A little curly-headed, good-for-nothing. And mischief-making monkey from his birth.
Juan, the youth, falls in love with Donna Julia, the beautiful wife of the old and respectable Don Alfonso. The young woman returns Juan's feelings, but his mother finds out about the love-affair and sends her son abroad "to mend his former morals".
The ship is caught in a storm and sinks several days after its departure. Juan escapes in a boat with thirty other passengers. The unfortunate are tossed about the boundless sea for days and days and, one by one, die of hunger and thirst. Juan alone survives and swims to the shore of an island where a famous smuggler and pirate Lambro ['laembrau] lives. Juan is found by the only daughter of Lambro Haidee [hai'di:]. She takes care of him. The young people fall in love. Suddenly Lambro returns to the island. The lovers are discovered and forcibly separated. Juan is sold into slavery to Turkey and Haidee dies of a broken heart. Juan is bought in a slave market by the Turkish sultana. He is sent to the harem in the guise of a woman. He lives through many adventures there. At last he escapes from Turkey and gets to the Russian camp near Ismail [ : 'i:l], a Turkish fortress sieged by land and water by Suvorov's armies. Byron gives realistic pictures of the storming of Ismail under the command of the great Suvorov.
On Ismail's surrender Juan is sent to St Petersburg with the news of the victory and is received at the court of Empress Catherine. Soon he leaves Russia, travels through Europe, and finally lands in England.
After staying in the country for some time, Juan understands that the policy of England does not follow the principles of true freedom. But many lines of the poem, on the other hand, show the author's love for his native country, for its people, nature and art.
In the last part of the poem Juan, accompanied by a group of guests, visits the country seat of a Lord Amundeville to take part in a foxhunt. Juan is a success with the ladies. Here the narrative breaks off. Canto the 17th of Don Juan remained unfinished. However in the letters
Byron spoke about the end of the poem. He wanted his hero to take part in the French Revolution and die fighting for freedom.
There are practically two heroes in the poem. One is the literary hero Don Juan who lives and gains his knowledge of life within the framework of the plot. The other is the poet himself.
"Almost all Don Juan", Byron wrote in one of his letters, "is real life, either my own, or from people I knew".
As Juan's adventures cover a considerable part,of Europe it gives his author an opportunity to describe different countries, to comment on politics and relations between men and to give a satiric portrait of his contemporary society. The poem is marked not only for its criticism and realistic portrayal, but for its revolutionary ideas as well.
In the extract given here Byron addresses the free and happy people of the future living in the golden age of freedom, peace and happiness. The poet expresses his hatred of "tyrants" and "thrones" that must be overthrown in order to free mankind. Thrones, in the golden age of freedom and happiness, are objects of curiosity in museums.
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To the Free People of the Future
(From Don Juan, Canto VIII)
... I will teach, if possible the stones
To rise against earth's tyrants. Never let it
Be said1 that we still truckle unto thrones2;
But ye3 our children's children! think how we
Showed what things were before the world was free!
That hour is not for us, but 'tis4 for you. And as, in the great joy of your millennium5, You hardly will believe such things were true As now occur, I thought that I would pen you'em6;
1 Never let it Be said
2 still truckle unto thrones , . .
3 ye you .
4 'tis it is .
5 millennium [mi 'leniam]
6 1 would pen you 'em (them)
But may their very memory perish too!'
Yet if perchance2 remembered, still disdain you'em3
More than you scorn the savages of yore4,
Who painted their bake limbs, but not with gore5.
Vocabulary
boundless ['baundhs] pirate ['paiant] n
empress ['empns] n prime [praim] n
extract ['ekstrsekt] n separate ['separeit] v
forcibly f/fosabli] adv smuggler ['srrjAgta] n
flamework ffreimw3:k] n , - sultana [ssl'tamg] n
surrender [sg' rends] n
guise [gaiz] n survive [sg'vaiv] v ,
harem ['hesrem] n toss [rns] v ,
mischief-making fmistfifmeikir)]
Questions and Tasks
1. When was Don Juan written?
2. Give a brief summary of the contents of Don Juan.
3. How many cantos of the poem were finished?
4. How did Byron want to finish the poem?
5. How many heroes are there irwthe poem? What are they?
6. What gives Byron an opportunity to describe different countries, to comment on politics and relations between men?
7. Speak on the main idea of the poem.
8. Comment on the extract of the poem given here.
Political Poetry
The "luddite" theme is quite important in Byron's poetical work. In his speech on the framework bill (1812) in the House of Lords Byron opposed the government's reactionary policy and defended the
Luddites. He said, "You call these men a mob1, desperate, dangerous and ignorant;... Are we aware of our obligations to a mob? It is the mob that labour in your fields and serve in your houses, that man your navy, and recruit your army, that have enabled you defy all the world, you can also defy you when neglect and calamity have driven them to despair! You may call the people a mob, but do not forget that a mob too often speaks the sentiments of the people."
