Mettle and Metal

First publ. (in one of two MS versions) in William Irvine and Park Honan, The Book, the Ring, and the Poet (New York, 1974),p. 457. There are two MSS, both at ABL. MS¹ (Collections E0256.1) is signed and dated 14 April 1871. It is written on headed notepaper from 10 Kensington Palace Gardens, the residence of B.’s friend Ernest Benzon. Above (not as part of) the title ‘Mettle and Metal’, B. wrote: ‘Very original epigram, written last February.’ MS² (Collections E0257) is signed and dated 30 April [1871], but in this case the title incorporates the date of composition: ‘Mettle and Metal: written at the end of January, 1871.’ The discrepancy in the dates makes it unlikely that these MSS are related. Irvine and Honan print MS²; MS¹ seems to have been unknown to them. Our text is the slightly earlier MS¹ .