Byron Reading Responce #3

J. Andrew Hubbell of Susquehanna University sheds insight on the controversial issue of “Romantic eco-criticism”: “nature” and “dwelling”, throughout his article “A Question of Nature: Byron and Wordsworth.”  Hubbell examines the different sides in question; Wordsworth believes nature is the antithesis of culture, while Byron deconstructs false binary nature-culture and replaces both with “environment.” Hubbell notes that eco-criticism has two main terms to abide by, “nature” and “dwelling.” Dwelling is perceived as being a practice and a theory and is established between a person’s character and the physical place, creating a sense of home. Hubbell further deciphers how dwelling and wandering are opposites in a sense that tourists’ mentalities are aloof to the environment and to its inhabitants. When a tourist wanders, all that is noticed is how the land can be used for resources; without studying the dynamics that unite an environment and its inhabitants, the tourist cannot know the place, the meaning, and cannot have any ethical care for it. He goes on to say that the dwelling-wandering binary helps to emphasize two other binaries that inform the abysmal ecology that eco-criticism has used to study literature; nature-culture and “ecocentric-anthropocentric.” In this theory culture represents the modern city, modernism, “anthropocentrism” (regarding the human being as the central fact of the universe), and the domination over nature. The city is where humans aren’t exposed to the nature and thus, cannot have a sense of home or the “ethics to care for one’s environment.” Nature refers to the unharmed backcountry, the wild, and where a writer can successfully tap into environmental consciousness. Hubbell states that “Byron recognizes that as soon as “nature” is represented in art, it becomes a part of culture; there is no “nature” in art.” Byron is creating an example where culture and nature correspond with each other, in a sense that nature has a reconstructed meaning to any different culture, through the human point of view.  While Wordsworth presumes that nature is an “ecological understanding” and is isolated from culture. 
            My views have fluctuated greatly throughout annotating “A Question of Nature: Byron and Wordsworth. Hubbell recognizes key points that Wordsworth has created through his works about the differences of nature and culture, to really persuade an interested reader, like myself. He continues to contradict both poets on their beliefs, in addition, to changing my views toward favoring Byron’s theories. Hubbell brings to question the reason why Byron believes that culture and nature coincide, and affirms “that the external world is always already constructed by the human gaze…” When understanding what the quotes meaning was, I remembered the discussion our class took part in about the “soundless tree.” The discussion was relevant to the quote because a person has to experience something for the first time to ever acknowledge its existence. The sound of a tree descending towards the earth floor in the forest was never created until humans experienced the noise. Hubbell greatly exemplifies Byron’s thoughts about how nature is truly never pure, because in order to write, paint, or create art about nature, a person has to conduct a certain point of view on that object in order to properly recreate the scene in their works. Many people differ from each other in their views towards certain things, thus, nature can be discarded or recreated by any person who finds that piece of nature to fulfill their well-being. Hubbell explains a theory created by Byron, in which he analyzes why Venice is such a magnificent Italian city. Byron believes Venice is not such a great city because of the natural settings or the buildings but that humans believe the city is special. This example in the article truly shows the modern life-style of many people, because in today’s society, a person can treat a little bowl of left over soap as trash, while in a third world country people would “kill” for a bowl of that size and be thankful. Americans take for granted little things like throwing away food, wasting water, wasting money that could greatly change someone else’s unfortunate life. Byron realized that Greek culture had evolved from the environment surrounding them, while on tour he realized how great the culture was and how it respected the environment, unlike some cultures today.  Byron wrote poems about the interesting data he found in Greece. Hubbell states that these poems were Byron’s first “ecopoesis” and “have challenged the binary thinking of ecocriticism” ever since.

Friendships Lost

To hear the whimpers of the suspected. For they have committed a terrible crime. The screams that come from the exhausted mouths who try to prove not guilty.   No it’s never too late to change the heart of the convicted. Who don’t respect the people who lives are serene. Who simply waste their lives away drinking at taverns far from home.
Until it’s too late!
When a perfect man, woman, boy, girls’ life is taken. Their soul roaming freely like a butterfly that wafts in the blood stained air. Never, can a murderer forget the anger, hatred, malice, evil, sadness, anguish, misery, grief, agony, pain: that speaks on the face of the lost. To see death placed on a table for everyone to see. A person left without their mother, father, sister, brother. Their souls too, damaged from the hole that has replaced the love to sadness and despair.  Is it simply too late to desire anything better after causing the unforgettable accident?
Just one stupid mistake. The carelessness of driving. The responsibility behind the wheel.
Totally forgotten. Senses overtaken.
The red light, screeching brakes, the car. Seconds feel like minutes.
 Shattered glass, tangled mess of metal, fire, smoke, pedestrian screams, burning rubber,
blood spattered seats. The smell of bear lingering in the air.     
The culprit filled with regret. The hardened shell covering reality.  Waiting desperately for his friend to awaken. Realizing its all over.
Too often does this occur in the world. Desire for more until it’s out of reach. What humans would do, to get it all. Realizing what they really want in their heart is what they’ve already got.   
But it’s too late! The families hatred is eating away at the chance of ever being free again and seeing the outside world. Before entering the concrete cell all one can say is…
I’m sorry!
But it’s not enough.

