Romantic Era: Lord Byron - from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (Lecture)
Summary
TLDRThe transcript discusses Lord Byron, emphasizing his flamboyant and rebellious personality. Despite being born with a clubfoot, Byron overcame obstacles and became an influential literary figure. He was known for his love affairs and self-exile but later gained fame for his contributions to literature and his support of the Greek revolution. The text explores Byron's romantic connection to nature, exemplified in his poem 'Apostrophe to the Ocean,' where he admires the timeless power of the sea, contrasting it with human fragility. The concept of the Byronic hero is also introduced, symbolizing rebellion and tragedy.
Takeaways
- 🎭 Lord Byron was known for his flamboyant personality and was considered a colorful figure of his day.
- 🦽 Byron was born with a clubfoot, which caused him embarrassment, but he overcame it and was accomplished in many activities.
- 🏰 He was born into nobility, but his fame was not due to his title alone; he was also a literary celebrity.
- ❤️ Byron was involved in numerous love affairs, which eventually led to his exile from England.
- 📚 He was friends with other literary figures like Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley, influencing each other's works.
- 🌊 Byron was a supporter of the Greek rebellion and helped train their soldiers before his untimely death.
- 📜 The term 'Byronic hero' is associated with him, describing a rebellious, bold, and dangerous individual.
- 📝 Byron's work 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage' reflects his love for nature and disillusionment with society.
- 🌊 In 'Apostrophe to the Ocean', Byron praises the ocean's vastness and timelessness, contrasting it with man's temporary impact on Earth.
- 🌍 The poem highlights the insignificance of human achievements and destructive tendencies when compared to the power of nature.
Q & A
Who was Lord Byron and what was his personality like?
-Lord Byron, also known as George Gordon, was a very interesting, outgoing, and flamboyant personality. He stood out from others and was considered the most colorful figure of his day.
What physical condition was Lord Byron born with?
-Lord Byron was born with a clubfoot, which caused him some embarrassment early on in his life.
How did Lord Byron overcome his physical condition?
-He was able to overcome his clubfoot and was accomplished in many activities and sports.
What was Lord Byron's social status at birth?
-He was born into his title and was considered a literary celebrity, but not necessarily nobility like a monarch.
What kind of trouble did Lord Byron get into?
-He got into trouble due to his numerous love affairs and eventually ran out his welcome in England.
What significant contribution did Lord Byron make to literature?
-His life and literary accomplishments led to the term 'Byronic hero' being associated with him, describing a rebellious, bold, and dangerous individual.
Who were the Shelleys that Lord Byron stayed with during his exile?
-He stayed with Mary Shelley, who wrote 'Frankenstein', and her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley.
How did Lord Byron die?
-He died young while in Greece, training their soldiers to help them in their rebellion.
What is the main theme of 'Apostrophe to the Ocean' from 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'?
-The main theme is Lord Byron's love for the ocean and nature, and how it is timeless and unchangeable compared to human endeavors.
What does Lord Byron mean when he says 'man marks the earth with ruin'?
-He means that human actions, such as war and pollution, have a destructive impact on the earth, but these effects do not extend to the ocean.
What is the significance of the line 'time writes no wrinkle on diners your brow'?
-It signifies that unlike humans and animals that age and show their age, the ocean remains unchanged and timeless.
Outlines
🎭 Lord Byron: The Byronic Hero
The paragraph delves into the life and character of Lord Byron, a prominent figure known for his flamboyant personality and rebellious nature. Despite being born with a clubfoot, Byron overcame his physical limitations and became accomplished in various activities. His aristocratic background did not define him, as he was known for his literary contributions rather than his title. His love affairs and eventual self-exile from England are mentioned, highlighting his controversial lifestyle. Byron's support for the Greek rebellion and his untimely death while training their soldiers showcase his commitment to causes he believed in. The concept of the 'Byronic hero' is introduced, linking it to Byron's life and literary influence, with references to other famous literary figures like Mary Shelley and Percy Shelley.
