byron tutorial notes

8/11/2019 Byron Tutorial Notes

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Lord Byron

Family Background

Byron’s father – Captain John (‘Mad Jack ’) Byron – married Byron’s mother for her

considerable fortune and abandoned her when it was used up.He died in France in !".

#hen his uncle – ‘$he #ic%ed &ord’ – died in !"' eor*e became the +th &ord Byron.

Byron inherited the debt,ridden de-astated estate of ewstead /bbey a mediae-al priory

dissol-ed by Henry 0111.1t was a perfect ‘Gothic’ ruin.

Determining Factors

$wo factors seem to ha-e defined the life of George Gordon (!'','23)4

his disabilityhis good looks and sexual experiences

Physical Questions

Byron had an in,*rowin* (‘club’) foot that made it difficult for him to wal%.

He tended to o-ercompensate for this by bein* obsessi-e about those sports that he could

participate in4 bo5in*

shootin*

fencin*horsemanship and abo-e all

swimming

Byron had been a chubby child and he was obsessed about *ettin* fat6

he had what we would call today an ‘eatin* disorder’.

Byron occasionally too% laudanum for recreational purposes.

Byron !ex

Byron was by all accounts – includin* 7tendhal’s – incredibly *ood,loo%in*.

/s with 8on Juan it is easy to define the life of eor*e ordon in terms of se5.

/s a preteen he was sexually molested by his nurse May Gray

and later by Lord Grey de "uthyn (who rented ewstead /bbey).



#hilde $arold %he Byronic $ero

1n '9" 2,year,old Byron set off on a Grand %our of :urope ('9",).

Britain was at war with France so instead of startin* there he went to 7pain and ;ortu*al

and from there to <alta /lbania reece and $ur%ey.

His e5periences in southern :urope were to form the basic of

Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage ('2), Childe Harold was Byron’s first Byronic Hero4 =a man proud moody cynical with

defiance in his brow and misery in his heart a scorner of his %ind implacable in

re-en*e yet capable of deep and stron* affection.> (<acaulay)

$he Byronic hero was modelled after Byron’s central fi*ures in such wor%s as

Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage ('2,')

The Bride of Abydos ('?)

The Giaour ('?)The Corsair ('3)

Manfred ('!) andCain ('2).

$he fi*ure is deri-ed from such di-erse sources as4the 'th,century Sturm und Drang mo-ement

the con-entional -illain,hero of the othic narrati-e (preoccupied with secret sin

later re-ealed in the narrati-e6 dar% handsome with melancholy broodin* eyes).

the #anderin* Jew;rometheus

oethe’s Faust

<ilton’s 7atan apoleon and

Byron himself. He was an =irresistible combination of beauty pedi*ree se5ual

challen*e re-olutionary heroism> (/n*us Calder) but his Cal-inist bac%*round alsolent to his personality a dar% sense of fate and inescapable doom.

From this time historians be*an to tal% in terms of historical mo-ements relegating the

importance of the indi&idual.$he Byronic@apoleonic hero maintained the popular 'antasy that the indi-idual ‘willed’

history.

$he 0ictorians romanticiAed the mediae-al a*e for the same reasons.



$he Byronic hero is

a rebel proudly defiant in his attitude towards con-entional social codes and

reli*ious beliefsan exile or outcast hun*erin* for an ultimate truth to *i-e meanin* to his life in a

seemin*ly uni-erse.

an indi-idualist with an e5traordinary capacity for passion he suffers deeply fromremorse o-er moral or spiritual trans*ression6

throu*h his solitary wanderin*s amon* awesome landscapes he yearns to pur*e

himself of demonic sel'(destructi&eness.

8espite his ‘crime’ or ‘sin’ he remains a sympathetic fi*ure for he is not *uilty of

intentional cruelty.

His nobility in grie' inspires awe6

, his capacity for elo)uence testifies to his e5traordinary sensibility.

&ater -arieties of the type appear inCharlotte Bront’s "ochester ( Jane Eyre '3!)

:mily Bront’s $eathcli'' (uthering Heights '3!)$he Byronic hero had a stron* influence on Batman.

otice howe-er that Don Juan is most definitely $ a Byronic hero.

$he confusin* between Byron the man and the Byronic hero meant that Byron ar*uably

initiated celebrity culture as we %now it today.



Back in *ngland

1n '3 (a*ed 2+) he had an affair with #laire #lairmont stepdau*hter of #illiamodwin

who bore him an ‘ille*itimate’ dau*hter Clara /lle*ra.

He had an adulterous affair with &ady #aroline Lamb

, the niece of the 8uchess of 8e-onshire and

, wife of #illiam &amb the future ;rime minister (when he was %nown as &ord<elbourne.

