Comment 2 of 3, added on September 25th, 2009 at 1:53 PM.

I cane on this poem following a train of thought from Don Juan and I am wondering if Byron was the man Browning had in mind. Some parts seem to fit, some seem antithetical;
1. "A ribband to stick in his coat---" Byron died fighting for Albanian independence from Turkey.
2. "...doled him out silver..." Byron's notorious extravagance.
3. "Rags ---were they purple..." Byron sprang from British nobility.
4. The progression of Shakespeare, Milton, Burns and Shelly... Byron's name falls easily into line.
5. "One more devil's triumph...let him never come back to us!" Byron's ambiguous position and almost-forced exile due to sexual eccentricities.
6. "Pardoned in heaven" seems appropriate.

On the other hand, many parts do not seem to fit:
1. "...mild and magnificent eye" Byron definitely not mild.
2. "Made him our pattern to live..." See forced exile.
3. "while he boasts his quiescence" See #1

Could this poem then be a rememberance of a political leader; Say, Parnell or Wolfe Tone?

Byronic specialists in academia may be able to say out of hand what the answer to this question is, I can't.

Steve G from United States