Four days after his speech in Parliament anonymous Ode appeared in a morning newspaper. 'The title (Ode) was very ironic, because an Ode is supposed to be a poem, or a song, recited on formal occasions. Byron's Ode to the Framers of the Frame Bill was a combination of biting satire, revolutionary romanticism and democratic thought.
In the Ode the anonymous poet gave a remedy against the rebellious weavers, who came to their masters to ask for help. He suggested the best thing to do was to hang them.
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The poet stressed that men are cheaper than machinery; and if they were hanged around Sherwood Forest for breaking the machinery, it would improve the scenery.
Those who had heard Byron in Parliament had no difficulty in recognizing the author of the Ode, for in the verse Byron repeated most of the thoughts expressed in his speech.
In 1816 Byron wrote his famous Song for the Luddites in which he called upon the people to revolt against their tyrants. It is considered one of the first revolutionary songs in English classical poetry.
Songfor the Luddites
I
As the Liberty lads o'er the sea2
Bought their freedom, and cheaply, with blood,
So we, boys, we
Will die fighting, or live free.
And down with all kings but King Ludd!
1 may their very memory perish too
2 perchance [pa'tfains] perhaps
3 still disdain you'em (them)
4 of yore .
5 gore blood .
1 a mob a crowd
2 Liberty lads o'er (over) the seai.e. Americans who fought for the independence
of their country.
A-
When the web that we weave is complete,
And the shuttle exchanged for the sword,
We will fling the winding sheet
O'er the despot at our feet,
And dye it deep in the gore he has pour'd.
Ill
Though black as his heart its hue,
Since his veins are corrupted to mud,
Yet this is the dew
Which the tree1 shall renew
Of Liberty, planted by Ludd!
The importance of Byron's poetic works, especially of his political poems, is very great. Translated by Russian poets, Byron's poetry has become a part of our national culture. In Russia, Pushkin and Lermontov were among his admirers. Pushkin called him the "ruler of people's thought". Belinsky called him the Prometheus [ mi:Gju:s] of the century. Hertzen called his poetry "a word of fire". Maxim Gorky said that Byron was one of those writers "who were honest and severe in their exposure of the vices of the ruling classes" and "who had the ability and courage" to write, the truth.
Byron's influence on the minds of such great poets as Heine2 and Mitzkevitch3 was very great.
Byron remains one of the most popular English poets both at home and abroad.
Vocabulary
anonymous [o'lmrumss] calamity [ka'laemiti] n
aware [a'wes] defy [di'fai] v ; -
to be aware
1 The Tree of Liberty daring the First Bourgeois Revolution in France
(1789 1793) a symbolic procedure [ ' sv.d^s] was established by planting trees of Liberty. Byron refers to this custom.
2 Heine ['hama], Henrich (1794 1856) , .
3 Mitzkevitch, Adam , .
| Prometheus [pra'mi:9ju:s] n rebellious [n'beljas] recruit [n'kruit] v remedy ['remsdi] n sentiment f'sentimant] n , shuttle ['JXtl] n tyrant ['taisrent] n web [web] n winding-sheet ['wamdmTkt] n |
desperate ['despsnt]
dew [dju:]
exposure [lks'psigs] n fling [flin] v (flung) gore [go:] n hue [hju:] n man [mffin] v neglect [ru'glekt] v obligation [ubli'geijbn] n oppose [a'psuz] v
Questions and Tasks
1. Where does the "luddite" theme appear in Byron's works?
2. Comment on the Ode to the Framers of the Frame Bill.
3. Speak on the main idea of Song for the Luddites.
4. Discuss Byron's place in English literature.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)
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Percy Bysshe Shelley ['p3:si 'bif' feih] was the most progressive revolutionary romanticist in English literature.