7he famously described him as =<ad bad and dan*erous to %now>.

He also probably had an incestuous affair with his own half,sister +ugusta Leighwhose dau*hter :liAabeth <edora &ei*h was probably his.

%he *xile

$hese scandals dro-e Byron into e5ile in '+ ne-er to return.

1n southern :urope he was freer to pursue his se5ual interests (both male and female)

#hile stayin* in Da-enna with the count Guiccioli he shared the count’s wife with him.

1n 0enice ('',") he claimed to ha-e been with 299 different women on consecuti-e

ni*hts.

Ensurprisin*ly he suffered from !%Ds (-enereal diseases).

He also had an affair with Pushkin,s lo&er Calypso ;olichroni.

He had se-eral se5ual encounters with teenage boys and a homose5ual affair with:ustathius eor*iou amon* others.

1n ' he married /nnabella <illban%e first cousin to &ord <elbourne. $heir dau*hter/da &o-elace would *row up to be one of the *reat mathematicians of the "th Century.



+n -ncestuous #li)ue

$he ‘incestuousness’ of this cliGue wasn’t ust se5ual4Byron’s doctor 8r John #illiam ;olidori was the uncle of 8ante abriel Dossetti.

Byron’s ser-ant $ita later wor%ed for 8israeli.

$he real connection between Byron and his poem Don Juan is the astonishin* &ariety o'

moods they share4

*loom ecstasy flippancy indi*nation pride self,immersion self,assertion *uilt

insouciance sentimentality nostal*ia optimism and pessimism.

Death in Greece

1f Byron had li-ed he would probably ha-e been in-ited to become the Iin* of reece.

8espite the fact that Byron was only ?+ when he died in '23 the condition of his brain

and his s%ull were found by his ree% doctors to be in a state normally associated withe5treme old a*e.

Don Juan

Don Juan is the most accessible important lon* poem in the :n*lish lan*ua*e.

Byron is almost ne-er obscure in his writin* and his hallmar%s are lucidity and ener*y.

He uses collo)uial language rather than poetic diction.

ne of the most stri%in* features of Don Juan is the double focus.

#e are interested both in

the ad-entures of the eponymous hero andthe character and witty cynical di*ressions of the narrator.

$he narrator acts somethin* li%e the Homeric *ods manipulatin* and controllin* theworld of Juan.

$he poem was influenced by the picares)ue no&el and this is the first time an important

poem in :n*lish was influenced by the emer*in* *enre of the no-el.

Byron ta%es from $irso de <olina’s character his name his birth in 7e-ille and his series

of lo-e encounters6 nothin* more.1ndeed it seems clear that Byron wanted to set up a series of expectations only to

frustrate them.

#e e5pect 8on Juan to be the seducer of $irso de <olina.#e e5pect Byron to produce another Byronic Hero.

1nstead 8on Juan is the prey of women.

insouciance – carefree attitude li*ht,heartedness



He is seducti-e for women precisely because he doesn’t try to seduce. $hey seduce him.

8on Juan is in fact rather feminine – at one point he is e-en

dressed up as a woman and

sent to the harem

ha-in* been threatened with castration.

Juan’s appearance in dra* before the bossy 7ultana almost su**ests that they ha-e

e5chan*ed traditional *ender roles.

#hen the Byronic Hero is pure asserti-e masculinity determined to o-ercome instinct

and chance 8on Juan accepts instinct and chance in a ‘feminine’ way.

1n :n*land Juan is the obect of ri-alry between Haide,li%e /urora $he 8uchess of FitA,

Ful%e and &ady /deline.



-nspiration

Byron had read albeit with an*ry disappro-al Colerid*e’s Criti!ue on "Charles Maturin’s# Bertram

where #oleridge describes the le*endary 8on Juan as a fi*ure not unli%e Childe Harold

or for that matter Byron himself4= $an%& fortune& 'it& talent& a(!uired %no'ledge& and liberal a((om)lishments& 'ith

beauty of )erson& *igorous health+++ all these ad*antages& ele*ated by the habits and

sym)athies of noble birth and natural (hara(ter& are+++ (ombined in Don Juan& so asto gi*e him the means of (arrying into all its )ra(ti(al (onse!uen(es the do(trine of a

godless nature+++ Obedience to nature is the only virtue.>

/*ain

= ,t is not the 'i(%edness of Don Juan+++ 'hi(h (onstitutes the (hara(ter anabstra(tion& -+++. but the ra)id su((ession of the (orres)ondent a(ts and in(idents& his

intelle(tual su)eriority& and the s)lendid a((umulation of his gifts and desirable

!ualities as (oe/istent 'ith entire 'i(%edness in one and the same )erson.>

1t is therefore concei-able that Byron read these passa*es as either a su**estion or achallen*e or both.

