2015-08-21
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Wordsworth (1770-1850), Coleridge (1772-1834), and Southey (1774-1843), having similar tastes in art and politics, formed a literary circle, the influence of which was felt on some other writers of the time. During the early nineties the works of these young poets were progressive. They criticized the existing social order, and great enthusiasm for the French Revolution can be felt in their works of the first period.
In 1793 Wordsworth wrote a poem, "Guilt and Sorrow". It is about a homeless sailor who was driven to crime, and a lonely woman who had lost her husband and three children in the war; all suffer from the cruelty of the law, but the only comfort Wordsworth offers is religion.
Though Wordsworth, and the other Lake Poets too, were Passive Romanticists, they were all great humanists. The following poem shows us what Wordsworth felt for man.
LINES WRITTEN IN EARLY SPRING
I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate* reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.
To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;*
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.
Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle* trailed its wreaths;
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.
The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure: -
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.
The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.
If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature's holy plan,
Have I no reason to lament
What man has done for man?
· sate (old use) - sat
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· that is, spring made the poet enjoy nature
· periwinkle - a creeping plant with light blue flowers
Southey met the Revolution with his drama "Wat Tyler" telling of the English peasant revolt in 1381. The following is the song of rebels:
WAT TYLER
"When Adam delved and Eve span
Who was then the Gentleman?"
Wretched is the infant's lot,
Born within the straw-roof's cot;
Be he generous, wise or brave,
He must only be a slave.
Long, long labour, little rest,
Still to toil, to be oppress'd;
Drain'd by taxes of his store,
Punish'd next for being poor:
This is the poor wretch's lot.,
Born within the straw-roof's cot.
While the peasant works, - to sleep,
What the peasant sows, - to reap,
On the couch of ease to lie,
Rioting in revelry;
Be he villain, be he fool,
Still to hold despotic rule,
Trampling on his slaves with scorn!
This is to be nobly born.
"When Adam delved and Eve span,
Who was then the Gentleman?"
Coleridge was also inspired to write a revolutionary poem. He wrote on the fall of the Bastille, but he failed to see the bitterness of the battles that had been fought by the people; in his poem liberty is sent from above by Providence.
The years of terror in France brought a change in the outlook of the Lake Poets: they could not understand the historical significance of the events, declared their hostility to the Revolution and sided with the reactionary policy of the British government. The end of the nineties mark the second period in the creative work of the Lake Poets.
It was at this time that Coleridge and Southey, with four other enthusiasts wished to found a domestic republic in America, which they called a "Pantisocracy". In it all property was to be held in common and people would enjoy a free life. Want of money, however, prevented this Utopian scheme.
Contempt for the political struggle and fear of the future hushed the poets into a world of their own fantasy. In 1798 Wordsworth and Coleridge published a volume of "Lyrical Ballads", in which the ideas of Reactionary Romanticism were plainly shown: man is depicted as a helpless creature living at the mercy of supernatural forces. This idea is clearly expressed in the famous ballad by Coleridge, written in the old English ballad style, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". The sea is depicted as something monstrous that cannot be overcome, something fatal that brings woe and death. Living beings seem to be forms without substance. But the wonderful description of the sea and the ship, the floating mass of green ice and the huge sea-bird, the Albatross, speak for themselves. Coleridge brings the reader into direct contact with the sea.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is a fantastic story of a voyage told by an old sailor to a passer-by who was going to a wedding. With a few touches of his pen Coleridge makes the old seaman stand before us with his grey beard, glittering eyes and his long, brown, skinny hands. The passer-by cannot choose but listen to the unusual story of the old man.
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At first the ship sailed southward till it reached the Line (equator), but drawn by a storm, it could not change its course and was driven towards the South Pole. It nearly got jammed in the ice. At the time, a great sea-bird, the Albatross, came through the snow-fog: it was received as a sign of good fortune. In truth, the ice split, a south wind sprang up behind, and the ship sailed northward again with the Albatross following behind. But evil thoughts took hold of the Mariner and with his bow and arrow he shot the bird of good omen.
