Sans E. — ^"Twill wine the brightest buy,
And caf^ in plenty are nigh."

Bunn's poem requires the word cafe to be in
one syllable only, and Balfe has so set it, and has
further shown his contempt for Bunn's inspiration
by making the first two words of the last line in
anapsestic metre. He also places an accent on
the second syllable of the word " plenty." Despite
the tethers which hindered a high flight, the musie
is good in all points required, that is to say in
dramatic effect, fitness for the voices engaged and
brightness of scoring. Balfe fully maintained his
reputation in this opera and increased his popu-
larity. The manager's confidence in his powers
enlarged with the approval of the public, and he
.selected a libretto by George Linley upon a sub-



116 BALFE.
ject taken £rom Englisli history and entitled
" Catherine Grey," which was produced on the an-^
niversary of the day which had witnessed the
trinmph of " The Maid of Artois/' namely on the
27th May, 1837. Madame Malibran was no longer
able to help her friend Balfe by her incomparable
talents. She had died a sad and terrible death,
worn out by overwork and excitement in the
September of 1836. She had fulfilled her promise
to sing in one of Balfe's operas, and it was in one
only, " The Maid of Artois," the first and the last
original English opera she sang in London.
