Now Hatred Is By Far The

From Don Juan, Canto XIII, Stanza 6 (published December 1823). The couplet appears in a digressive satirical commentary as Byron surveys English aristocratic society at a country house party. The observation belongs to Byron's broader ironic anatomy of passion: love, in his telling, is impetuous and brief, while hatred settles in as a permanent and savoured occupation. The poem's ottava rima form gives Byron room for exactly these sardonic asides, turning the narrative poem into a vehicle for social criticism.