Byron too% the 8on Juan idea and did a somersault with it.

$he o%e in Don Juan is that it is based on the myth of 8on io-anni but instead of the *reat seducer of the traditional tale

there is a hero who in fact 'inds himsel' seduced by one woman a'ter another.

He is much more of a passi&e character than the acti-e ra%e the audiences were used to.

$he interestin* thin* about Don Juan is that in it Byron deconstructs the earlier poem

Childe Harold the poem which had made women throw themsel-es at him because theyconfused the writer with the hero he had created.

$he impact was made by the ima*e of

the romantic hero who was mysterious gloomy brooding and handsome.Harold is melancholy with incipient misanthropy

, Byron described him as ‘a modern $imon’.

$he *loomy reflectin* hero suddenly becomes

the hero of Don Juan who has no kind o' inner li'e or sense o' memory at all.

8on Juan is more passi&e and more &i&acious than Childe Harold.

Byron’s Juan reacts to rather than manipulates the world around him.

He ne-er de-elops a stron* moral sense thou*h he becomes a better ud*e of human

nature as the poem pro*resses



%he .arrator

otice that the story in Canto1 is told by an ‘1’ )ersona who is said to be a friend of 8onJuan’s family.

Byron may ha-e foreseen the difficulties in-ol-ed in ma%in* this )ersona a witness who

would be present with 8on Juan in his -arious ad-entures and so he decided to discardhim.

/t any rate the ‘1’ narrator is discarded before the first canto ends and becomes an

omnipresent narrator – perhaps Byron himself – *i-in* his opinions on -arious mattersand communicatin* more or less confidentially with the reader.

$he dominant -oice in 8on Juan is that of the cynically droll narrator

who chats away in a colloGuial style.Both the art and the artfulness of the narrator are freGuently concealed under a pretence

of purposelessness and self,deprecation.

#ontemporary !pain

8urin* the !th and 'th centuries 7pain e5perienced a Guic% decline from power in:urope.

$his fall was accompanied by what many saw as relati&e cultural po&erty whencompared to France.

By Byron’s time 7panish culture was often considered both archaic and exotic.

$his led to a Domantic -aloriAation of 7panish culture.

otice how we are told that 8onna Julia has <oorish blood.

7ome of the decadence of 7pain is reflected in the ‘incestuous’ world of 7e-ille in the

poem4

8onna 1neA was once 8on /lfonso’s lo-er.8on /lfonso’s wife 8onna Julia becomes the lo-er of 8onna 1neA’s son Juan.

<any scholars note this wor% as a prime e5ample of !panish exoticism.

1n the first half of the "th Century ‘e5otic’ painting of 7panish life became hu*ely

popular in Britain4 e.*. those of John ;hilip (‘of 7pain’)



Don Juan/ a !ummary

Byron be*an writin* Don Juan in autumn '' and was still addin* to it in the sprin* of'2? the year when he left 1taly for reece.

$he poem records principally si5 maor ad-entures of its hero4. 1t opens with a description of his childhood in !pain and his early lo-e,affair with

8onna Julia a married friend of his mother’s.

2. $he disco-ery of this intri*ue leads to his bein* bundled out of the country and thefirst half of canto 11 contains an account of his shipwrec% and his prolon*ed sufferin*

in an open boat. $he sur-i-ors eat Juan’s do* and then draw lots to decide who to eat.

Juan’s tutor ;edrillo draws the short straw and is bleed to death by a doctor before

bein* eaten by all e5cept Juan. $he cannibals *o mad and die. Juan sur-i-es and iswashed up on a ree% 1sland.

?. His third ad-enture in-ol-es Haide the dau*hter of a ree% pirate who find Juan

unconscious on the shore of the island which is her father’s home and base. 7he

becomes his lo-er6 but on her father’s une5pected return to Greece Juan is seiAedand sold into sla-ery.

3. 1n #onstantinople he resists the imperious ad-ances of ulbeyaA the 7ultan’sfa-ourite wife. His ser-itude lasts from late in the 3 th to the end of the !th canto when

he escapes from the $ur%s and enlists in the army of their enemies the Dussians.

. Before lon* his military prowess and personal charm commend him to the notorious:mpress Catherine 11 of "ussia whose fa-ourite he becomes.