Like Byron, he came of an aristocratic family and like Byron he broke with his class at an early age.
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| Percy Bysshe Shelley |
He was born at Field Place, Sussex. His father was a baronet. Shelley was educated at Eton public school and Oxford University. There he wrote a pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism feiGnzam] for which he was expelled from the University. His father forbade him to come home. Shelley had an independent spirit, and he broke with his family and his class for ever. He travelled from one town to another, took an active part in the Irish liberation movement and at last left England for
Italy in 1818. There he wrote his best poetry. Shelley's life was mainly spent in Italy and Switzerland, but he kept ties with England.
In 1822 the poet was drowned. When his body was washed ashore he was cremated by Byron and his other friends. His remains were buried in Rome. The inscription on his tomb reads:
Percy Bysshe Shelley Cor Cordium1
Like Byron, Shelley was devoted to the revolutionary ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity. He believed in the future of mankind. He never lost faith in the power of love and good will. He thought that if men were granted freedom and learned to love one another they could live together peacefully. This hope fills his first poems Queen Mab (1813), The Revolt of Islam ['izla:m] (1818) and his later poetic drama Prometheus Unbound [pra'mirGjas /vn'baund]
The plot of the poem Queen Mab is symbolic. Queen Mab, a fairy, shows the past, present and future of mankind to a beautiful girl. Queen Mab shows the ideal society of the future where men are equal, free and wise.
The Revolt of Islam is a romantic and abstract poem, but it is a revolutionary one. Shelley protested against the tyranny of religion and of the government, gave pictures of the revolutionary movement for freedom and foretold a happier future for the whole of mankind.
In Prometheus Unbound Shelley gives the Greek myth his own interpretation. He sings of the struggle against tyranny. The sharp conflict between Prometheus and Jupiter ['] (the chief of the Roman gods) is in the centre of the drama. Prometheus is bound to a rock by Jupiter for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mankind. The huge spirit Demogorgon f dimax/ :], representing the Creative Power, defeats Jupiter and casts him down. Prometheus is set free and reunited with his wife Asia (Nature). The fact that Jupiter is dethroned symbolizes change and revolution. Now the mind of man can look forward to a future which is "good, joyous, beautiful and free".
1 Cor Cordium the heart of hearts
When Shelley got news that the workers of Manchester had been attacked by government troops, his indignation was aroused, and he immediately wrote the poems The Masque of Anarchy [' ma:sk 3v 'aenaki] and Song to the Men of England. In the first part of the poem The Masque of Anarchy the procession of horrible masks may be regarded as an allegorical picture of the then rulers of England. In the second part the poet sings the men of England, their strength and future victory. He calls on them to rise against their human leeches.
Rise, like lions after slumber In unvanquishable number!1 Shake your chains to earth, like dew Which in sleep had fall'n2 on you: Ye are many they are few.
(The Masque of Anarchy, XCI)
In his great lyric Song to the Men of England Shelley calls upon the workers to take up arms in their own defence. This poem and other revolutionary poems of his became the popular songs of the workers.
Song to the Men of England
Men of England, wherefore plough For the lords who lay ye3 low? Wherefore weave with toil and care The rich robes your tyrants wear?
Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save, From the cradle, to the grave, Those ungrateful drones who would Drain your sweat nay4, drink your blood?.
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1 In unvanquishable number
2 fall'n . fallen
3 ye you
4 nay no
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| Shelley lived a short life. He was only twenty-nine when he died. But the working people of England did not forget the poet who had been their champion and friend. Shelley's entire life and art were devoted to struggle against oppression and tyranny in every form. |
| 1. What family did Shelley come from? 2. Where was he educated? 3. Why was he expelled from the university? 4. Why did Shelley break with his family? 5. Where did he live after he had left England? 6. When did he die? 7. How did it happen? 8. Why can we call Shelley the most progressive revolutionary romanticist? 9. Name his first notable works. Relate briefly the plot of these works. 10. On what occasion was the poem The Masque of Anarchy written? 11. Comment on the poem Song to the Men of England. 12. Describe Shelley's lyrical poems. 13. Express the idea of the poem The Cloud in some sentences. 14. What can you say about Shelley's place in English literature? |
The seed ye sow, another reaps; The wealth ye find, another keeps; The robes ye weave, another wears; The arms ye forge, another bears.
