ABSTRACT
One of Peacock’s Paper Money Lyrics, written during the financial crisis of 1825/6 but not published until 1837. This poem made an earlier appearance in the Guide, a threepenny weekly by Henry Cole, 21 May 1837. The subjects of Paper Money Lyrics are the evils of paper currency and the growth and collapse of country banks founded on insufficient capital. In style and diction the Lyrics loosely parody a variety of contemporary poets. Reference to Southey is immediately established in this poem by the repetition of ‘How troublesome is day’, recalling the opening of Thalaba:‘How beautiful is night.’ For Peacock’s attitude to Southey see No. 85.