+. $owards the end of canto K she initiates his last ad-enture by despatchin* him to

*ngland on a diplomatic mission. #hile mi5in* in :n*lish social life he attracts the

attention of three women4 /urora a youn* heiress6 /deline the restless wife of ahau*hty political6 and the la5 and la-ish 8uchess of FitA,Ful%e. #hen Byron brea%s

off early in canto K011 the last of these has – temporarily at least – the start on her

ri-als.

#e %now that Byron has possible further ad-entures planned with 8on Juan as

a Cavalier Servente in 1taly anda 0erther,li%e fi*ure in ermany.

$wo possible endin*s were to ha-e 8on Juan

guillotined in the French De-olution or=in an unhappy marriage not %nowin* which would be the se-erest.>

$he *eneral intention was to write a sort of picares)ue no&el in &erse.

1 3,3+4 Julia’s tirade a*ainst her ealous husband is funny precisely because he has

*ood reason to be ealous and she is a hypocritically sel'(righteous.

Let he is also a hypocrite since he was unfaithful first.

Canto 1 is without doubt the most interestin* entertainin* and amusin* of all the cantos.

For anythin* of comparable in :n*lish -erse you ha-e to *o all the way bac% to

#haucer.



!atire

=1t is ... meant to be a little Guietly facetious upon e-ery thin*.>

$he raison d’Mtre of Don Juan was to shine the white li*ht of truth on the *reat thin*s of

the world, lo-e and war and 8eath by sea and land and

, <an half,an*el half,demon – the comedy of his fortunes and the tra*edy of his

passions and his fate.

Juan’s ad-entures and misad-entures and the narrator’s worldly,wise commentary on

them ser-e to debun% a series of recei-ed ideas and perceptions ran*in* from

the supposed glory o' war and heroism to

'idelity in lo&e and

oriental exoticism.

Epri*ht De*ency,era -iews of lo-e and se5uality are amon* Byron’s central tar*ets but Don Juan also offers bitin* commentary on

religion

restraints on personal liberty and freedom of speech and

in1ustices rendered upon society’s wea%est inhabitants.

!ociety not the indi-idual bears responsibility for e-il in the world.

Byron is also underminin*

the myth of a picturesGue and educati-e 1ourney across *urope (i.e. $he rand$our)

the Domantic idea of a splendidly bene-olent 'ostering nature and

the Dousseau,istic faith in basic human goodness.

$he poem -eers easily and often comically between extremes of

su''ering and luxuryhun*er and e5cess

lon*in* and satiety

i*norance and %nowin*ness

shi'ting appearance and an e)ually shi'ting reality.

Byron directs his satire in Don Juan as much against the sentimental as a*ainst the

respectable and censorious.

, Byron has been careful to show us Julia as a person of sensibility and her whole speech

is for him an instance of the radical dishonesty of such persons.

Byron’s preference for sense as a*ainst sensibility mar%s him as an anti,romantic6 and

Don Juan is in its total effect a *reat anti(romantic poem.



Byron ne-er tired of insistin* that its -irtue was that it was ‘-ery much unli%e what

people write’ but

, mean to sho' things really as they are& 0ot as they ought to be1 for , a*o'&

That till 'e see 'hat’s 'hat in fa(t& 'e’re far

2rom mu(h im)ro*ement .

#hate-er his outra*ed critics mi*ht assert he was serious in his use of the word

‘impro-ement’.He belie-ed that by fastenin* onto the truth he was moraliAin* his son*.

He thou*ht he was writin* a &ery moral book .

He saw sentiment as simply a means of camou'laging grosser passions.

Byron the +ugustans

Byron ali*ns himself more with his /u*ustan predecessors than with his Domanticcontemporaries.

;ope seems to write as the spo%esman of a coherent and ci&ili2ed social group.

$he members of this may not hold identical reli*ious political and other beliefs6 but they

do share a deep respect for fundamental /u*ustan -irtues of*ood sense

reasonableness and

moderation.

Byron writes with an eGually %een sense of his public and he writes li%ewise as an

e5ponent of *ood sense.

But so far from seemin* to feel his public sustainin* him he e-idently draws -ery muchmore e5clusi-ely on his own resources and e-en at times has to defy what he supposes to

be a cantin* a moralistic and sensibilitous world.

Byron considered ;ope to be the *reatest British poet.



!tructure

$he poem is in ei*ht line iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme ab ab ab cc , oftenthe last rhymin* couplet is used for a humor comic line or humorous bathos.

$here are mostly 9 syllables per line. $he rhyme scheme of each stanAa is %nown asottava rima.

1n 1talian because of the common rhymed endin*s the effect of otta*a rima is oftenhi*hly comedic or hi*hly tra*ic.

Because of its few rhymed endin*s the effect of otta*a rima in :n*lish is often comic

and Byron chose it for this reason.