For such an act of cruelty the ship is suddenly becalmed when it reaches the Line: the Albatross begins to be avenged. They have no fresh water on board and the crew nearly dies of thirst. Suddenly they see a Skeleton-ship sailing towards them without tide or wind. Its ribs are seen as bars on the face of the setting sun. It has only two passengers on board: Death and Life-in-death in the shape of a beautiful woman. The two play dice for the ship's crew: Life-in-death wins the Mariner and Death wins all the others. Then the Skeleton-ship disappears. One by one the sailors drop down on the deck. The loneliness of the Mariner in mid-ocean among the dead bodies of his shipmates is described. This is the punishment of the guilty Mariner. After a time the spell is broken, and the ship returns to England, but the Mariner is condemned for ever to travel from land to land and teach respect and love for all God's creatures.
Note how the poet describes the ship sailing southward; we feel the earth to be round:
"The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared,
Merrily did we drop
Below the kirk,* below the hill,
Below the lighthouse top.
The Sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he!
And he shone bright, and on the right,
Went down into the sea."
Then the ship was driven to the South Pole:
"And now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wondrous cold:
And ice, mast-high, came floating by,
As green as emerald."
When the Albatross appeared, the ship turned and sailed northward till it reached the equator:
· kirk (Scottish) - church
"And a good south wind sprung up behind;
The Albatross did follow,
And every day, for food and play,
Came to the mariners' hollo.
...........................
The Sun now rose upon the right:
Out of the sea came he,
Still hid in mist, and on the left
Went down into the sea."
The ship is becalmed; the sailors suffer from unbearable heat; the unusual silence makes the men feel lifeless:
"Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,
'Twas sad as sad could be;
And we did speak only to break
The silence of the sea!
All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink."
All the men on the ship are dead and the Mariner is left alone:
"Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide, wide sea!
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony."
Coleridge was the most talented of the Lake Poets, but having no self-discipline, he did not give his talent full development. That's why his best and most beautiful poems, "Christabel" and "Kubla Khan", were left unfinished. He believed poetry could be written only under a mystical inspiration and the poet should follow his intuition wherever it might lead him. Coleridge practically stopped writing poetry in his early thirties, and later was famous chiefly as a critic.
We have said that the influence of the romanticists upon literature was very great. It lay in the new approach to life and art. They urged a return to nature. Among the solitary lakes that mirrored the lonely hills they hoped to find "the perfect balance of man and nature", or "the natural state of man" as they called it. That's why so many of their poems praise nature. Wordsworth was a great master of description. A beautiful poem of his is: "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey". When he describes the landscape, we not only feel his love for nature, but also his great alarm at its being spoiled by the invasion of industrialism.
I bounded o'er the mountains, by the sides
Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams,
Wherever nature led: more like a man
Flying from something that he dreads than one
Who sought the thing he loved.............
......................................
......................... For I have learned
To look on nature, not as in the hour
Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes
The still, sad music of humanity,
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Wordsworth expressed himself in plain and simple language, sometimes, even, with the danger of falling into flat prose.
The merit of the Lake School was that they introduced into poetry the short, straightforward, forceful words and constructions of everyday speech. They brought sound and colour into verse, drove out the artificial style of the previous age with its fashion of introducing characters of Greek mythology to express abstract ideas. These poets appreciated folklore and national art: they all insisted that poetry should be linked with the popular folk traditions of a nation; should be stimulated by these traditions and should develop them.
George
Gordon Byron
(1788-1824)
"He who loves not his country,
can love nothing."
BYRON
"… I will teach, if possible, the stones to rise against earth's tyrants…," exclaimed Byron in his greatest work "Don Juan".
The poet was a real fighter; he struggled against despotism with both pen and sword. Freedom was the cause that he served all his life.
Like all the romantic writers of his time, Byron was disappointed with the results of the French Revolution; but unlike the Lake Poets who condemned their former beliefs and tried to escape from reality into the world of dreams and mysticism, he remained true to the ideas if liberty and equality.
The lines from "Childe Harold",
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"Yet, Freedom! yet thy banner, torn, but flying,
Streams like the thunder-storm against the wind;"
appealed to all freedom-loving people.
