To the student of literature the first half of the 19th century is
the age of Byron.
In language which was intelligible and
persuasive, under shapes and forms which were suggestive and inspiring,
Byron delivered a message of liberation. There was a double motive at
work in his energies as a poet. He wrote, as he said, because "his
mind was full" of his own loves, his own
grief, but also to register
a protest against some external tyranny of law or faith or custom. His poems were a liberal
education in the manners and customs of "the gorgeous East," in the
scenery, the art, the history and politics of Italy and Greece. He
widened the horizon of his contemporaries, bringing within their ken
wonders and beauties hitherto unknown or unfamiliar.
It cannot be denied that he
stands out from other poets of his century as a great creative artist,
that his canvas is crowded with new and original images, additions to
already existing types of poetic workmanship. It has been said that
Byron could only represent himself under various disguises, that Childe
Harold and The Corsair, Lara and Maid Red and Don
Juan, are variants of
a single personality, the egotist who is at war with his fellows, the
generous but nefarious sentimentalist who sins and suffers and yet is to
be pitied for his suffering. None the less, with whatever limitations as
artist or moralist, he invented characters and types of characters real
enough and distinct enough to leave their mark on society as well as on
literature.
Lord Byron......