🌊 An Apostrophe to the Ocean: Byron's Love for Nature
This section of the script focuses on Lord Byron's poem 'Apostrophe to the Ocean,' from 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.' The poem is an apostrophe, a rhetorical device where the poet addresses an inanimate object or concept—in this case, the ocean. Byron expresses his love for the ocean and its vast, timeless nature, contrasting it with the destructive capabilities of mankind. He describes the ocean's indifference to human endeavors and the insignificance of human achievements when compared to the grandeur of nature. The summary also touches on the poem's exploration of themes like the fleeting nature of human endeavors and the enduring power of the natural world.
🌪️ The Power of Nature and Man's Insignificant Impact
The final paragraph continues the discussion on the poem 'Apostrophe to the Ocean,' emphasizing the ocean's enduring nature and the insignificance of human impact on it. The script contrasts the temporary marks humans leave on the earth with the ocean's unchanging character. It reflects on the ocean's ability to remain pristine despite human efforts to control or exploit it. The paragraph also touches on the limited human exploration of the ocean's depths compared to space, highlighting the vastness and mystery of the underwater world. The summary concludes by reiterating Byron's love for the ocean and the poem's message about the supremacy of nature over human endeavors.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Lord Byron
💡Byronic hero
💡Rebelliousness
💡Nature
💡Clubfoot
💡Love affairs
💡Self-exile
💡Mary Shelley
💡Percy Shelley
💡Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
💡Apostrophe
Highlights
Lord Byron was known for his flamboyant personality and standing out against the grain.
Byron was considered the most colorful figure of his day due to his rebellious nature.
He was born with a clubfoot but managed to overcome it and was accomplished in many activities.
Byron was born into his title and was somewhat of a celebrity in his time.
He gained literary relevance and fame for his works rather than just for being famous.
Byron self-exiled from England and supported the Greek rebellion, showing his championing of their cause.
Byron died young while training Greek soldiers for their rebellion.
The term 'Byronic hero' is associated with Lord Byron, signifying a rebellious and tragic figure.
Byron's life and literary accomplishments influenced later famous literary works.
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage suggests the character's inner nobility and quest for meaning.
The poem 'Apostrophe to the Ocean' from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage reflects Byron's love for the ocean.
Byron contrasts the temporary nature of man's impact on Earth with the ocean's timeless and unchanging nature.
The poem emphasizes the insignificance of man's control when compared to the vast power of the ocean.
Byron's view of the ocean as a mirror of the Almighty, reflecting the image of eternity.
The poem describes the ocean as unchangeable and superior to man's attempts at control.
Byron's personal connection to the ocean is revealed, as he recalls his youthful sports on its waves.
The poem concludes with Byron reiterating his love for the ocean and its enduring presence.
Transcripts
the Lord Byron George Gordon Lord Byron
very interesting very outgoing very
flamboyant personality he stood out I
mean if you can't tell by looking at
that picture you know he was a lot
different than a lot of people his back
history and such isn't necessarily
testable stuff but look I mean it just
really shows you how against the grain
he was um you know we even saw
Wordsworth even though he seemed very
dignified such he was against the grain
with regards to his beliefs in his
practices in in the literary world and
so we see this kind of era of
rebelliousness and such they say that
you know they call him the most colorful
figure of his day you know he was born
with a clubfoot which caused him some
embarrassment early on but he was able
to overcome it so he wasn't one to sit
back on his on his limits he was able to
still push it and he was accomplished in
many activities and sports the literary
celebrity down at the bottom had spoken
that he was a you know kind of born into
not necessarily nobility like a monarch
or anything but he was born into his
title he didn't do anything to achieve
it okay Hinda and he was an individual
that you know probably was a bit of a
celebrity to some degree he had the
money he was wanting it he it said that
he got in trouble because he had a lot
of love affairs going on he kind of ran
out his welcome and all of a sudden he
becomes a literary relevance so people
actually think wow you actually
contribute something instead of you're
famous for being famous kind like some
people we might be able to mention you
know celebrity wise and so then he
finally gets some fame get some
popularity and he does a lot of good
with it we see on besides kind of self
exiling himself from England what things
weren't going to also he leads and he
travels and stays with the Shelley's
