Sujet : Byron died (19-4-1824)
De : benlizro (at) *nospam* ihug.co.nz (Ross Clark)
Groupes : sci.langDate : 20. Apr 2024, 02:46:27
Autres entêtes
Organisation : A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID : <uvv39a$39fpm$1@dont-email.me>
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Yes, the famous poet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_ByronA linguistic observation by Byron:
"...few are slow
In thinking that their enemy is beat
(Or beaten, if you insist on grammar, though
I never think about it in a heat)..."
(Don Juan, canto 7, stanza 42 -- describing a battle between the Russians and the Turks)
I actually cited this passage (among others from OED) in an a.u.e. discussion about the passive participle "beat". It is used by Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dryden, John Wesley, Lord Nelson and many others, but Byron's is an interesting indication that by his time prescriptive grammarians considered it "incorrect".
The other Byron quote (too long to copy) is about meeting the celebrated "hyperpolyglot", Cardinal Mezzofanti.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Caspar_Mezzofanti