▁original ▁run ▁of ▁ 6 , 0 0 0 ▁copies ▁being ▁published ▁on ▁ 2 3 ▁October ▁ 1 8 1 5 . ▁Ball ant y ne ▁dis lik ed ▁the ▁poem , ▁and ▁specifically ▁object ed ▁to ▁the ▁opening ▁line ▁Fair ▁Br uss els , ▁thou ▁art ▁far ▁behind . ▁Scott ▁rel uct antly ▁agreed ▁to ▁tone ▁the ▁text ▁down ▁somewhat , ▁but ▁the ▁poem ▁was ▁still ▁very ▁poor ly ▁received ▁by ▁critics . ▁ ▁The ▁Crit ical ▁Review ▁jud ged ▁it ▁as ▁" ab sol utely ▁the ▁poor est , ▁d ull est , ▁least ▁interesting ▁composition ▁that ▁has ▁h ither to ▁issued ▁from ▁the ▁author ▁of ▁Ro ke by . ▁Even ▁the ▁gaz ette ▁of ▁the ▁battle ▁contains ▁more ▁information , ▁and ▁the ▁style ▁of ▁the ▁poem ▁is ▁very ▁little , ▁if ▁at ▁all , ▁superior ▁to ▁that ▁of ▁Marsh al ▁Well ington ' s ▁mod est ▁dispatch es ." ▁The ▁poor ▁reception ▁of ▁the ▁poem ▁led ▁to ▁w ides p read ▁j oking ▁about ▁Sir ▁Walter ▁Scott ▁like ▁Napoleon ▁meeting ▁his ▁greatest ▁defeat ▁at ▁Water lo o , ▁as ▁in ▁the ▁widely ▁circul ated ▁squ ib ▁attributed ▁to ▁Lord ▁Er sk ine : ▁" On ▁Water lo o ' s ▁ens angu ined ▁plain ▁/ ▁ ▁Lie ▁tens ▁of ▁thousands ▁of ▁the ▁s lain ; ▁/ ▁ ▁But ▁none , ▁by ▁sab re ▁or ▁by ▁shot , ▁/ ▁F ell ▁half ▁so ▁flat ▁as ▁Walter ▁Scott ." ▁ ▁References ▁ ▁Gott lie b , ▁E van . ▁' F