George Gordon Byron: Life and Works - Research Paper Example

? George Gordon Byron Table of Contents I. Introduction 3 A. Thesis ment 3 B. Brief Overview 3 B Literary Era 3 B.2. Biography 3 B.3. Three Poems 3 II. Literary Era 4 A. Era, Relevant Dates 4 B. Defining the Era, Characteristics of the Poetry 4 C. Era in the Context of British History 4 C.4. Era in the Context of World/Global History and Events 4 C.5 How Byron Fits Into This Era 5 III. Biography 5 A. Significant Family Events/Members 5 B. Famous Friends/Enemies 5 C. Interesting Facts 5 D. Literary Career, Reception Amongst Contemporaries 6 IV. Poem 1- She Walks in Beauty 6 A. Personal Analysis 6 A.1. How the Poem Fits into the Era 6 A.2. Literary Analysis 7 V. Poem 2 – The Destruction of Senacherib 8 A. Personal Analysis 8 A.1. How the Poem Fits into the Era 8 A.2. Literary Analysis 8 VI. Poem 3 - Darkness 9 A. Personal Analysis 9 A.1. How the Poem Fits into the Era 9 A.2. Literary Analysis 9 VII. Conclusion 10 Works Cited 11 I. Introduction A. Thesis Statement What seems to stand out from the poetry and from the life of the man, is that of Byron like his poems depicting a kind of beauty that is detached from ordinary reality, and yet so much more beautiful for being so, detached yet somehow real and palpable, and utterly heroic. This seems to represent in one way what Romanticism is all about (Byron; Brooklyn College English Department; Academy of American Poets; Poetry Foundation). B. Brief Overview B.1. Literary Era The literary era to which Byron and his poetry belongs is the era of Romanticism (Brooklyn College English Department). B.2. Biography The poet was born into royalty, and was able to inherit a title, so that by age of 10, he became Baron of Rochdale. His father died at a young age, and he was full of resentment for his mother. He died at the age of 36 (Academy of American Poets) B.3. Three Poems The three poems that are analyzed for this paper are “Darkness”, “She Walks in Beauty”, and “The Destruction of Senacherib” (Byron) II. Literary Era A. Era, Relevant Dates The era to which Byron is identified with is the era known as Romanticism. The Romantic period is classified as that period from 1798 to 1832 (Brooklyn College English Department): Thus it is from the historians of English and German literature that we inherit the convenient set of terminal dates for the Romantic period, beginning in 1798, the year of the first edition of Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge and of the composition of Hymns to the Night by Novalis, and ending in 1832, the year which marked the deaths of both Sir Walter Scott and Goethe. (Brooklyn College English Department) B. Defining the Era, Characteristics of the Poetry There is an emphasis on the individual, the individual as a hero, where the personality is supreme, elevated. Imagination has a central place in Romanticism too, which also likewise was put up in a pedestal as being the best part of the human mind and consciousness. Symbols and symbolism, as they pertain to nature, for instance, were also highly valued. Feelings were given emphasis, especially as with regards to the expression of feelings in poetry (Brooklyn College English Department) C. Era in the Context of British History 1798 marked the year of the Irish Rebelliion, marked by a period of intense conflict between Britain and its neighbor, culminating in union (Bartlett). This period was also marked by the turn of the century struggle between Napoleon on the one hand and Britain on the other, all the way to 1802 (History World). C.4. Era in the Context of World/Global History and Events Elsewhere in the world Napoleon was brought down also during this period, at Waterloo in 1815, and the slaves were finally emancipated in New York around 1827, when slavery was outlawed in that state (Taylor) C.5 How Byron Fits Into This Era Byron was a leading voice of the Romantic era. He is credited with having a large influence on the movement and on the Romantic poets and artists in general, especially with his poem “Don Juan”. The term “Byronic hero” is also tightly wedded to the Romanticist ideal of the rebel hero, who is full of passion, as well as talent (Academy of American Poets). III. Biography A. Significant Family Events/Members The poet was born into royalty, and was able to inherit a title, so that by age of 10, he became Baron of Rochdale. His father died at a young age, and he was full of resentment for his mother. He blamed his mother for having a foot deformed from birth. At a young age too the family lost everything they had, and so had practically no resources to run the land that they lived in. His wife was Anne Isabella Milbanke, and he had an affair with Claire Clairmont, among