Poetry > Lady of the lake

12
INTRODUCTION TO THE
I conceived, however, that I held the distin¬
guished situation I had obtained, however unwor¬
thily, rather like the champion of pugilism,1 on
the condition of being always ready to show proofs
of my skill, than in the manner of the champion of
chivalry, who performs his duties only on rare and
solemn occasions. I was in any case conscious
that I could not long hold a situation which the
caprice, rather than the judgment, of the public,
had bestowed upon me, and preferred being de¬
prived of my precedence by some more worthy
rival, to sinking into contempt for my indolence,
and losing my reputation by what Scottish law¬
yers call the negative prescription. Accordingly,
those who choose to look at the Introduction to
Rokeby, in the present edition, will be able to
trace the steps by which I declined as a poet to
fi gure as a novelist; as the ballad says, Queen
Eleanor sunk at Charing-Cross to rise again at
Queenhithe.
1 [“ In twice five years the ‘ greatest living poet,'
Like to the champion in the fisty ring,
Is called on to support his claim, or show it
Although 'tis an Imaginary thing,'’ &c.
Don Juan, canto xi. st. 55 "1