Byron hated wars and the rising power of capital. He sympathized with the oppressed people and seemed to understand their role in the future battles for freedom.
They fight for freedom, who were never free.
("Childe Harold")
However, definite limitations of the poet's world outlook caused deep contradictions in his works. Though Byron believed in the final triumph of good over evil and "…perceived that revolution alone can save the earth…" ("Don Juan"), he could not foretell the paths the class struggle would take in the future, and many of his verses are touched with disappointment and scepticism. The philosophy of "world sorrow" becomes the leading theme of his works. The poet's attention is drawn to the individual and he dwells on the valour of the romantic hero, fighting for his own personal liberty.
Romantic individualism and a pessimistic attitude to life combine in Byron's art with his firm belief in reason: realistic tendencies prevail in his works of the later period.
And I will war, at least in words (and - should
My chance so happen - deeds), with all who war
With Thought; and of Thought's foes by far most rude,
Tyrants and sycophants* have been and are.
("Don Juan")
· sycophant - one who attempts to advance himself by flattering persons of influence
In spite of his pessimism, Byron's verses embodies the aspirations of the English workers, Irish peasants, Spanish partisans, Italian Carbonari, Albanian and Greek patriots, and encouraged the struggle against the social evils of the time.
Belinsky said that these contradictions in Byron's poetry mirror the contradictory character of the English democratic movement as a whole.
Byron's flaming characters, his beautiful pictures of nature and his brilliant satirical power, coupled with his rich and melodious verse, appeal to us and, no doubt, will be admired by many generations to come.
His Life and Work
George Gordon Byron was born in London, on January 22, 1788, in an impoverished aristocratic family. His mother, Catherine Gordon, was a Scottish lady of honourable birth and respectable fortune. After having run through his own and most of his wife's fortune, his father, an army officer, died when the future poet was only three years old.
George was very lonely from early childhood. His mother was a woman of quick feelings and strong passions. Now she kissed him, now she scolded him. In one of her fits of passion she called him "a lame brat",* and the boy could not bring himself to forgive her this insult. He was lame from birth and was sensitive about it all his life, yet, thanks to his strong will and regular training, he became an excellent rider, a champion swimmer, a boxer and took part in athletic exercises.
· brat (Scottish) - a small child (generally used contemptuously)
Byron spent the first ten years of his life in Scotland. He was fond of the rocky coast and mountains of the country. His admiration of natural scenery was reflected in many of his poems. He attended grammar school in Aberdeen. The boy "devoured" books of travel, especially those relating to the East. These books greatly influenced his poetical development.
In 1798 George's grand-uncle died and the boy inherited the title of baron and the family estate of the Byrons, Newstead Abbey, in Nottinghamshire. Together with his mother and nurse, May Gray, to whom he was deeply attached, the boy moved to Newstead, from where he was sent to Harrow School; at seventeen he entered Cambridge University.
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George was sixteen when he fell in love with his distant relative Mary Chaworth, and in her his youthful imagination seemed to have found the ideal of womanly perfection. She did not, however, return his affection. But the memory of his first love clung to Byron throughout his life and coloured much of his writing. In the first canto of "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" the poet sings that he (Harold) "sighed to many, though he loved but one". Mary Chaworth was the one the poet loved.
Byron's need for love and sympathy, his desire to help and protect, were evident from his boyhood. In 1805 he saved one of his friends from drowning. Later, when in Spain, he sent back to England two of his servants, giving instructions that one of them should be properly educated at his own (Byron's) expense. Many people whom he helped never knew from whom the money came.
While a student, Byron published his first collections of poems "Hours of Idleness" (1807). It was mercilessly attacked by a well-known critic in the magazine "Edinburgh Review". The author suggested that Byron should not write any more poems in future. Wounded to the quick, Byron decided to take his revenge. A whole year was spent in preparation of a reply, which was published in 1809 under the title of "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers". In this satirical poem, which is really criticism in verse, Byron makes a wide survey of contemporary literary life.
In the spring of 1808 Byron graduated from the University and received his M.A. (Master of Arts) degree, and next year took his hereditary seat in the House of Lords.
