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3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet can not all conceal"
I can't believe some of the lines Byron wrote. This long poem is, admittedly, a little less focused and more rambled than some of his other ones with a clear cut story and narrative. But that's kind of the point of Childe Harold. It covers a lot of ground, and it makes sense in that this one is the rambling narrative of our classic Byronic hero.
It's also one of the more quotable of his narrative poems as it covers so many aspects of life: death, love, longing, aimlessness, nature, freedom, democracy, pressures of life, and the vastness of both nature and the ocean.
"Which is his last, if in your memories dwell
A thought which once was his, if on ye swell
A single recollection, not in vain"
My memories do dwell.
What I can ne'er express, yet can not all conceal"
I can't believe some of the lines Byron wrote. This long poem is, admittedly, a little less focused and more rambled than some of his other ones with a clear cut story and narrative. But that's kind of the point of Childe Harold. It covers a lot of ground, and it makes sense in that this one is the rambling narrative of our classic Byronic hero.
It's also one of the more quotable of his narrative poems as it covers so many aspects of life: death, love, longing, aimlessness, nature, freedom, democracy, pressures of life, and the vastness of both nature and the ocean.
"Which is his last, if in your memories dwell
A thought which once was his, if on ye swell
A single recollection, not in vain"
My memories do dwell.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Byron is a true genius. That's what I found out after reading this book. He reminded me of Pushkin in some way.
Unfortunately, I read The Pilgrimage in Russian, I'm sure I've lost a good deal. The reason is that I just didn't dare to read it in the original with many archaic words that I would have failed to understand. Nevertheless, even in Russian the book didn't lose its charm!
Together with Childe Harold the book carries you to places like Spain, Greece and Turkey.
It's a breathtaking adventure!
Unfortunately, I read The Pilgrimage in Russian, I'm sure I've lost a good deal. The reason is that I just didn't dare to read it in the original with many archaic words that I would have failed to understand. Nevertheless, even in Russian the book didn't lose its charm!
Together with Childe Harold the book carries you to places like Spain, Greece and Turkey.
It's a breathtaking adventure!
going from tokyo ghoul to byron sure gave me some whiplash
As soon as I finished reading this, I gave it 4 stars. Having let it sit in my mind for a bit and now as I sit down to write this review, I’m going to change it to 5. The poetry itself (in four cantos) is very good and I’d rate Byron’s work a solid 4. However the notes in the edition I read were spectacular and pushed my rating up. The almost 100 pages of notes include history, social issues, and contemporary commentary. They are written in English, Latin, classical Greek and Italian, and cite present and classical authors in their native tongues. So very cool and even further accelerate my desire to learn Latin.
Byron wrote the first two cantos and published them. These are interesting and good, but I think he’s still feeling out where he’s going with it. By the third canto, I began to see the Byron of later works turn from seedling to blossom. He’s mastering speed, pacing and content and you can almost see him reflecting and growing as a poet. By the fourth canto, he is in his own, filling my heart and mind with each stanza.
Like in his Curse of Minerva, published the same year as the first two cantos of Childe Harold, Byron calls out those who have looted and stolen Greek treasures (such as the Elgin Marbles):
Byron wrote the first two cantos and published them. These are interesting and good, but I think he’s still feeling out where he’s going with it. By the third canto, I began to see the Byron of later works turn from seedling to blossom. He’s mastering speed, pacing and content and you can almost see him reflecting and growing as a poet. By the fourth canto, he is in his own, filling my heart and mind with each stanza.
Like in his Curse of Minerva, published the same year as the first two cantos of Childe Harold, Byron calls out those who have looted and stolen Greek treasures (such as the Elgin Marbles):
Dull is the eye that will not weep to seeAs I’m starting to look into Horace’s works, it was fun to run across this oft cited stanza:
Thy walls defaced, thy mouldering shrines removed
By British hands, which it had best behoved
To guard those relics ne'er to be restored.
Curst be the hour when from their isle they roved,
And once again thy hapless bosom gored,
And snatch'd thy shrinking Gods to northern climes abhorr'd!
Canto II: XV
Then farewell, Horace; whom I hated so,One thought I had continually as I read through Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage was that Byron’s poetry (and most poetry) should be read aloud. The cadences that develop as you speak it add another depth to the work. It’s almost like listening to classical music. You can hear it on one level and appreciate it, but sometimes, there’s something else just underneath perception that swells or crushes your heart. I get this with Mozart and I get it with many selections from Byron (e.g. this poem, Mazeppa, and parts of Manfred). Byron was a fan of Coleridge’s Christabel and Kubla Khan, and I can see why as those poems also carry beautiful imagery and pacing within them.
Not for thy faults, but mine; it is a curse
To understand, not feel thy lyric flow,
To comprehend, but never love thy verse,
Although no deeper Moralist rehearse
Our little life, nor Bard prescribe his art,
Nor livelier Satirist the conscience pierce,
Awakening without wounding the touch'd heart,
Yet fare thee well–upon Soracte's ridge we part.
Canto IV: LXXVII
There is only one word to describe this long poem: Sublime!
I enjoyed every moment of it despite the difficulty of the old language that made me look up the dictionary every few seconds. The notes in the Oxford Classics edition were very helpful and interesting!
I enjoyed every moment of it despite the difficulty of the old language that made me look up the dictionary every few seconds. The notes in the Oxford Classics edition were very helpful and interesting!
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Childe Harold is a complex poem. It is a travelogue, a spiritual pilgrimage, and an exploration of the self mediated through medievalism and ideas of chivalric romance.
The protagonist begins as a distanced version of Byron, but as contemporary readers refused to separate the poetic from the autobiographic, the lines between the 'I' of narrator, Childe Harold, and the author-poet begin to blur with each published Canto.
Although I did grow tired of the constant battle stanzas, there is no denying the incredible skill of Byron's work - or the plethora of highly quotable lines.
His exploration of the self through different guises, poetic styles, and cultural figures to the point of collapse is particularly effective. There is a depth to his string of allusions, and much to be found in the returns to comfort in process or movement, and the ever-present status of an exile.
Byron's poem is also unique within Romanticism as his sublime interactions with nature occur less through landscape, and more through the self-erasing, and ever-changing ocean.
This poem rich in potential and definitely one that benefits from re-reading.
The protagonist begins as a distanced version of Byron, but as contemporary readers refused to separate the poetic from the autobiographic, the lines between the 'I' of narrator, Childe Harold, and the author-poet begin to blur with each published Canto.
Although I did grow tired of the constant battle stanzas, there is no denying the incredible skill of Byron's work - or the plethora of highly quotable lines.
His exploration of the self through different guises, poetic styles, and cultural figures to the point of collapse is particularly effective. There is a depth to his string of allusions, and much to be found in the returns to comfort in process or movement, and the ever-present status of an exile.
Byron's poem is also unique within Romanticism as his sublime interactions with nature occur less through landscape, and more through the self-erasing, and ever-changing ocean.
This poem rich in potential and definitely one that benefits from re-reading.