Genre

Byron described the poem as ‘an epic satire’.

1n The Ma%ing of a Master)ie(e $ruman uy 7teffan describes Don Juan as‘an epic carni&al’.

1t can also be described as a narrati-e poem (li%e The $hyme of the An(ient Mariner )

1t certainly contains elements of the mock heroic.



Don Juan/ #+.%3 4

1

1 want a hero4 an uncommon want

#hen e-ery year and month sends forth a new one$ill after cloyin* the *aAettes with cant$he a*e disco-ers he is not the true one6

f such as these 1 should not care to -aunt

1’ll therefore ta%e our ancient friend 8on Juan –

#e all ha-e seen him in the pantomime7ent to the de-il somewhat ere his time.

11

0ernon the butcher Cumberland #olfe Haw%e;rince Ferdinand ranby Bur*oyne Ieppel Howe

:-il and *ood ha-e had their tithe of tal%

/nd fill’d their si*n posts then li%e #ellesley now6

:ach in their turn li%e BanGuo’s monarchs stal%Followers of fame =nine farrow> of that sow4

France too had Buonapart and 8umourier

Decorded in the <oniteur and Courier.

111

Barna-e Brissot Condorcet <irabeau

;etion ClootA 8anton <arat &a Fayette#ere French and famous people as we %now4

/nd there were others scarce for*otten yet

Joubert Hoche <arceau &annes 8esai5 <oreau

#ith many of the military set:5ceedin*ly remar%able at times

But not at all adapted to my rhymes.

10 elson was once Britannia’s *od of war

/nd still should be so but the tide is turn’d6

$here’s no more to be said of $rafal*ar

’$is with our hero Guietly inurn’d6Because the army’s *rown more popular

/t which the na-al people are concern’d6

Besides the prince is all for the land,ser-ice

For*ettin* 8uncan elson Howe and Jer-is.

0

Bra-e men were li-in* before /*amemnon

/nd since e5ceedin* -alorous and sa*e/ *ood deal li%e him too thou*h Guite the same none6

But then they shone not on the poet’s pa*e alliteration assonance

/nd so ha-e been for*otten4 – 1 condemn none

But can’t find any in the present a*eFit for my poem (that is for my new one)6

7o as 1 said 1’ll ta%e my friend 8on Juan.



01

<ost epic poets plun*e =in medias res>

(Horace ma%es this the heroic turnpi%e road)

/nd then your hero tells whene’er you please#hat went before – by way of episode

#hile seated after dinner at his ease

Beside his mistress in some soft abode

;alace or *arden paradise or ca-ern allitero,assonance#hich ser-es the happy couple for a ta-ern. assonance

011

$hat is the usual method but not mine –<y way is to be*in with the be*innin*6

$he re*ularity of my desi*n

Forbids all wanderin* as the worst of sinnin* alliteration

/nd therefore 1 shall open with a line(/lthou*h it cost me half an hour in spinnin*)

arratin* somewhat of 8on Juan’s father

/nd also of his mother if you’d rather.

01111n 7e-ille was he born a pleasant city

Famous for oran*es and women – he

#ho has not seen it will be much to pity7o says the pro-erb – and 1 Guite a*ree6

f all the 7panish towns is none more pretty

CadiA perhaps – but that you soon may see6

8on Juan’s parents li-ed beside the ri-er/ noble stream and call’d the uadalGui-ir.

1K

His father’s name was Jose – Don of course – / true Hidal*o free from e-ery stain

f <oor or Hebrew blood he traced his source$hrou*h the most othic *entlemen of 7pain6

/ better ca-alier ne’er mounted horser bein* mounted e’er *ot down a*ain

$han JNse who be*ot our hero who

Be*ot – but that’s to come – #ell to renew4

K

His mother was a learnd lady famed

For e-ery branch of e-ery science %nown

1n e-ery Christian lan*ua*e e-er named#ith -irtues eGuall’d by her wit alone

7he made the cle-erest people Guite ashamed

/nd e-en the *ood with inward en-y *roan alliterationFindin* themsel-es so -ery much e5ceeded1n their own way by all the thin*s that she did.



K1

Her memory was a mine4 she %new by heart

/ll Calderon and *reater part of &op

7o that if any actor miss’d his part7he could ha-e ser-ed him for the prompter’s copy6

For her Feina*le’s were an useless art

/nd he himself obli*ed to shut up shop – he alliteration

Could ne-er ma%e a memory so fine as$hat which adorn’d the brain of 8onna 1neA2.