In 1809 he left England on a long journey, which took two years. He visited Portugal, Spain, Albania, and Turkey, and during his travels wrote the first two cantos of "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage". At that time, in a letter to a friend, he wrote: "Embarrassed in my private affairs, indifferent to the public, solitary without the wish to be social, with a body affected by a succession of fevers, but a spirit, I trust, yet unbroken, I am returning home without a hope and almost without a desire." After an absence of two years the poet returned to England.
On February 27, 1812, Byron made his first speech in the House of Lords. He spoke passionately in defence of the English proletariat and blamed the government for the unbearable conditions of the life of the workers:
"[…] I have traversed the seat of war in the Peninsula,* I have been in some of the most oppressed provinces of Turkey; but never under the most despotic infidel* government did I behold such squalid* wretchedness as I have seen since my return in the very heart of a Christian country […]."
The poet expressed his indignation at the bill which had been introduced into Parliament in order to sanction the death-sentence for frame-breaking:*
"[…] Setting aside the palpable* injustice and the certain inefficiency of the bill, are there not capital punishment sufficient in your statutes? Is there not blood enough upon your penal code, that more must be poured forth to ascend to Heaven and testify against you?
"How will you carry the bill into effect? Can you commit a whole county to their own prisons? Will you erect a gibbet in every field, and hang up men like scarecrows? […]
"[…] But suppose it passed; suppose one of these men, as I have seen them, - meagre with famine, sullen with despair, careless of a life which your Lordships are perhaps about to value at something less than the price of a stocking-frame: - suppose this man surrounded by the children for whom he is unable to procure bread at the hazard of his existence, about to be torn for ever from a family which he lately supported in peaceful industry, and which it is not his fault that he can no longer so support; - suppose this man, and there are ten thousand such from whom you may select your victims, dragged into court, to be tried for this new offence, by this new law; still, there are two things wanting to convict and condemn him: and these are, in my opinion, - twelve butchers for a jury, and a Jeffreys* for a judge."*
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· the Peninsula - Spain
· infidel - not believing in Christianity
· squalid - poor and dirty
· frame-breaking - machine-breaking
· palpable - clear to the mind
· Jeffreys - (1644-1689), English judge known for the great number of men he condemned to death.
· "Speech during the debate on the frame-work bill in the House of Lords, February 27, 1812".
Later the poet again raised his voice in defence of the oppressed workers, encouraging them to fight for freedom in his "Song for the Luddites" (1816):
As the Liberty lads ov'r the sea
Bought their freedom, and cheaply, with blood,
So we, boys, we
Will die fighting, or live free,
And down with all kings but King Ludd!
In 1812 the first two cantos of "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" were published. They were received with a burst of enthusiasm by his contemporaries and Byron became one of the most popular men in London. Walter Scott declared that for more than a century no work had produced a greater effect. The author himself remarked: “I awoke one morning and found myself famous.”
Between 1813 and 1816 Byron composed his “Oriental Tales”. “The Giaour”, “The Corsair”, “Lara”, and others. These tales embody the poet’s romantic individualism. The hero of each poem is a rebel against society. He is a man of strong will and passion. Proud and independent, he rises against tyranny and injustice to gain his personal freedom and happiness. His revolt, however, is too individualistic, and therefore it is doomed to failure. These romantic poems were particularly admired by Byron’s contemporaries and called forth a new mode of thought and feeling called “Byronism”. They also gave rise to a new hero, a hero solitary and gloomy, involved in a single-handed struggle against oppression.
“THE CORSAIR”
“The Corsair” (1814) has all the features typical of Byron’s early romantic poems. Its composition is fragmentary, that is, it consists of disconnected episodes, and the reader has to use his imagination in order to supply the parts of the narrative that the author has left out.
