TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

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[v]

PREFACE TO THE FIFTH VOLUME.

The plays and poems contained in this volume were written within thespace of two years—the last two years of Byron's career as a poet. Butthat was not all. Cantos VI.-XV. of Don Juan, The Vision ofJudgment, The Blues, The Irish Avatar, and other minor poems,belong to the same period. The end was near, and, as though he hadreceived a warning, he hastened to make the roll complete.

Proof is impossible, but the impression remains that the greater part ofthis volume has been passed over and left unread by at least twogenerations of readers. Old play-goers recall Macready as "Werner," andmany persons have read Cain; but apart from students of literature,readers of Sa