The Blake Blog that's Better than the "Best Blake Blog"

At first glance “The Blake Blog that’s Better than the “Best Blake Blog”” pulled my attention because the title was not only large in size, but very entertaining and made me want to read on. This wonderful blog created by Austin Schwartz, Erika Hewgley, Veronica Sanchez, and MJ Roy really helped to refresh my memory about William Blake and all of his accomplishments throughout his life-time.
                I really enjoyed reading the all of the posts that the group provided. The layout was simple but very unique and created an old feeling from the time of William Blake. The visual at the top of the page really helped to introduce Blake and to help complete the overall look throughout the blog.
                The tiles of both their posts were sweet and to the point which is great for this kind of project. The Holy Thursday post really reached out to me and was very appealing. While I was reading, little things were explained very thoroughly like how the orphans were innocent and sweet even though they had very little. I connected to this poem very well because it showed me how someone with barely anything can have such a big heart and be very happy. What I also loved about this interpretation of the poem was how the children influenced and inspired adults to be and act in the same manner as they did. The children enjoyed going to church and connecting with God so much that they thought of attending church as a treat. In the last sentence of this post it state, “that it’s a sad lesson and the lesson many children on today should learn.” I agree totally with that statement because if kids today would realize how they don’t need toys and can find happiness in the nature, that the world would be a happier and better place.
                While reading the second post the biography of Blake, it really showed what kind of person he was as a child and an adult. He pursued writing and painting even when he was living very poorly. What taught me about Blake was how he was determined to write and paint even in tough situations and how working hard would eventually pay off. The sad part of Blake’s life was that he became well known after his death and he never really got to enjoy the happiness he brought to his fans.
                Overall the William Blake blog was presented very beautifully. They choose very good passages to reflect upon Blake’s life and his works. I was pleasantly surprised about the simplicity of navigating through their blog and believed that their hard work is going to pay off.

She Walks In Beauty

     In June of 1814, several months before he met and married his first wife Anna Milbanke, Lord Byron attended a party at Lady Sitwell’s. While at the party, he was inspired by the sight of his cousin, the beautiful Mrs. Wilmot, who was wearing a black spangled mourning dress. Lord Byron was further inspired by his cousin’s dark hair and fair face, the mingling of various lights and shades. This became the essence of his poem about her. According to Byron’s friend, James W. Webster, after seeing his cousin for the first time Byron had a few drinks and went to bed. He heard afterwards the Byron was in a sad state all night and woke up the next day and composed the charming lines upon her-She walks in Beauty like the Night.

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
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,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent

     In the first line of this poem there is a segment of a sentence which then continues onto the second line of the first stanza. I interpreted the first line as “She” referring  to Mrs. Wilmot as she “walks” carries the “beauty “ being her face “like the night” being the darkness, this could be confusing if the reader didn’t continue to the second line. “Of cloudless climes and starry skies” cloudless climes mean that the sky has no clouds and the starry skies mention that the sky is lite with stars. The first to sentences combine to show the opposing qualities of darkness and light that are shown in the features of Mrs. Wilmot’s face. The following lines of the first stanza refer to the woman’s face and eyes as reflecting both the greatest of dark and of light. She is also able to have both features in her face and still be breathtakingly beautiful, just like the cloudless night.
     The second stanza mentions that the lady’s face is nearly perfect and flawless. The shades and rays of dark and of light are in unison to create a beautiful charm within her face. This part of the poem signifies the romantic idea of how the lady’s inner beauty is mirrored by her outer beauty. Her thoughts are sweet and calm and they are shown in her face as pure and dear.  
     The first three lines describe physical characteristics of the woman and how her beauty could enlighten any person. The last lines of the third stanza are repetitious in a way that it states the inner mind is shown also with her facial expressions and how her face can shine like the cloudless night.

