Answer to 's Professions of Affection

by Lord Byron — a poem card from Justes Mots

A scathing rejection of someone's professed affection, in which Byron refuses a place in their heart unless he renounces conscience and morality. The poem uses the political metaphor of a 'rotten borough' to condemn the corruption of love through manipulation and the corruption of the human heart.

In hearts like thine ne'er may I hold a place
Till I renounce all sense, all shame, all grace—
That seat,—like seats, the bane of Freedom's realm,
But dear to those presiding at the helm—
Is basely purchased, not with gold alone;
Add Conscience, too, this bargain is your own—
'T is thine to offer with corrupting art
The *rotten borough*[62] of the human heart.…

Themes: sympathy · grief · reflection