Sow seed, but let no tyrant reap; Find wealth, let no impostor heap; Weave robes, let not the idle wear; Forge arms, in your defence to bear.
Shelley is also known as the author of many lyrical poems devoted to nature and love. He was sure that the world and nature are ever changing, ever developing to higher forms. He was very fond of nature, he wrote of the clouds, and of the wind and of the high snow-covered mountains. Yet above all other things he loved the sea. Among his nature poems are The Cloud, To a Skylark, Ode to the West Wind, Winter and many others.
The Cloud
I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,
From the seas and Streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under,
And the again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.
Shelley's poetry is musical, deeply sincere, and original in form.
Vocabulary
bind [bamd] v (bound) cast [ka:st] v (cast)
to cast down cradle ['kreid] n cremate [kn'meit] v dethrone [di'Greun] v dissolve [di'zolv] v drain [drem] v drone [drsun] n flail [fleil] n
forbade [fa'beid] v past forbid forbid [fs 'bid] v (forbade; forbidden)
foretell [for'tel] v (foretold) foretold [fofteuld] v past . . foretell forge [foxtj] v grant [gra:nt] v
Questions and Tasks
hail [heil] heap [hi:p] v idle [aidl] impostor [im'psustg] n inscription [m'sknpjgn] n interpretation [in,t3:pn'teijbn] n lash [laef] v leech [li:tj] n liberation [Jiba'reifsn] n myth [miG] n reap [ri:p]
represent [,repn'zent] v robe [] slumber ['sUmbs] n sweat [swet] n tie [tai] n wield [wi:ld] v
Walter Scott (1771-1832)
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Walter Scott ['wo:to'start], the father of the English historical novel, was born in the family of a lawyer. His mother was the daughter of a famous Edinburgh physician and professor. She was a woman of education and stirred her son's imagination by her stories of the past as a world of living heroes.
As Walter was lame and a sickly child he spent much of his boyhood on his grandfather's farm near the beautiful river Tweed. He entered into friendly relations with plain people and gained first-hand knowledge of the old Scottish traditions, legends and folk ballads.
At the age of eight Walter entered the Edinburgh High School. Later Walter Scott studied law at the University. Though he was employed in his father's profession he was more interested in literature than in law.
As a boy and man he was fond of spending time in the country in the Highlands and in the Border. He collected and studied the native ballads, legends, folk-songs and poems.
Walter Scott's literary career began in 1796 when he published translations of German ballads.
In 1802 he prepared a collection of ballads under the title of The Minstrelsy' of the Scottish Border.
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In 1804 Walter Scott gave up the law entirely for literature.
His literary work began with the publication of The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), a poem which made him the most popular poet of the day. A series of poems followed which included
1 The Minstrelsy the singing of minstrels. A minstrel in the Middle Ages a singer of old ballads and songs.
Marmion [' maimjan] (1808) and The Lady of the Lake (1810). These poems brought fame to the author. They tell us about the brave Scottish people, their past and the beauty of their homeland.
Soon, however, Scott realized that he was not a poetic genius, and he turned to writing in prose.
Scott's first historical novel Waverley [ 'wervali] published in 1814 was a great success and he continued his work in this new field. Novel after novel came from his pen. His novels appearpd anonymously. Nobody knew he was a writer. From 1814 to 1830 he wrote 29 novels, many of which are about Scotland and the struggle of this country for independence. Such novels as Waverley, Guy Mannering (1815), The Antiquary [di'sentikwan] (1816), The Black Dwarf [dwo:f] (1816), Old Mortality (1816), Rob Roy (1818), The Heart of Midlothian [mid 'taixJjan] (1818) describe Scotland in the 18th century.
The Bride of Lammermoor ['laemsmua] (1819) and The Legend of Montrose (1819) have the 17th century background.
fvanhoe ['arvanhau] (1820) deals with the English history of the 12th century.
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The Monastery (1820), The Abbot and Kenilworth [ 'kemlw3:0] (1821) describe the times of Mary Stuart and Queen Elizabeth.
Quentin Durward ['kwentin 'd3:wad] (1823) refers to the reign of Louis [' lui] XI in France.
