuam,
metuam de coniuge solo.— (Amidst these terrors, while I lye possest / Of him I love, and lean on Jason's breast, / In tempests
unconcern’d I will appear, / Or, only for my husband’s safety fear.)
42: B. and Hobhouse may have met Lambro Canzani at Constantinople on Monday July 2nd 1810.
27
To-morrow Osman with his train
Arrives – to-night must break thy chain:
And wouldst thou save that haughty Bey, 965
Perchance, his life who gave thee thine,
With me this hour away – away!
But yet, though thou art plighted mine,
Wouldst thou recall thy willing vow,
Appalled by truth imparted now, 970
Here rest I – not to see thee wed;
But be that peril on my head!”
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
* The death-song of the Turkish women. The “silent slaves” are the men, whose notions of decorum
forbid complain in public.
† “I came to the place of my birth, and cried, ‘The friends of my youth, where are they?’ and an Echo
answered, ‘Where are they?’” – From an Arabic MS. The above quotation (from which the idea in the text
is taken) must be already familiar to every reader – it is given in the first annotation, p. 67, of “The
Pleasures of Memory;” a poem so well known as to render a reference almost superfluous; but to whose
pages all will be delighted to recur.
31
28.
* “And airy tongues that syllable men’s names.” – MILTON.46 For a belief that the souls of the dead
inhabit the form of birds, we need not travel to the East. Lord Lyttleton’s ghost story, the belief of the
Duchess of Kendal, that George I. flew into her window in the shape of a raven (see Orford’s
“Reminiscences”), and many other instances, bring this superstition nearer home.47 The most singular was
the whim of a Worcester lady, who, believing her daughter to exist in the shape of a singing bird, literally
furnished her pew in the cathedral with cages full of the kind; and as she was rich, and a benefactress in
beautifying the church, no objection was made to her harmless folly. For this anecdote, see Orford’s
“Letters.”
Drafted London etc 1st - 8th November 1813, fair-copied by November 11th, several
subsequent additions; first published by John Murray December 2nd 1813 (almost
simultaneous with the last edition of The Giaour) (2 issues) 1813 (2nd - 5th editions) 1814 (6th
- 10th editions) Boston 1814, Philadelphia 1814, 1816 (PXA), 1818 (11th edition) (1844)
DEDICATED TO LORD HOLLAND [MSS: draft, fair copy, seven fragments, and eleven proofs:
JMA. Fragments: private collection (sold Anderson Galleries 1929) private collection of Robert
A. Wilson (see BLJ III 156); New York Pforzheimer; Pennsylvania; Bodleian Lovelace; New
York Berg; University of Toronto.]
First six editions 12,500 copies. Copyright 1,000 gs (Wise has £525) to Byron.
Reviewed: Analectic Magazine (April 1814); AntiJacobin Review (March 1814); La Belle
Assemblée (December 1813); British Critic (January 1814) perhaps by John Hodgson; British
Review (February 1814) by William Roberts; Champion as Drakard’s Paper (December 12th
1813); Critical Review (December 1813); Eclectic Review (February 1814); Edinburgh Review
(April 1814) by Francis Jeffrey; Gentleman’s Magazine (January 1814); Literary Panorama
(April 1814); Monthly Magazine (May 1814) by R. Bakewell; Monthly Museum (February
1814); Monthly Review (January 1814) by John Hodgson; New Annual Register for 1813
(1814); New Review (February 1814); Portfolio (April 1814); Quarterly Review (January 1814)
by George Ellis; Reasoner (January 1814); Satirist (February 1814); Scots Magazine / Edinburgh
Magazine (January 1814); Theatrical Inquisitor (January 1814); Tradesman (January 1814);
Variety (September 10th 1814)
Adapted. (John Howard Payne) The Unfortunate Lovers: or the Affecting History of Selim and
Almena, a Turkish Tale from the Bride of Abydos, (c. 1821) New York 1822
Criticism. Ogle, Robert B. The Metamorphosis of Selim: Ovidian Myth in The Bride of Abydos,
SiR Spring 1981 pp 21-32.
Watkins, Daniel P. Social Relations in Byron’s Eastern Tales, Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh
Dickinson University Press 1987