K11

Her fa-ourite science was the mathematicalHer noblest -irtue was her ma*nanimity

Her wit (she sometimes tried at wit) was /ttic all

Her serious sayin*s dar%en’d to sublimity6

1n short in all thin*s she was fairly what 1 call/ prodi*y – her mornin* dress was dimity

Her e-enin* sil% or in the summer muslin

/nd other stuffs with which 1 won’ stay puAAlin*.

K1117he %new the &atin – that is =the &ord’s prayer>

/nd ree% – the alphabet – 1’m nearly sure6

7he read some French romances here and there/lthou*h her mode of spea%in* was not pure6

For nati-e 7panish she had no *reat care

/t least her con-ersation was obscure6

Her thou*hts were theorems her words a problem/s if she deem’d that mystery would ennoble ‘em.

K10

7he li%ed the :n*lish and the Hebrew ton*ue/nd said there was analo*y between ‘em6

7he pro-ed it somehow out of sacred son*But 1 must lea-e the proofs to those who’-e seen ‘em6

But this 1 heard her say and can’t be wron*/nd all may thin% which way their ud*ments lean ‘em

= ’$is stran*e – the Hebrew noun which means ‘1 am’

$he :n*lish always used to *o-ern dOOn.> i.e. ‘damn’

K0

7ome women use their ton*ues – she loo%’d a lecture

:ach eye a sermon and her brow a homily

/n all,in,all sufficient self,director&i%e the lamented late 7ir 7amuel Domilly

$he &aw’s e5pounder and the 7tate’s corrector

#hose suicide was almost an anomaly –ne sad e5ample more that =/ll is -anity>($he ury brou*ht their -erdict in =1nsanity>).

2 8onna 1neA is understood to be an unflatterin* portrait of lady Byron



K01

1n short she was a wal%in* calculation

<iss :d*eworth’s no-els steppin* from their co-ers

r <rs. $rimmer’s boo%s on educationr =Coelebs’ #ife> set out in Guest of lo-ers

<orality’s prim personification

1n which not :n-y’s self a flaw disco-ers6

$o others’ share let Pfemale errors fallPFor she had not e-en one – the worst of all.

K011

hQ she was perfect past all parallel –f any modern female saint’s comparison6

7o far abo-e the cunnin* powers of hell

Her *uardian an*el had *i-en up his *arrison6

:-en her minutest motions went as well/s those of the best time,piece made by Harrison4

1n -irtues nothin* earthly could surpass her

7a-e thine Pincomparable oilP <acassarQ

K0111;erfect she was but as perfection is

1nsipid in this nau*hty world of ours

#here our first parents ne-er learn’d to %iss$ill they were e5iled from their earlier bowers

#here all was peace and innocence and bliss

(1 wonder how they *ot throu*h the twel-e hours)

8on JNse li%e a lineal son of :-e#ent pluc%in* -arious fruit without her lea-e.

K1K

He was a mortal of the careless %ind#ith no *reat lo-e for learnin* or the learn’d

#ho chose to *o where’er he had a mind/nd ne-er dream’d his lady was concern’d6

$he world as usual wic%edly inclined$o see a %in*dom or a house o’erturn’d

#hisper’d he had a mistress some said t'o –

But for domestic Guarrels one will do.

KK

ow 8onna 1neA had with all her merit

/ *reat opinion of her own *ood Gualities6

e*lect indeed reGuires a saint to bear it/nd such indeed she was in her moralities6

But then she had a de-il of a spirit

/nd sometimes mi5’d up fancies with realities/nd let few opportunities escapef *ettin* her lie*e lord into a scrape.



KK1

$his was an easy matter with a man

ft in the wron* and ne-er on his *uard6

/nd e-en the wisest do the best they canHa-e moments hours and days so unprepared

$hat you mi*ht Pbrain them with their lady’s fan6P

/nd sometimes ladies hit e5ceedin* hard

/nd fans turn into falchions in fair hands/nd why and wherefore no one understands.

KK11

’$is pity learnd -ir*ins e-er wed#ith persons of no sort of education

r *entlemen who thou*h well born and bred

row tired of scientific con-ersation4

1 don’t choose to say much upon this head1’m a plain man and in a sin*le station

But – hQ ye lords of ladies intellectual

1nform us truly ha-e they not hen,pec%’d you allR

KK1118on JNse and his lady Guarrell’d – 'hy&

ot any of the many could di-ine

$hou*h se-eral thousand people chose to try’$was surely no concern of theirs nor mine6

1 loathe that low -ice – curiosity6

But if there’s anythin* in which 1 shine

’$is in arran*in* all my friends’ affairs ot ha-in* of my own domestic cares.

