PART 3 The Quest for Truth and Beauty La Belle Dame Sans Merci, 1893. John Williams Waterhouse. Oil on canvas, 44.09 x 31.89 in. Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darnstadt, Germany. “I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart’s affections and the truth of imagination—what the imagination seizes as beauty must be truth—whether it existed before or not.” —John Keats 841 John William Waterhouse/Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, Germany/Bridgeman Art Library 00841841 U4P3-845482.inddU4P3-845482.indd Sec2:841Sec2:841 11/29/07/29/07 12:49:5612:49:56 PMPM BEFORE YOU READ Byron’s Poetry MEET GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON eorge Gordon, Lord Byron—aristocrat, In his own poet, member of Parliament, athlete, words, “I Gexpatriate, and freedom fighter—was awoke one perhaps the most colorful figure of his day. morning and found myself famous.” “Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life, His books sold well, and he influenced art and fashion, as well as literature, The evening beam that smiles the with his flamboyant style. In addition, as a member clouds away, of the House of Lords, he championed liberal politi- And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray!” cal causes. For example, he bravely defended the rebelling Nottingham weavers, whose jobs were —Lord Byron, The Bride of Abydos threatened by new textile machines. Soon, however, this extraordinarily handsome poet—with brown curly hair, fine features, and Descended from two noble but flamboyant and vio- intensely brilliant eyes—saw his fame turn to noto- lent families, Byron inherited his title and a large riety. Personal scandals plagued him as he pursued a estate at the age of ten, when his great-uncle, self-indulgent lifestyle with many love affairs. known as the “Wicked Lord,” died. Byron had been born with a clubfoot, and the physical suffering and Poet in Exile At twenty-eight, Byron exiled acute embarrassment it caused him profoundly himself from England, never to return. He briefly affected his temperament. “No action of Lord lived in Switzerland, where he spent time with the Byron’s life—scarce a line he has written—but was Shelleys, and then settled in Italy. There, he com- influenced by his personal defect,” Mary Shelley posed Don Juan, a verse satire that describes the wrote. To compensate for this impairment, Byron adventures of a licentious, though naive, young succeeded in becoming a masterful swimmer, horse- man. Always an outspoken defender of personal and man, boxer, cricket player, and fencer. political freedom, Byron died of fever shortly after his thirty-sixth birthday, having exhausted his ener- Literary Celebrity As a student at Cambridge gies training Greek troops fighting for independence University, Byron was known for his lavish life- from the Turks. His efforts in support of the Greek style and flamboyant behavior; he even kept a independence movement made him a national hero tame bear as a pet. After graduating from in Greece. Byron influenced a host of eminent Cambridge, he embarked upon an adventurous writers, including Goethe in Germany, Balzac in journey, traveling on horseback across Portugal France, Pushkin and Dostoevsky in Russia, and and Spain and on to distant lands that few Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe in the United States. Englishmen had visited, including Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) and mountainous Albania. Lord Byron was born in 1788 and died in 1824. While traveling, he worked his adventures into his poetry, including the first part of his long poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, which made him the Author Search For more about toast of London society at age twenty-four. Lord Byron, go to www.glencoe.com. 842 UNIT 4 THE TRIUMPH OF ROMANTICISM National Portrait Gallery, London/Superstock 8842-84742-847 U4P3App-845482.inddU4P3App-845482.indd 842842 66/22/06/22/06 11:27:0911:27:09 AMAM LITERATURE PREVIEW READING PREVIEW Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Analyzing Figurative What makes you admire something or someone? In Language these poems, Lord Byron admires the strength of the When you analyze figurative language, you examine sea and the beauty of a woman. As you read, think language that is not meant to be interpreted literally about the following questions: but is used for descriptive effect, often to suggest ideas. • Why are people fascinated by violent natural events, First, identify figures of speech, or specific devices of such as volcanoes, tsunamis, and hurricanes? figurative language such as metaphor, simile, and • Which objects or events stir intense feelings in you personification. Then determine what each device that are difficult to express? contributes to the work. Building Background Reading Tip: Identifying Figurative Language Use In medieval times, childe