Although Lord Byron is obviously most well-known because of his poetry, his personal life was often talked about. His relationships were often thrust out into the public, mostly due to his well-documented love affairs that he was constantly involved in.
Because of this personal life that Lord Byron lived, he often transferred his lifestyle over to his poetry. In Canto II, we see this through his “affair” that Don Juan has with Haidee, despite the fact that he still has Julia at home.
The growing relationship between Don Juan and Haidee is beautifully described. Byron shows in this section why he is often credited for his romantic style of writing. His descriptions are so deep and touching, yet at the same time, easy to understand. He picks out metaphors that many people are able to relate to. The language throughout Don Juan is very simple, yet very well-thought out and detailed at the same time.
One of the best examples of this style of writing is seen in stanzas 148-152, when Don Juan awakes for the first time after being stranded to see Haidee. The instant connection that the two of them have is very obvious, as the reader is overcome with the description of the love they have at first sight. This same sort of language is seen in stanzas 176-178. Byron’s language is so simple, yet so easy to connect with and understand. For example, in stanza 176 he says, “…like a young flower snapped from the stalk, drooping and dewy on the beach he lay, and thus they walked out in the afternoon, and saw the sun set opposite the moon.”
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Canto II
In Don Juan, Canto II, there is initially a shipwreck in which Don Juan is the only sole survivor. When Don Juan realizes that all of his ship mates have passed and died, he begins to have visions of death. This is apparent in stanzas 108 to 113.
At the beginning of stanza 108, Don Juan is trying to hold on for dear life but is being thrown around because of the treacherous waves of the ocean. The vocabulary that Lord Byron uses to describe what Don Juan is going through at this time is used to set a sad, depressing mood in which the reader may believe Don Juan will not survive. For instance, “There breathless, with his digging nails he clung Fast to the sand, lest the returning wave…”, this quote is the first line of 108 and sets the mood for the stanzas to follow. When I read this line, it was as though I was there seeing him hold on in order to survive.
There came a point in stanza 110, where I felt as though Don Juan was going to give up because of all the negative things that were occurring around him. He saw his ship mates’ body on the sand and he was continuing to sink. In reality, many people would be considering giving up since it seems as though there was nothing he could do. This is supposed to be an epic poem, but giving up is not what heroes in epic poems would do. There is no heroic deed done by Don Juan, except for the human’s instinct to give up when things seem to be going wrong.
This poem continues to show negative signs of this being an epic poem. In stanza 112 Don Juan seems to have truly given up by closing his eyes and hoping for death. It is not until a “lovely female face of seventeen” happens to swim by that he gains hope for life and forgets about the thoughts of death. If this is supposed to be an epic poem and Don Juan is supposed to be a heroic figure, then why is it that a seventeen year old female with a pretty face had to give him hope for survival?
Canto 2
Don Juan is an epic poem written by Lord Byron which most likely seen as a mock epic in which Byron criticizes the other deep thinking poets of his time. Byron’s mock of nature as the sublime is one of the big themes in the poem. In Don Juan’s Canto 2, stanzas 104-108 Byron uses word choice, rhymes, and imagery to portray nature as relentless and dangerous in contrast to Wordsworth who mostly describes nature and its positive attributes.
Byron’s use of words portraying danger, hopelessness, and fatality help to depict the ocean and nature as relentless. In lines 104-108 words such as wild, senseless, reluctant, danger, and clung are frequently used to describe the ocean and Don Juan’s experience with nature. For example, in line 104, the shore is described as, “wild, without a trace of man/ and girt by formidable waves.” Then once again in line 108 the sea he states,” There, breathless, with his digging nails he clung/ fast to the sand, lest the returning wave/ from whose reluctant roar his life he wrung/ should suck him back to her insatiate grave.” In addition these stanzas contain a lot of action verbs such as swimming, wading, scrambling, rolled, and digging. These action verbs allow the reader to feel the desperation and the need for Don Juan to survive.
Byron also utilizes imagery as a way to show how much force nature actually has. The way he describes the situation Don Juan is in makes the reader picture the ocean and the beach as life-threatening entities. In stanza 106, when describing swimming towards shore you can feel the desperation when Don Juan is described as swimming with “his boyish limbs” or when he described “the greatest danger here was from a shark.” In stanza 105 he also describes the river he learned to swim in as a “sweet river.” By making this contrast between what most of society knows as “nature” and what nature is actually like out at sea Byron is once again portraying nature as the sublime and a great and dangerous force. While describing these situations Byron is able to paint a picture for the reader so that the reader can feel what is going on in the poem.
Through the use of word choice, imagery and rhymes Byron successfully portrays nature to the extreme as a relentless force of evil. By portraying nature as such a dangerous, scary force Byron seems in some form to be mocking poets such as Wordsworth. Byron contrasts Wordsworth’s view of nature by depicting it as dangerous, negative, and something that should not be messed around with. It seems as though nature is a major character in the poem and is used in some ways as the major antagonist. It is what sets him back on his trip, and what almost takes his life. This is far off from how Wordsworth describes nature in The Prelude as a place where he develops his deepest thoughts and great mind. Nature is not nurturing in Don Juan but rather an evil.
Byron’s use of words portraying danger, hopelessness, and fatality help to depict the ocean and nature as relentless. In lines 104-108 words such as wild, senseless, reluctant, danger, and clung are frequently used to describe the ocean and Don Juan’s experience with nature. For example, in line 104, the shore is described as, “wild, without a trace of man/ and girt by formidable waves.” Then once again in line 108 the sea he states,” There, breathless, with his digging nails he clung/ fast to the sand, lest the returning wave/ from whose reluctant roar his life he wrung/ should suck him back to her insatiate grave.” In addition these stanzas contain a lot of action verbs such as swimming, wading, scrambling, rolled, and digging. These action verbs allow the reader to feel the desperation and the need for Don Juan to survive.