It was only in 1827 that Walter Scott declared openly the authorship of his novels. He worked hard. The writer turned out, on an average, a novel and a half a year. His mind was so crowded with stories, characters and incidents that invention came without apparent effort.
Misfortune struck the great novel
ist in 1825 1826: the publishing firm,
where he had been partner went bank- Sir Waiter Scott was buried
rupt. Walter Scott had to pay a large in the Abbey of Dryburgh
sum of money. This affected his health and he died on September 21, 1832 at his estate in Abbotsford.
Walter Scott was buried at Dryburgh Abbey.
Walter Scott was the creator of the historical novel in English literature. He realized that it was the ordinary people who were the makers of history and the past was not cut off from the present but influenced it. This romantic love of the past made him create rich historical canvases with landscape and nature descriptions, as well as picturesque details of past ages. His descriptions of the life, customs and habits of the people are realistic. We can agree with Belinsky that the reader of Scott's novels becomes, in a way, a contemporary of the epoch and a citizen of the country in which the events of the novel take place.
Walter Scott was the first to depict personalities typical of the period and the country described. His characters are vivid and expressive.
This makes Walter Scott one of the greatest masters of world literature. His influence can be seen in the historical novels of almost every nation.
Vocabulary
affect [a'fekt] v canvas ['ksenvas] n
anonymously [a'nommgsli] effort f'efst] n
apparent [a'pasrent] entirely [m'taiali] adv
background ['baskgraimd] - physician [fi'zijbn] n
plain [plem]
bankrupt f baerjkrapt] sickly ['sikli]
to go bankrupt stir [st3:] v
Questions and Tasks
1. Give a brief account of Walter Scott's life.
2. How did he acquire his vast knowledge of ballads, legends, folk-songs?
3. What was the beginning of his literary career?
4. What poems brought fame to the author?
5. Why did he turn to writing in prose?
6. What was Walter Scott's first historical novel?
7. What was the main historical theme he wrote about in his first novels?
8. Name Walter Scott's novels which describe Scotland.
9. What other themes did he touch upon in his novels?
10. What novels did he write about England and France?
11. How many novels did Walter Scott write from 1814 to 1830?
12. What misfortune struck the great novelist in 1825-1826?
13. Why was he obliged to work very hard?
14. When did he die?
15. What is the contribution of Walter Scott to the development of the historical novel in English literature?
Ivanhoe
Among the outstanding historical novels of Walter Scott Ivanhoe is one of the best. The events described in Ivanhoe take us back to the 12th century England. The scene of the novel is set in England during the reign of Richard I in about 1194. The power is in the hands of the Normans who oppress the conquered Anglo-Saxons.
King Richard I is engaged in the crusades. During his absence the country is ruled by his brother John who is very cruel to the people. The Anglo-Saxon nobility fights the Normans however they can. Cedric fsi:dnk] the Saxon also tries to keep the former privileges for his people. He has even disinherited his son Wilfred Ivanhoe who upset his father's plans and later became a devoted follower of the Norman King Richard.
When Richard I and Ivanhoe return to England, Ivanhoe, under the name of "Disinherited", takes part in a tournament. Cedric and his ward Lady Rowena [ 'i:na] recognize him. In the next days' sports he is wounded. An old Jew, Isaac farzak] of York, and his daughter Rebecca, whom Ivanhoe once helped, take care of him. On their way from the tournament Cedric and lady Rowena meet Isaac and the wounded Ivanhoe. All of them are seized by the Templars1, dressed as outlaws, and carried to the castle of a Norman feudal, Torquilstone. Under the command of Robin Hood and Richard I the castle is attacked and the prisoners set free. Cedric and Rowena return home, but Rebecca has disappeared. She has been carried off by Sir Brian ['braian], one of the Templars. When
1 the Templars -
the Grand Master of the Templars hears of the influence that Rebecca has over Sir Brian, he commands the knight to give her up as a witch. Ivanhoe fights in her defence.
The marriage of Ivanhoe and Rowena takes place shortly afterwards. Rebecca and her father leave England for Spain where they hope to find better protection than they received in England.
The central conflict of the novel lies in the struggle of the Anglo-Saxons against the Norman barons. The Anglo-Saxons have no right in their own land. There is no equality among themselves, either. Class interests give rise to a bitter struggle. The Norman conquerors also fight for power among themselves.
