Lowell retorted upon his enemies in the famous _Fable for Critics_.
Swift, in his _Battle of the Books_, revenges himself upon Criticism by
describing her. "She dwelt on the top of a snowy mountain in Nova
Zembla. There Momus found her extended in her den upon the spoils of
numberless volumes, half devoured. At her right hand sat Ignorance, her
father and husband, blind with age; at her left Pride, her mother,
dressing her up in the scraps of paper herself had torn. About her
played her children Noise and Impudence, Dulness and Vanity, Pedantry and
Ill-manners. The goddess herself had claws like a cat. Her head, ears,
and voice resembled those of an ass." Bulwer (Lord Lytton) flew out
against his critics, and was well laughed at by Thackeray for his pains.
Poets are known as the _genus irritabile_, and I do not know that prose
writers, artists, or musicians are less susceptible. Most of us will
remember Sheridan's _Critic_--

Sneer: "I think it wants incident."

Sir Fretful: "Good Heavens, you surprise me! Wants incident! I am only
apprehensive that the incidents are too crowded."

Dangle: "If I might venture to suggest anything, it is that the interest
rather falls off in the fifth act."

Sir Fretful: "Rises, I believe you mean, sir."

Mrs. Dangle: "I did not see a fault in any part of the play from the
beginning to the end."

Sir Fretful: "Upon my soul the women are the best judges after all."