To a Lady Weeping was first published anonymously in the Morning Chronicle. It was later published with Byron’s most popular tale, The Corsair in 1814. It references Princess Charlotte of Wales’s reaction to her father, the Prince Regent (George IV, who would later be king) abandonment of his Whig supporters in favor of the Tories. Princess Charlotte would have been queen had she outlived George IV, but she died at age 21 during childbirth.
To a Lady weeping.
Weep, daughter of a royal line,
A Sire’s disgrace, a realm’s decay;
Ah, happy! if each tear of thine
Could wash a father’s fault away!
Weep—for thy tears are Virtue’s tears—
Auspicious to these suffering isles;
And be each drop in future years
Repaid thee by thy people’s smiles!
March, 1812.