The struggle between Conrad, a pirate chief in the Aegean Sea, and Seyd, the Turkish Pasha, motivates the plot of the poem, but the main interest lies in the character of Conrad. The English critic and historian Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) defined a hero of this type as “a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart, a scorner of his kind, implacable in revenge, yet capable of deep and strong affection”. Such is Conrad, a typical romantic hero, ready to revolt, but the final aim of his protest is vague. Other characters, including his beloved, the gentle Medora, and the fiery-tempered slave-girl Gulnare are touched upon slightly; but in the final count, they are needed mainly to stress some aspects of Conrad’s complex and many-sided nature.
But who that Chief? his name on every shore
Is famed and fear’d – they ask and know no more.
With these he mingles not but to command;
Few are his words, but keen his eye and hand.
................................. …..
“Steer to that shore!” – they sail. “Do this!” – ‘tis done.
“Now form and follow me!” – the spoil is won.
Thus prompt his accents and his actions still,
And all obey and few inquire his will.
(Canto I, Stanza 2)
That man of loneliness and mystery,
Scarce seen to smile, and seldom heard to sigh;
Whose name appals the fiercest of his crew,
And tints each swarthy cheek with sallower hue;
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What should it be, that thus their faith can bind?
The power of Thought – the magic of the Mind!
(Canto I, Stanza 8)
There was a laughing Devil in his sneer,
That raised emotions both of rage and fear;
And where his frown of hatred darkly fell,
Hope withering fled, and Mercy sigh’d farewell!
(Canto I, Stanza 9)
His heart was form’d for softness – warp’d* to wrong;
Betray’d too early, and beguiled* too long;
Each feeling pure – as falls he dropping dew
Within the grot – like that had harden’d too;
Less clear, perchance, its earthly trials pass’d,
But sunk, and chill’d and petrified at last.
(Canto III, Stanza 23)
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· to warp – to change, to turn.
· to beguile – to cheat, to deceive.
· grot (= grotto) – a cave
In describing Conrad, Byron puts forth a concept of human character popular among the Progressive Romanticists: at a time when human individuality was being obliterated by the bourgeois way of life, the romanticists saw great value in men whose souls were ruled by some strong passion, even a wicked one. The capacity to experience an intense emotion was looked upon as a means of protest against the hateful, everyday life. Such views later led to individualism in world literature; Pushkin was the first to condemn this type of human character in his “Gypsies”.
“Hebrew Melodies”, a collection of lyrical verses which appeared in 1815, confirmed Byron’s popularity. One of the most beautiful poems of the cycle is
MY SOUL IS DARK
My soul is dark – oh! quickly string
The harp I yet can brook to hear;
And let thy gentle fingers fling
Its melting murmurs o’er mine ear.
If in this heart a hope be dear,
That sound shall charm it forth again:
If in these eyes there lurk a tear,
‘Twill flow, and cease to burn my brain.
But bid the strain be wild and deep,
Nor let notes of joy be first:
I tell thee, minstrel, I must weep,
Or else this heavy heart will burst,
For it hath been by sorrow nursed,
And ached in sleepless silence long;
And now ‘tis doom’d to know the worst,
And break at once – or yield to song.
In 1815 Byron married Miss Isabella Milbanke. She was a religious woman, cold and pedantic. It was an unlucky match.
Though Byron was fond of their only child Augusta Ada, and did not want to break up the family, separation was inevitable. The scandal around the divorce was enormous. Byron’s enemies found their opportunity, and used it to the utmost against him. It goes without saying that the “immorality” he was accused of was a pretext. The real cause of the feeling of ill-will towards the poet was his protest against oppression. He described his position in the following words: “I felt that if what was whispered and muttered and murmured was true, I was unfit for England; if false, England was unfit for me.” Accordingly, on the 25th of April, 1816, he left England for what proved to be forever. Byron went to Switzerland. Here he made the acquaintance of Shelly, and the two poets became close friends.
While in Switzerland, Byron wrote the third canto of “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” (1816), “The Prisoner of Chillon” (1816), the dramatic poem “Manfred” (1817), and many lyrics. “The Prisoner of Chillon” describes the tragic fate of the Swiss revolutionary Bonnivard, who spent many years of his life in prison together with his brothers.