Byron also utilizes imagery as a way to show how much force nature actually has. The way he describes the situation Don Juan is in makes the reader picture the ocean and the beach as life-threatening entities. In stanza 106, when describing swimming towards shore you can feel the desperation when Don Juan is described as swimming with “his boyish limbs” or when he described “the greatest danger here was from a shark.” In stanza 105 he also describes the river he learned to swim in as a “sweet river.” By making this contrast between what most of society knows as “nature” and what nature is actually like out at sea Byron is once again portraying nature as the sublime and a great and dangerous force. While describing these situations Byron is able to paint a picture for the reader so that the reader can feel what is going on in the poem.
Through the use of word choice, imagery and rhymes Byron successfully portrays nature to the extreme as a relentless force of evil. By portraying nature as such a dangerous, scary force Byron seems in some form to be mocking poets such as Wordsworth. Byron contrasts Wordsworth’s view of nature by depicting it as dangerous, negative, and something that should not be messed around with. It seems as though nature is a major character in the poem and is used in some ways as the major antagonist. It is what sets him back on his trip, and what almost takes his life. This is far off from how Wordsworth describes nature in The Prelude as a place where he develops his deepest thoughts and great mind. Nature is not nurturing in Don Juan but rather an evil.
Don Juan, Canto II, Stanzas 100-216
Emanuela Kucik on Don Juan
In stanzas 100-216 of Canto II of Lord Byron’s Don Juan, Don Juan is the sole survivor of the shipwreck in the preceding stanzas. Juan manages to swim to an island, where he is rescued by the mistress Haidee and her maid, Zoe. As time passes, Juan and Haidee fall in love, and the canto ends without assurance of what exactly their relationship will lead to. One of the most interesting aspects of stanzas 100-216 is Haidee’s love for, and borderline obsession with, Juan. Byron uses visual imagery to depict the extent of Haidee’s love for Juan, particularly in the scenes in which Juan is sleeping and Haidee is watching over him.
This use of visual imagery in the sleeping scenes is exemplified in stanza 168. In this stanza, Haidee’s habit of coming into the cave early “to see her bird reposing in his nest,” is clearly depicted. The visual imagery in this stanza shows Haidee gently playing with Juan’s hair, so as not to wake him. The stanza continues to show Haidee “breathing all gently o’er his cheek and mouth,” a line which creates visual imagery clearly associated with both love and obsession. Since Haidee does not truly know Juan yet, I feel this borders more on obsession.
Haidee’s observation of Juan continues in stanza 171, which states that Juan woke to “the finest eyes,” implying that Haidee still watches Juan while he sleeps. This depiction of observation creates a clear visual image of a beautiful maiden standing over a sleeping, shipwrecked but beautiful man with a mixture of curiosity, love, and hope that she may restore him.
Through the visual imagery depicted in the scenes describing Haidee’s observation of Juan as he slumbers, Byron begins Juan and Haidee’s love story. Although Juan is unaware of Haidee’s watchful eyes as he sleeps, he is enraptured by those same eyes when he wakes. However, without the visual imagery created by Haidee’s watchfulness in the sleeping scenes, the depth of her passions would not be as clearly presented, for it is one thing to gaze lovingly at someone while he is awake, but it is another thing entirely to gaze lovingly at that person while he sleeps.
In stanzas 100-216 of Canto II of Lord Byron’s Don Juan, Don Juan is the sole survivor of the shipwreck in the preceding stanzas. Juan manages to swim to an island, where he is rescued by the mistress Haidee and her maid, Zoe. As time passes, Juan and Haidee fall in love, and the canto ends without assurance of what exactly their relationship will lead to. One of the most interesting aspects of stanzas 100-216 is Haidee’s love for, and borderline obsession with, Juan. Byron uses visual imagery to depict the extent of Haidee’s love for Juan, particularly in the scenes in which Juan is sleeping and Haidee is watching over him.
This use of visual imagery in the sleeping scenes is exemplified in stanza 168. In this stanza, Haidee’s habit of coming into the cave early “to see her bird reposing in his nest,” is clearly depicted. The visual imagery in this stanza shows Haidee gently playing with Juan’s hair, so as not to wake him. The stanza continues to show Haidee “breathing all gently o’er his cheek and mouth,” a line which creates visual imagery clearly associated with both love and obsession. Since Haidee does not truly know Juan yet, I feel this borders more on obsession.
Haidee’s observation of Juan continues in stanza 171, which states that Juan woke to “the finest eyes,” implying that Haidee still watches Juan while he sleeps. This depiction of observation creates a clear visual image of a beautiful maiden standing over a sleeping, shipwrecked but beautiful man with a mixture of curiosity, love, and hope that she may restore him.
Through the visual imagery depicted in the scenes describing Haidee’s observation of Juan as he slumbers, Byron begins Juan and Haidee’s love story. Although Juan is unaware of Haidee’s watchful eyes as he sleeps, he is enraptured by those same eyes when he wakes. However, without the visual imagery created by Haidee’s watchfulness in the sleeping scenes, the depth of her passions would not be as clearly presented, for it is one thing to gaze lovingly at someone while he is awake, but it is another thing entirely to gaze lovingly at that person while he sleeps.
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