many others. (Academy of American Poets). B. Famous Friends/Enemies Indirectly he was linked with Percy Bysshe Shelley, by way of the latter's sister in law, with whom Byron had an affair. He had many friends and enemies at the House of Lords (Academy of American Poets). C. Interesting Facts At a young age Byron was attracted to members of both sexes, and therefore was a closet bisexual. This is said to have led him to be more secretive and drove him further into his solitude. He had a wild sojourn into the Mediterranean and many parts of Europe, where his travel ran parallel with sexual experimentation (Academy of American Poets) D. Literary Career, Reception Amongst Contemporaries He was deep in debt by age 20, though he made his way to Cambridge, at Trinity College, during which time he started writing and collecting his poems. He achieved fame for his poetry by 1812. A collection of essays called “Fugitive Pieces” is dated at around the time when Byron was 14. The piece that was to earn him fame in 1812 is titled “Childe Harold's Pilgrimage”. The last part of that poem came to light in 1818, by which time Byron was famous and well-received by the intelligentsia and the upper classes. By the time of his death in 1824, the piece 'Don Juan' was incomplete, but was good for 17 cantos. Together with that was a memoir, which never saw print, having been destroyed by friends for either fear of personal safety or out of a sense of wanting to protect the legacy of their dead friend (American Academy of Poets). IV. Poem 1- She Walks in Beauty A. Personal Analysis A.1. How the Poem Fits into the Era In this poem the object is a woman who “walks in beauty”. Here one can surmise the presence of a Romantic hero who sees that beauty and tries to express it in poetry. One can say that it is as much about the woman who walks in beauty as it is about the poet who is able to extract so much meaning imagery and beauty out of a single scene, a single person, who is idealized and made to be on a pedestal elevated above the mundane and ordinary that is the life within which the beauty lives: “A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent!” . This presence of the Romantic poet, the perceiver of beauty, dramatic and ever-present even when acting as a mere observer, is very much in keeping with the aesthetic and the spirit of Romanticism, one can argue. Beauty here is perceived not without the poet who inserts himself body soul and personality, and with much force, in the poem and the narrative. He is ever-present as the artistic hero here (Brooklyn College English Department; Byron). A.2. Literary Analysis The theme is as much about beauty as it is about love. Beauty because of the obvious depiction of a beautiful woman, and love because it is palpable that the poet is in love with the beauty that he sees. The mood of the poem is soft and calm, pervaded almost by a kind of soft fluff and radiant light, and gentleness and free and natural movement. It is not so much peace as much as the absence of anything jarring or ugly: “Thus mellowed to that tender light/Which heaven to gaudy day denies” (Byron). Several devices were used in the poem. The first line is a simile: “She walks in beauty like the night”. The rest of the stanza that follows, meanwhile, is full of visual imagery, invoking great and tender beauty: “of cloudless climes and starry skies; and all that's best of dark and bright”. There is clever utilization of anaphora too, the effect of which is to emphasize contrasts, and to measure out a very delicate cadence to the words and to the flow of the poem, either read out loud or silently: “one shade the more, one ray the less”; “so soft, so calm, yet eloquent”; “how pure, how dear the dwelling place” (Byron). The overall effect of imagery and the use of the anaphora as discussed above is for those to come together to create a tender impact on the consciousness of the reader, of some tender and great beauty, almost out of this world, and definitely much more beautiful to behold than ordinary reality and the world as it is commonly perceived (Byron) V. Poem 2 – The Destruction of Senacherib A. Personal Analysis A.1. How the Poem Fits into the Era The poem talks about destruction and war, things that were very much in the forefront of the popular consciousness around the time of the writing of the poem,what with the conflicts with the Irish at the turn of the century, and with the battles by Napoleon and the other powers in Europe around that time (Byron (b); History World; Taylor). A.2. Literary Analysis The cadence is short and the mood somber and serious. There is no room here for mirth or relaxation. All is destruction, chaos. The reference to summer (“Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green”) is only to contrast that lush of life with the destruction and death that surrounds everything in the poem ( That host on the morrow lay withered and down”; “For the angel of Death spread his wings on a blast”). Elsewhere the poem makes use of a number of devices to invoke a kind of terrible beauty. There are similes (“the Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold”; “and the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea”; “and cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf”). The reference to words that convey a sense of kinesthesia, of movement and action, are compelling and brilliant (“cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf”; “and breathed in the face of the foe as he passed”). The poem also contains symbolism with “the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast” symbolizing the pervading loss of life that enveloped the place, spreading his wings here can mean spreading death and destruction throughout the battlefield. Elsewhere is rich visual imagery, including those that refer to leaves in summer and autumn set against the backdrop of the destruction all around; “and there lay the steed with his nostril wide...and the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf” (Byron (b). VI. Poem 3 - Darkness A. Personal Analysis A.1. How the Poem Fits into the Era The poem is dated back to 1816, a time when Byron, from the biographical records, was in personal despair, and wanting to escape from a myriad of problems (Academy of American Poets; Poetry Foundation). On the global stage, depending on which side one was on, there were wars too in Europe, and Napoleon and his exploits were in the popular consciousness. This dark poem is also a kind of apocalyptic work of art, depicting end of days. On the other hand that depiction is beautiful in a horrific way, somewhat ringing true, and somewhat removed from ordinary life, bringing it within the fold of the the conception of beauty of the Romanticist (Brooklyn College English Department) A.2. Literary Analysis Here the objective seemed to have been to juxtapose reality and dream into a single image and reality. In the beginning of the poem this juxtaposition is made clear. Byron says that “I had a dream, which was not all a dream”. Having established that juxtaposition, he was after that at liberty to paint a dream-like reality which seemed just on this side of real, palpable and believable. Since the horror is depicted in such terms, the horror seemed also real. From there the devices weaved their magic to great effect. There are is much use of imagery in the poem: (“the bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars did wander darkling in the eternal space”; the brows of men by the despairing light”). There is kinesthesia as a device to enhance the movement depicted in the poem: “the flashes fell upon them; some lay down”; “and others hurried to and fro, and fed their funeral piles with fuel”; “and flap their useless wings, the wildest brutes”). Elsewhere polysyndeton was used to pile up one image and sound and action upon another, to great chilling effect (“They fell and faded- and the crackling trunks Extinguish'd with a crash- and all was black”; “rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth swung blind and blackeing in the moonless air”). There were references to sounds, auditory devices to enhance the poem too (“Hissing, but stingless”; “and gnashed their teeth and howl'd; the wild birds shriek'd”) (Byron (c)). VII. Conclusion The poems insert Byron as himself the Byronic hero and a hero of the Romantic movement. Beyond this, the poems in themselves depict a kind of beauty and reality that seems out of this world, idealized, yet so much the more alluring and beautiful for being so. This flight away from ordinary reality is what seems to stand out among the three poems here analyzed (Byron; Brooklyn College English Department; Academy of American Poets; Poetry Foundation). Works Cited Academy of American Poets. “George Gordon Byron”. Poets.org. 2012. 29 March 2012. Byron, George Gordon. “She Walks in Beauty”. Poetry Foundation. Byron, George Gordon. (b) “The Destruction of Senacherib”. Poetry Foundation. Byron, George Gordon. (c) “Darkness”. Poetry Foundation. Bartlett, Thomas. “The 1798 Irish Rebellion”. BBC. 2011. 29 March 2012. Brooklyn College English Department. “Romanticism”. City University of New York. February 2009. 29 March 2012. History World. “History of Great Britain: AD 1800-1802”. n.d., 29 March 2012. Poetry Foundation. “Lord Byron”). Poetry Foundation. 2011. 29 March 2012. Taylor, Quintard. “United States History Timeline”. Washington University. n.d. 29 March 2012. Read More