that talks about Mary Shelley and Percy
shot Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein and
we'll talk about Percy Shelley later
this unit but you know so he travelled
around I mean one of the most
interesting features in this is one how
he died really young
just from
whoo but when he died what was he doing
all he was down in Greece training their
soldiers helping them for their
rebellion this is an individual who was
not Greek okay but he was there because
he was championing their cause and he
supported them and so he was helping
them fight and preparing them for
revolution and preparing them for the
battle and so we have this individual
armed you know who was a celebrity of
his era probably more so than a lot of
the individuals that we read and you can
see when it talks about that he was you
know his life as well as his literary
accomplishments you know were um you
know a mother laughter by you know PO on
8th annual Hawthorne Dostoyevsky Herman
Melville you know all these famous
literary works of you know later in the
1800s then you know and on a very very
key an integral person there is a term
called Byronic hero if you flip to 848
really quick a Byronic hero is kind of
associated to him okay with his name
Byron and such but this is an individual
who if you look at the bold points you
know is rebellious feels alienated about
something you know is a very bold and
very dangerous individual okay if you
look in the right-hand page and I want
you to read this page when you have time
you know people like James Dean you know
those people who have who lived and
played hard and you know we're brilliant
at whatever they did but you know they
they died young you know it was kind of
like a tragic type thing people said in
the last handful of years Heath Ledger
um you know it would been something
similar he was a bold person he was
rebellious you know in nature and such
and you know he had a you know kind of a
tragic end there and a lot of times when
the tragedy is somebody who is young and
had some sort of accomplishments
literary or you know in the world to
some degree that those individuals are
you know Byronic to some degree so we
see those qualities and characteristics
portrayed in that individual
back to his reading on a 8:45 from
childe Harold's Pilgrimage gate childe
Harold's Pilgrimage being back on says
that this is to suggest the characters
inner nobility and his quest for meaning
sick of society held in barks on a
series of journeys across Europe only to
encounter more disillusionment in the
wake of the Napoleonic war so Napoleon
you see the root word in there but this
particular piece is very short look at
the title of it okay the right below the
subtitle and this is from a larger work
but it's called apostrophe to the ocean
and if you remember apostrophes that's
when you are directing a statement
toward something that cannot reciprocate
it remember when we did the poems and
such Oh moon Oh sleep you know things of
that nature you don't expect to be to
have a conversation you're just talking
to that individual or thing okay
or idea I guess it could be like sleep
on it so this one is directed towards
the ocean okay our childe Harold's
Pilgrimage ' to the ocean from childe
Harold's Pilgrimage by George Gordon
Lord Byron ' to the ocean there is a
pleasure in the pathless woods there is
a rapture on the lonely shore there is
society where none intrudes by the deep
sea and music in its roar I love not man
less but nature more from these our
interviews in which I steal from all I
may be or have been before to mingle
with universe and feel what I can narak
spread cannot all conceal roll on thou
deep in dark blue ocean roll ten
thousand fleets sweep over the in vain
men marks the earth with ruin his
control stops with the shore upon the
watery plain the wrecks are all thy deed
nor doth remain a shadow of man's ravage
save his own when for a moment like a
drop of rain he sinks into thy depths
with bubbling groan without a grave uh
knelled on coffin
and unknown his steps are not upon my
paths
my fields are not a spoil for him thou
dust arise and shake him from thee the
vile strength he wields for Earth's
destruction thou dust all despise
spurning him from thy bosom to the skies
and send His Tim shivering in thy
playful spray and howling to his gods
were haply lies his petty hope in some
near port or Bey and dashes
him again to earth there let him lay the
armaments which Thunder strike the walls
of rock build cities bidding nations
quake and monarchs tremble in their
capitals the okhla by Athens whose huge
ribs make their clay creator the vain
titled take of Lord of thee and arbiter
of war these are thy toys and as the
snowy flake they melt into thy yeast of
waves which Mar alike the armadas pride
or spoils of Trafalgar by shores our
empires changed in all save thee Assyria
Greece Rome Carthage what are they
thy waters wash them power while they
were free and many a tyrant since their
Shores obey the stranger slave or savage
their decay has dried up realms to
deserts not so thou unchangeable save to
thy wild waves play time writes no
wrinkle on banaz your brow such as
creations Don beheld Val ro list now
