Don Juan

Lord Byron is known as one of the greatest poets of all time because of his digression of the traditional epic poem towards a unique personal style. His unique style has been come to be respected throughout time. Lord Byron’s Don Juan mocks the epic tradition of poetry through the use of silly rhymes, commentary on the importance of thinking philosophically, and by allusions to other poets in stanzas 40-42 and stanzas 88-92 in Canto 1.

Throughout Canto 1 Byron utilizes silly rhymes as a way to mock traditional epic poetry. In lines 40-42 it is apparent that rhymes such as, “Because of filthy loves of gods and goddesses/ who in the earlier ages raised a bustle/ but never put on pantaloons or bodices,” are meant to be used in a humorous way rather than the traditional rhyming of other poets at the time. Not only are the actual lines seen here structurally and rhythmically mocking the traditional epic poem but the tone also plays along with the rhyming to make it seem like more of a nursery rhyme rather than an epic poem. Similar silly rhymes can be seen in lines 88-92 when Byron describes sitting in the forest around the “sublime nature” where many poets got their great ideas from “so that their plan and prosody are eligible/ unless like Wordsworth they prove unintelligible.” This rhyme or eligible and unintelligible seems like a juvenile, mocking play on words rather than a true well thought out rhyme like most poets would have come up with. It is apparent that the use of silly rhymes is indeed used to mock the epic poem.

Byron also utilizes commentary on the importance of thinking philosophically as a way to digress from the traditional epic poem. Instead of reveling and praising thinking philosophically Byron almost mocks and criticizes spending your time in this way. As mentioned earlier he goes out into nature where many other poets found themselves thinking about the world and how it works and instead of thinking about the meaning of life he compares the “skies” to “Donna Julia’s eyes.” In stanza 92 he states, “ He thought about himself and the whole earth,” and later in the last section of the stanza after thinking about wars, birth, and nature he states, “To perfect knowledge of the boundless skies/ and then he thought of Donna Julia’s eyes.” During a meditative deep state as this it is strange that he would compare his thoughts on the universe to a woman’s eyes. This digression from what you would expect to see in philosophical thinking session proves that Byron’s use of mocking philosophical thinking digresses from what one would usually see throughout a work of epic poetry.

Lastly, Byron utilizes negative allusions to other poets throughout his time to mock traditional thinking and epic poetry at the time. In stanzas 90 and 91 Byron mocks both Wordsworth and Coleridge. In the last two lines of stanza 90 Byron states, “so that their plan and prosody are eligible/ unless like Wordsworth they prove unintelligible.” He deliberately mocks the works of Wordsworth, who is thought to be one of the greatest poets of all time, by calling them “unintelligible.” In stanza 91 Byron once again mocks a poet by stating, “like Coleridge into a metaphysician.” He seems to be negatively attributing the word metaphysician to Coleridge as though he is stating that this is not a good attribute. Byron’s criticism of some of the deepest thinkers of the time proves that he is mocking the traditional epic poem.

Byron’s use of silly rhymes, commentary on philosophical thinking, and allusions to other poets of his time allow him to mock the tradition of epic poems. Byron utilizes these structural tools in such a way that allows him to reveal his beliefs on the works and fellow coleages of the time. His thoughts on the problems of poets in his time are clearly seem throughout Canto 1 in Don Juan.