referred to a young nobleman a chart to record examples of figurative language and who was a candidate for knighthood. Byron applied to describe their function in the poems. that title to the hero of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage to suggest the character’s inner nobility and his quest Example Ty pe Function for meaning. Sick of society, Harold embarks on a series of journeys across Europe, only to encounter more “like a drop of simile suggests the disillusionment in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars. As rain”(line 16, insignificance Byron describes him, Childe Harold is “the wandering “Apostrophe to of humans outlaw of his own dark mind.” the Ocean”) “She Walks in Beauty,” a lovely lyric poem originally written for music, was inspired by the sight of the poet’s cousin by marriage, the beautiful Lady Wilmot Horton. She appeared at a party dressed in a black mourning Vocabulary gown decorated with spangles, or bits of sparkling spurn (spurn) v. to reject or drive off; p. 845 material. Members of Congress spurned the unqualified nominee. Setting Purposes for Reading arbiter (ar bə tər) n. a judge; p. 846 Public Big Idea The Quest for Truth and Beauty opinion is the final arbiter in a debate between As you read, notice how these poems reflect Romantic two candidates. ideals of beauty. mar (mar ) v. to spoil or damage; p. 846 The walls of that building were marred with graffiti. Literary Element Juxtaposition Juxtaposition refers to the placing of two or more Vocabulary Tip: Analogies Analogies are distinct elements of a literary work—for example, words, comparisons based on relationships between phrases, images, lines, or passages—next to or close to words and ideas. one another. For example, in line 7 of “Apostrophe to the Ocean,” Byron uses this technique to contrast the speaker’s future and his past: “From all I may be, or have been before.” As you read, look for other examples of this technique and consider its effects. Interactive Literary Elements Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements, • See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R9. go to www.glencoe.com. OBJECTIVES In studying these selections, you will focus on the following: • analyzing juxtaposition • analyzing literary periods • interpreting figurative language GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 843 8842-84742-847 U4P3App-845482.inddU4P3App-845482.indd 843843 11/9/07/9/07 12:51:0312:51:03 PMPM The Florentine Girl (The Artist’s Daughter), c. 1827. Henry Howard. Oil on canvas, 965 x 610 mm. Tate Gallery, London She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes1 and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect2 and her eyes: 5 Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impaired the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, 10 Or softly lightens o’er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express How pure, how dear their dwelling place. And on that cheek, and o’er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, 15 The smiles that win, the tints that glow, George Gordon, Lord Byron But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent! 1. Here, climes means “climates” or “atmospheres.” 2. Here, aspect means “appearance” or “face.” Reading Strategy Analyzing Figurative Language What does the speaker suggest about the woman by using this simile? 844 UNIT 4 THE TRIUMPH OF ROMANTICISM Tate Gallery, London/Art Resource, NY 884444 UU4P34P3 SeSel-845482.inddl-845482.indd 844844 22/23/06/23/06 111:40:041:40:04 AM George Gordon, Lord Byron There is a pleasure in the pathless woods; There is a rapture on the lonely shore; There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar. 5 I love not man the less, but nature more, From these our interviews, in which I steal° 6 steal: to depart quietly From all I may be, or have been before, To mingle with the universe, and feel What I can ne’er express, yet cannot all conceal. 10 Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean—roll! Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain; Man marks the earth with ruin—his control Stops with the shore. Upon the watery plain The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain 15 A shadow of man’s ravage, save his own, When, for a moment, like a drop of rain, He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan, Without a grave, unknelled,° uncoffined, and unknown. 18 unknelled: without the ringing of church bells His steps are not upon thy paths—thy fields 20 Are not a spoil for him—thou dost arise And shake him from thee; the vile strength he wields For earth’s destruction thou dost all despise, Spurning him from thy bosom to the skies, And send’st him, shivering in thy playful spray 25 And howling, to his gods, where haply° lies 25 haply: perhaps His petty hope in some near port or bay, And dashest him again to earth—there let him lay.