thou glorious mirror where the
Almighty's form glasses itself in
tempest s' in all time calm or convulsed
in breeze or Gale or storm icing the
pole or in the torrid clime dark heaving
boundless endless and sublime the image
of eternity the throne of the invisible
even from out the slime the monsters of
the deep are made each zone obeys thee
thou goest forth dread fathomless alone
and I have loved the ocean and my joy of
youthful sports was on thy breasts to be
born like thy bubbles onward from a boy
I want and with thy breakers they to me
were a delight and if the freshening sea
made them a terror
twas a pleasing fear for I was as it
were a child of thee and trusted to thy
billows far and near and laid my hand
upon thy mane as I do hear from childe
Harold's Pilgrimage ' the ocean he is
addressing the ocean the water about how
big and how timeless start you know he
mentioned on that page and we'll get
there you know about the ships like
okhla vaya fans you know Leviathan is BC
in Atlantis remember the cartoon movie
Atlantis the Leviathan was the thing
that protects it so big monstrous thing
and so these ships that are like okhla
vaya thens are really just like toys and
if you think about it I mean just the
sheer size of that water and those waves
what they can do you know there are
aircraft carriers that are like cities
floating cities with tens of thousands
of people I imagine I don't know
definitely thousands of sailors okay but
you know they've land and they move
around and they have food and things
like that on there you know I mean it's
a self-sustaining city in essence and a
storm can just mess that thing all up if
there's a hurricane coming that ship
heads the other way tries to get around
it okay because it would turn it into
like a toy in a bathtub when you guys
used to have you know a little toy they
used to you know it's small in the grand
scheme of things that big the biggest
boat ever made is still pretty small
look what happens to you know Titanic
with nature and such that was the
biggest boat ever constructed and it
didn't even make it through its first
voyage
you know the 100-year anniversary is
coming up here next month of the sinking
maybe not the there rerelease in the
movie and I'm accessed off 3ds so that's
just for you a little bit of extra stuff
for today but the apostrophe on page 845
um you know he's very pleased with the
ocean he loves the ocean you know
talking about you know there is a you
know pleasure and rapture in this and I
love
man the less but I love nature more but
I love nature more and think back we've
talked about this a lot in this
particular unit about all of these
nature elements okay nature and the
nightmares and kids all those things
that influence writing and here we have
another individual as to why this
particular piece is a good
representation of that of that uh era um
man marks the earth I like this line ten
twelve run there man marks the earth
with ruin his control stops with the
shore so on earth man can just ruin and
war and all of this stuff but and
outside a pollution now and all of that
stuff you know the man's ruined it stops
at the shore okay because whether it's a
million years ago a thousand years ago
or two years ago we can go out you know
thirty feet into the water and look
straight out to the water and it's the
same view that we would have had a
million years ago okay
yes we can look at oil platforms now for
looking in the exact rights
okay man ceases to be able to control
that okay there are people would say you
know we've spent more time at the bottom
of the ocean or less time at the body
the bottom of the ocean you know then we
have in space meaning that we've
explored space more than we have the the
fathoms of the ocean and that's here on
earth there are worlds down there that
you know it's you know they're mountain
range is bigger than Mount Everest
underwater were you aware of that I mean
that's just the scope and size of what's
out there okay and just a little boat
out there I could do a lot of damage
okay a lot of damage could be thrust
upon that and really that's kind of what
is talking about the the rest of this
about the shoe size of it the the ships
and man and how nature Trump's all of
that I like the line forty four time
writes no wrinkle on diners your brow so
like with humans and a lot of it even
animals and such that people age and you
can tell their age by looking at them
with the ocean it just keeps going
thousand years from now they're still
unless we have some huge crazy something
happens
blows up we're going to have you know
waves coming in and the sound will be
identical in conclusion at the very end
he comes back from talking about all of
the size in his love for nature and sums
it back that you know and I have loved
the ocean so just in case you forgot
throughout these short two pages to whom
he was speaking or addressing we see
once again that it is nature and don't
forget what an apostrophe is okay
remember I told you when we learned it
that's hey you're going to need to
remember this and people tend to forget
for some strange reason even though it's
extremely easy to uh to spot okay
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