KK10

/nd so 1 interfered and with the best1ntentions but their treatment was not %ind6

1 thin% the foolish people were possess’dFor neither of them could 1 e-er find

/lthou*h their porter afterwards confess’d –But that’s no matter and the worst’s behind

For little Juan o’er me threw down stairs

/ pail of housemaid’s water unawares.

KK0

/ little curly,headed *ood,for,nothin*

/nd mischief,ma%in* mon%ey from his birth6

His parents ne’er a*reed e5cept in dotin*Epon the most unGuiet imp on earth6

1nstead of Guarrellin* had they been but both in

$heir senses they’d ha-e sent youn* master forth$o school or had him soundly whipp’d at home$o teach him manners for the time to come.



KK01

8on JNse and the 8onna 1neA led

For some time an unhappy sort of life

#ishin* each other not di-orced but dead6$hey li-ed respectably as man and wife

$heir conduct was e5ceedin*ly well,bred

/nd *a-e no outward si*ns of inward strife

Entil at len*th the smother’d fire bro%e out/nd put the business past all %ind of doubt.

KK011

For 1neA call’d some dru**ists and physicians/nd tried to pro-e her lo-in* lord was mad 6

But as he had some lucid intermissions

7he ne5t decided he was only bad 6

Let when they as%’d her for her depositions o sort of e5planation could be had

7a-e that her duty both to man and od

DeGuired this conduct – which seem’d -ery odd.

KK01117he %ept a ournal where his faults were noted

/nd open’d certain trun%s of boo%s and letters

/ll which mi*ht if occasion ser-ed be Guoted6/nd then she had all 7e-ille for abettors

Besides her *ood old *randmother (who doted)6

$he hearers of her case became repeaters

$hen ad-ocates inGuisitors and ud*es7ome for amusement others for old *rud*es.

KK1K

/nd then this best and wea%est woman bore#ith such serenity her husband’s woes

Just as the 7partan ladies did of yore#ho saw their spouses %ill’d and nobly chose

e-er to say a word about them more –Calmly she heard each calumny that rose

/nd saw his a*onies with such sublimity

$hat all the world e5claim’d P#hat ma*nanimityQP

KKK

o doubt this patience when the world is damnin* us

1s philosophic in our former friends6

’$is also pleasant to be deem’d ma*nanimous$he more so in obtainin* our own ends6

/nd what the lawyers call a =malus animus>

Conduct li%e this by no means comprehends6De-en*e in person’s certainly no -irtueBut then ’tis not my fault if others hurt you.



KKK1

/nd if your Guarrels should rip up old stories

/nd help them with a lie or two additional

, ’m not to blame as you well %now – no more is/ny one else – they were become traditional6

Besides their resurrection aids our *lories

By contrast which is what we ust were wishin* all4

/nd science profits by this resurrection –8ead scandals form *ood subects for dissection.

KKK11

$heir friends had tried at reconciliation$hen their relations who made matters worse.

(’$were hard to tell upon a li%e occasion

$o whom it may be best to ha-e recourse –

1 can’t say much for friend or yet relation)4$he lawyers did their utmost for di-orce

But scarce a fee was paid on either side

Before unluc%ily 8on JNse died.

KKK111He died4 and most unluc%ily because

/ccordin* to all hints 1 could collect

From counsel learnd in those %inds of laws(/lthou*h their tal%’s obscure and circumspect)

His death contri-ed to spoil a charmin* cause6

/ thousand pities also with respect

$o public feelin* which on this occasion#as manifested in a *reat sensation.

KKK10

But ahQ he died6 and buried with him lay$he public feelin* and the lawyers’ fees4

His house was sold his ser-ants sent away/ Jew too% one of his two mistresses

/ priest the other – at least so they say41 as%’d the doctors after his disease –

He died of the slow fe-er call’d the tertian

/nd left his widow to her own a-ersion.

KKK0

Let JNse was an honourable man

$hat 1 must say who %new him -ery well6

$herefore his frailties 1’ll no further scan1ndeed there were not many more to tell6

/nd if his passions now and then outran

8iscretion and were not so peaceable/s uma’s (who was also named ;ompilius)He had been ill brou*ht up and was born bilious.



KKK01

#hate’er mi*ht be his worthlessness or worth

;oor fellowQ he had many thin*s to wound him.

&et’s own – since it can do no *ood on earth –1t was a tryin* moment that which found him

7tandin* alone beside his desolate hearth

#here all his household *ods lay shi-er’d round him4

o choice was left his feelin*s or his pride7a-e death or 8octors’ Commons, so he died.