In 1817 Byron left for Italy. He visited Venice, Ravenna, Pisa, and Genoa. The political situation in Italy at this period (with its numerous petty states despotically governed) was such as to rouse his indignation. He longed to see the country one and undivided, in accordance with the aspirations of the Italian patriots. To act on this idea, the poet joined the secret organization of the Carbonari, engaged in the struggle against the Austrian oppressors.
The Italian period (1817-1823), influenced by revolutionary ideas, may be considered to be the summit of Byron’s poetical career. Such works as “Beppo” (1818), a humorous poem in a Venetian setting, and his greatest work “Don Juan” (1819-1824) are the most realistic works written by the poet.
Though the action of “Don Juan” takes place at the close of the 18th century, it is easy enough to understand that the author depicts Europe in the 19th century and gives a broad panorama of contemporary life. There are two heroes in the poem: Don Juan and the poet himself who in his many digressions speaks to the reader, expressing his opinion on different political, social and cultural problems. The poem is remarkable not only for its satirical descriptions and realistic portrayal of life, but also for its revolutionary ideas.
The other notable works of the period are the fourth canto of “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” (1818); “The Prophecy of Dante” (1821), where, speaking in the person of the great Italian poet Dante, Byron calls upon the Italians to fight for their independence; and the dramas “Marino Faliero” (1820) and “Cain” (1821). During the same period he wrote his satirical masterpieces, “The Vision of Judgment” (1822) and “The Age of Bronze” (1823), devastating and crushing attacks on he reaction brought upon Europe by the Holy Alliance; these two poems form the peak of Byron’s achievements in satire, a genre in which he was, perhaps, most powerful.
The defeat of the Carbonari uprising (1822) was a heavy blow to Byron. The war of Greece against the Turks, which had been going on for two years, attracted his attention. Byron longed for action, and went to Greece to take part in the struggle for national independence. Soon after his arrival he was seized with fever and died at Missolonghi on the 18th of April, 1824, at the age of thirty-six. The Greeks desired that his remains should be buried in the country which he had loved not less than his own, and for which he had spent his life, but his friends wanted him to be buried in Westminster Abbey. However, this was refused by the English authorities, and the poet’s body, already transported from Greece to England, was buried in the family vault near Newstead. The line “…whose dust was once all fire” from “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” might well have been used as an epitaph.
“CHILDE HAROLD’S PILGRIMAGE”
“Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” is a huge poem written in Spencerian stanza. Byron himself speaks of it as the most thoughtful and the most comprehensive of his compositions.
As we have already mentioned, the poem was written during different periods of Byron’s life. As a whole it makes rather difficult reading: its composition seems chaotic, there is no real “story” in it, the hero, Childe Harold, is very often absent from the pages of the poem, and in Canto IV practically vanishes. It is more a travelling diary of Byron himself than a continuous narrative concerning the hero. Bu all this was done by the author intentionally. Let’s try to understand his aim.
The hero of the poem is the first one of this type to appear in world literature. A young aristocrat, disappointed in life, satiated with pleasures, he goes travelling, and hopes to find happiness among people who are not spoiled by civilization.
Whilome in Albion’s isle there dwelt* a youth,
Who ne* in virtue’s ways did take delight;
But spent his days in riot most uncouth*,
And vex’d with mirth the drowsy ear of Night.
Ah, me! in sooth* he was a shameless wight*,
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Few earthly things found favour in his sight.
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(Canto I, Stanza 2)
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· Whilome in Albion’s isle there dwelt… - Once in England there lived…
· ne (old use) – not
· uncouth – rude
· in sooth (old use) – in truth
· wight (old use) – creature.
Harold’s character was understood by the poet’s contemporaries, as he expressed their spirit of dissatisfaction, their protest against existing reality, and their dreams of happiness.
At the time of the first appearance of the poem, many people believed that Byron’s own character was presented in the person of Childe Harold, but the author denied it: he justly considered himself to be an active fighter for freedom, while Harold was merely a passive onlooker. However, Harold’s critical attitude towards English aristocratic society, his wanderings, personal observations and love for his native land reflect Byron’s own feelings, views and experiences.
The first canto shows Portugal and Spain. Byron voices his surprise at the contrast between the splandour of the land, where “fruits of fragrance blush on every tree”, and the poverty of the people.