Lord Byron and Vampires

                The vampire myth has been part of human culture throughout recorded history. It has existed in different forms all over the world, predating ancient Egypt and continuing through to modern times. These legends have been incorporated into the lives of many humans and the main idea that comes from all of the stories remains similar to this, a creature that absorbs the life of another into itself through their blood. It is said that Lord Byron was one of the first authors to write about this creature, which has inspired the modern day vampire. During the Romantic period, a side-genre was produced and labeled gothic literature. It often explores the tormented condition of a creature between the extremes of faith and doubt, being and insignificance, love and hate- and suffering by an unknown guilt for some crime it cannot remember having committed. Such a description recalls the Byronic hero, a charming, seductive, privileged character with a devilish narcissism and desire to control. Coming from the Romantic roots was Dracula, which like many other characters, is directly linked with the Byronic hero.
                During the Romanticism era Lord Byron wrote a gothic novel that was extremely popular. This novel had many cursed heroes which had qualities that the devil would have, this appealed to many readers of the time, and continue to do so today. This particular gothic genre had distinct elements, among them the gothic villain, which the modern vampire characteristics are formed from. Byron through his works incorporated new characteristics to his villain that would eventually become known as the Byronic Hero.
                Byron’s poem “The Giaour” (1813) incorporates a character that has many vampire-like features. He has described the character to be handsome, passionate, bleak, cynical, dark, depressed, and mysterious. “The Giaour” contains similarities to stories like Dracula and other vampire literature. The poem centers on the hero’s love for a Muslim’s wife. Her husband throws her into the sea for her unfaithfulness, and the Giaour exacts his revenge. Before the Muslim dies, he places a curse of vampirism on the Giaour to make the Giaour suffer the loss of his love and the guilt of committing a murder.  These intertwining themes of love and guilt can be often found throughout the vampire legend, which was greatly inspired by Lord Byron.

The Adventures of Lord Byron

     Lord Byron was born 22 January 1788 in London and died 19 April 1824 in Missolonghi, Greece. He was among six of the most famous of English “Romantic” poets; in his time period Percy Shelly and John Keats were also revolutionizing Romanticism. His major works include Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812-1818) and Don Juan (1819-1824).
     As a child, Lord Byron grew up with the name of George Noel Gordon. Having clubfoot, his mother, Catherine Gordon, took him to Aberdeen, Scotland, where they lived in temporary homes with a small income. George attended the local grammar school there. George inherited the title and estates of his “wicked” great-uncle at the age of ten. When George arrived at the estates located in England, he instantly fell in love with the spacious halls and the grounds of Newstead Abbey. While living there George was privately tutored in Nottingham and his foot was doctored by a quack named Lavender. John Hanson, Mrs. Byron’s attorney, rescued George from the harms of May Gray, his previous nurse, who was said to have made advances on him at only the age of nine, and also the tortures of Lavender and the uneven tempers of his mother. He took him to London where he received a brace for his foot, and in autumn of 1799 went to a school in Dulwich.
     In 1801 Byron went to Harrow, where his friendships with younger boys were said to have sparked his latter sexual ambivalence, which became more pronounced at Cambridge and letter in Greece. IN the summer of 1803, Byron came in contact with his distant cousin Mary Chaworth. When she became tired of George, he satisfied his grief by writing gloomy poetry and Mary became the symbol of idealized and unattainable love. When he achieved fame and became the darling of London society, Mary came to regret her rejection.
     After completing a term a Trinity College, Byron left school for a while and then returned in the summer of 1807 to the college he formed a close friendship with John Cam Hobhouse, who stirred his interest in Liberal Whiggism. In 1809 he took his seat in the House of Lords, published an anonymous satire, and embarked with Hobhouse on a grand tour. Byron returned from the grand tour to London on 14 July 1811, and his mother died August 1 before he could reach her at Newstead. At the beginning of March 1812, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage was published by John Murray and took the town by storm.
     September 1814, Byron proposed to Anne Isabella Milbanke. They were married on 2 January, 1815. Lady Byron gave birth to a daughter, Augusta Ada, on the 10 of December, and in January she left Byron with the child to visit her parents and had the intentions of never returning back home.
On 5 October, Byron and Hobhouse left for Italy. While on this journey, in the summer of 1818 Byron wrote Don Juan, one of his most famous poems. Byron sold Newstead Abbey and cleared most of his debts, but the money didn’t solve any of his problems. He sunk into depression and grew fat and looked a lot older than his years. He met 19 year old Teresa Guicciolo in April 1819, who was a married woman to a man almost three times her age. Teresa left her husband and stayed with Byron in Italy. After a few years had gone past and Byron on July 1823 embarked in the service and fell ill on 15 February, 1824 which left him very weak. Unfortunately he caught a violent cold that August and slipped into a coma and died April 19, 1824.