Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
- Byron starts the poem on a tirade against a dude named Robert Southey, who was the Poet Laureate of England when Byron was writing Don Juan.
- Byron criticizes Southey's poetry and intelligence, but it turns out that he also had a personal reason for disliking the guy. Southey and Byron had a really bitter public feud that reached its peak when Southey accused Byron of being involved "in a league of incest." Byron would go on to face public accusations of incest for the rest of his life, right up until today. Just ask any random person about Byron and they might say, "Oh yeah. Isn't that the dude who slept with his sister or something?"
- Byron goes after some other people in his dedication (including William Wordsworth!). Basically, the dedication shows us that Byron isn't afraid of taking on the British literary establishment while writing Don Juan. Byron had a bit of a rock star attitude and he isn't afraid to show it in this dedication. That said, he did end up keeping this section out of the original publication of Don Juan and it never actually appeared as part of the poem in his lifetime. So, at least he's a rock star with some restraint to him.
- And now, onto the poem…