Oh, Christ! It is a goodly sight to see
What heaven hath done for this delicious land:
What fruits of fragrance blush on every tree!
What goodly prospects o’er the hills expand!
But man would mar them with an impious hand!
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(Stanza 15)
In the Spanish scenes the poet shows the struggle of the people against Napoleon’s invasion which the poet witnessed during his journey in Spain in 1809-1810. Byron sympathizes with the Spanish people who were fighting for their freedom and independence and blames the ruling classes, who betray the interests of the country.
Awake, ye* sons of Spain! awake! advance!
Lo! Chivalry, your ancient goddess cries,
But wields not, as of old, her thirsty lance,
Nor shakes her crimson plumage in the skies:
Now on the smoke of blazing bolts* she flies,
And speaks in thunder through yon engine’s* roar!
In every peal she calls – “Awake, arise!”
Say, is her voice more feeble than of yore*,
When her war-song was heard on Andalusia’s shore?
(Stanza 37)
Haunted by loneliness, Harold travels all over the world.
It is not love, it is not hate,
Nor low Ambition’s honours lost,
That bids me loathe my present state,
And fly from all I prized the most:
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What Exile from himself can flee?
To zones, though more and more remote,
Still, still pursues, where’er I be,
The blight of life* - the demon Thought.
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What is the worst? Nay, do not ask –
In pity from the search forbear:
Smile on – nor venture to unmask
Man’s heart, and view the Hell that’s there.
(Stanza 84)
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· ye (old use) – you
· blazing bolts – metaphor for “fiery bullets”
· yon (or yonder, old use) engine’s – that cannon’s
· of yore – in times long past
· The blight of life – The ruin of life.
The second canto is devoted to Albania and Greece.
Describing Harold’s stay in Albania, Byron describes his own adventures in the country. He admires the Albanians for their kindness, generosity and hospitality. The poet praises the great men of the past, the well-known Albanian champion of liberty Scanderbeg, in particular.
The motif of disappointment is sounded with great force when Harold comes to Greece. The miserable state of the Greek people who suffer under the yoke of the Turks arouses Byron’s indignation and makes him recall the glorious past of “Fair Greece” and “the gallant spirit” of the “hopeless warriors” (Stanza 73) who gave up their lives for the freedom of the country.
Deep love for the Greeks and concern for their fate sound in the poet’s passionate appeal to the people to rise in arms against the oppressors.
Fair Greece! sad relic of departed worth!
Immortal, though no more; though fallen, great!
Who now shall lead thy scatter’d children forth,
And long accustom’d bondage uncreate?
Not such thy sons who whilome did await,
The hopeless warriors of a willing doom,
In bleak Thermopylæ’s* sepulchral strait –
Oh, who that gallant spirit shall resume,
Leap from Eurotas’* banks, and call thee from the tomb?
(Stanza 73)
______________
· Thermopylæ’s strait is a pass leading from northern to central Greece. In 480 B.C. it was held by 300 Spartans against the Persians until their heroic defence was broken by treachery.
· Eurotas – a river in southern Greece.
From the sufferings of the people Byron comes to the personal sorrows of his hero.
What is the worst of woes that wait on age?
What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow?
To view each loved one blotted from life’s page,
And be alone on earth, as I am now.
(Stanza 98)
The third canto begins and ends with the touching address of Byron to his daughter Ada, whom he was never destined to see again.
Is thy face like thy mother’s, my fair child!
Ada! sole daughter of my house and heart?
When last I saw thy young blue eyes, they smiled,
And then we parted,........................
(Stanza 1)
My daughter! with thy name this song begun –
My daughter! with thy name thus much shall end –
I see thee not, I hear thee not, - but none
Can be so wrapt* in thee;...................
(Stanza 115)
__________
· wrapt – attached (to)
The political and biographical sketches which the third canto contains show greater maturity in the poet’s outlook. While crossing Belgium, Harold visited the field of Waterloo, where the great battle had been fought less than a year before. The poet mediates on this historical event.
