U
摘要
‘Wholly dramatic poem’ (O 5.21) in MW, written perhaps in autumn 1850 (see L 3.143) or in 1853 (O 5.21). The ‘Person of Quality’ renders the country as dull and irritating, and the town as lively, as possible, enabling much humorous or satirical presentation of Italian life. His ‘implicit, ironic self-indictment’ (Hawlin [2012], p. 509) comes with his casual reference to the execution of ‘three liberal thieves’ (44). He is equally indifferent to true religion: his account of the procession shows ‘religious superstition … acting as a mental buttress to political oppression’ (Hawlin [2012], p. 509).