His attitude to Napoleon is complex. On the one hand, Byron rightly considered him a tyrant, and a traitor to the French Revolution; on the other, he understood that the reactionary forces which defeated Napoleon brought much greater oppression to the nations of Europe. Moreover, Byron could not help admiring some traits of Napoleon’s personality. “The Man of Destiny”, as he was called, in Byron’s opinion had certain points of resemblance to the demonic heroes the poet liked to depict in his romantic poems.
The beautiful scenery of Switzerland makes Byron recall the great French writers and philosophers, Rousseau and Voltaire, who used to live in Geneva, and whose progressive ideas prepared the way for the French Revolution.
The fourth canto, which has to do with Italy, is usually regarded as the finest. It describes people and events in ancient Italian history. Byron regrets the fall of the free states, their high culture and art.
I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs;
A palace and a prison on each hand:
I saw from out the wave of her structures rise
As from the stroke of the enchanter’s wand:
A thousand years their cloudy wings expand
Around me, and a dying glory smiles
O’er the far times when many a subject land
Look’d to the winged Lion’s marble piles,
Where Venice sate in state, throned on her hundred isles!
(Stanza 1)
In Venice, Tasso’s* echoes are no more,
And silent rows the songless gondolier;
Her palaces are crumbling to the shore,
And music meets not always now the ear:
Those days are gone – but Beauty still is here.
States fall, arts fade – but Nature doth not die,
.......................................
(Stanza 3)
Byron calls Italy the “Mother of Arts” and admires the Italian people who have given the world such men as Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, and other titans of art, science and literature. He hopes that the former glory of the country can be taken as a pledge (promise) of her future prosperity.
Great as thou art, yet parallel’d by those,
Thy countrymen, before thee born to shine,
The Bards of Hell and Chivalry: first rose
The Tuscan Father’s* Comedy Divine;
Then, not unequal to the Florentine,
The southern Scott*, the minstrel who call’d forth
A new creation with his magic line,
And, like the Ariosto of the North*,
Sang ladye-love* and war, romance and knightly worth.
(Stanza 40)
Yet, Italy! through every other land
Thy wrongs* should ring, and shall, from side to side;
Mother of Arts! as once of Arms; thy hand
Was then our guardian, and is still our guide,
.....................................
(Stanza 47)
__________
· Torquato Tasso – Italian poet (1544-1595)
· Tuscan Father – Dante Aligieri (1265-1321), the greatest of Italian poets, author of the “Divine Comedy”, creator of the Italian literary language from the Tuscan dialect spoken in Florence at the time.
· the southern Scott – Byron calls the writer Lodovico Ariosto “the southern Scott” because they were both masters of the romantic poem.
· the Ariosto of the North – Byron has in mind the writer Walter Scott
· ladye (old spelling) – lady
· wrongs – injuries (done to Italy).
A great part of the fourth canto is dedicated to the theme of genius and immortality. Byron puts forth the idea that true glory is achieved by creative activity, and not by illustrious birth and power: thus Alphonso d’Este, the once great Duke of Ferrara, is remembered only because he ill-treated and imprisoned the great poet Torquato Tasso, and it is the latter who has gained true immortality.
Byron exposes the reactionaries of the time and expresses his belief in the final victory of the Italian people in their struggle for liberty.
The merit of “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” is in its revolutionary spirit, in its broad critical survey of contemporary life and vivid pictures of nature, now peaceful and calm, now stormy and violent, that mirror the poet’s own turbulent feelings.
The Soviet writer Anatoli Vinogradov called “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” “a political geography in verse”. The remark is to the point; for the poet lays before our eyes a vast panorama of different countries, and discourses on their social and political state. The poem which a first seems chaotic, is really constructed with great skill; its various episodes are joined by the outlook, experiences and impressions of Child Harold, and because of that, inner unity is achieved. “Childe Harold Pilgrimage” is really a philosophical treatise on the nature of wars, and Byron leads us to the conclusion that only wars fought for national or social liberation can be called just and praiseworthy. And it is precisely this idea that, in the final count, heals Child Harold of his grief and brings about the rebirth of his soul.