KKK011

8yin* intestate Juan was sole heir$o a chancery suit and messua*es and lands

#hich with a lon* minority and care

;romised to turn out well in proper hands4

1neA became sole *uardian which was fair/nd answer’d but to nature’s ust demands6

/n only son left with an only mother

1s brou*ht up much more wisely than another.

KKK01117a*est of women e-en of widows she

Desol-ed that Juan should be Guite a para*on

/nd worthy of the noblest pedi*ree(His sire was of Castile his dam from /ra*on)4

$hen for accomplishments of chi-alry

1n case our lord the %in* should *o to war a*ain

He learn’d the arts of ridin* fencin* *unnery/nd how to scale a fortress – or a nunnery.

KKK1K

But that which 8onna 1neA most desired/nd saw into herself each day before all

$he learnd tutors whom for him she hired#as that his breedin* should be strictly moral6

<uch into all his studies she inGuired/nd so they were submitted first to her all

/rts sciences no branch was made a mystery

$o Juan’s eyes e5ceptin* natural history.

K&

$he lan*ua*es especially the dead

$he sciences and most of all the abstruse

$he arts at least all such as could be said$o be the most remote from common use

1n all these he was much and deeply read6

But not a pa*e of any thin* that’s looser hints continuation of the species#as e-er suffer’d lest he should *row -icious.



K&1

His classic studies made a little puAAle

Because of filthy lo-es of *ods and *oddesses

#ho in the earlier a*es raised a bustleBut ne-er put on pantaloons or bodices6

His re-erend tutors had at times a tussle

/nd for their AEneids ,liads and 3dysseys

#ere forced to ma%e an odd sort of apolo*yFor 8onna 1neA dreaded the <ytholo*y.

K&11

-id’s a ra%e as half his -erses show him/nacreon’s morals are a still worse sample

Catullus scarcely has a decent poem

1 don’t thin% 7appho’s 3de a *ood e5ample

/lthou*h &on*inus tells us there is no hymn#here the sublime soars forth on win*s more ample4

But 0ir*il’s son*s are pure e5cept that horrid one

Be*innin* with = 2ormosum Pastor Corydon.>

K&111&ucretius’ irreli*ion is too stron*

For early stomachs to pro-e wholesome food6

1 can’t help thin%in* Ju-enal was wron*/lthou*h no doubt his real intent was *ood

For spea%in* out so plainly in his son*

7o much indeed as to be downri*ht rude6

/nd then what proper person can be partial$o all those nauseous epi*rams of <artialR

K&10

Juan was tau*ht from out the best edition:5pur*ated by learnd men who place

Judiciously from out the schoolboy’s -ision$he *rosser parts6 but fearful to deface

$oo much their modest bard by this omission/nd pityin* sore his mutilated case

$hey only add them all in an appendi5

#hich sa-es in fact the trouble of an inde56

K&0

For there we ha-e them all =at one fell swoop>

1nstead of bein* scatter’d throu*h the ;a*es6

$hey stand forth marshall’d in a handsome troop$o meet the in*enuous youth of future a*es

$ill some less ri*id editor shall stoop

$o call them bac% into their separate ca*es1nstead of standin* starin* all to*ether&i%e *arden *ods – and not so decent either.



K&01

$he <issal too (it was the family <issal)

#as ornamented in a sort of way

#hich ancient mass,boo%s often are and this allIinds of *rotesGues illumined6 and how they

#ho saw those fi*ures on the mar*in %iss all

Could turn their optics to the te5t and pray

1s more than 1 %now – But 8on Juan’s motherIept this herself and *a-e her son another.

K&011

7ermons he read and lectures he endured/nd homilies and li-es of all the saints6

$o Jerome and to Chrysostom inured

He did not ta%e such studies for restraints6

But how faith is acGuired and then ensured7o well not one of the aforesaid paints

/s 7aint /u*ustine in his fine Confessions

#hich ma%e the reader en-y his trans*ressions.

K&0111$his too was a seal’d boo% to little Juan –

1 can’t but say that his mamma was ri*ht

1f such an education was the true one.7he scarcely trusted him from out her si*ht6

Her maids were old and if she too% a new one

Lou mi*ht be sure she was a perfect fri*ht6

7he did this durin* e-en her husband’s life –1 recommend as much to e-ery wife.

K&1K

Loun* Juan wa5’d in *oodliness and *race6/t si5 a charmin* child and at ele-en

#ith all the promise of as fine a face/s e’er to man’s maturer *rowth was *i-en4

He studied steadily and *rew apace/nd seem’d at least in the ri*ht road to hea-en

For half his days were pass’d at church the other

Between his tutors confessor and mother.

&

/t si5 1 said he was a charmin* child

/t twel-e he was a fine but Guiet boy6

/lthou*h in infancy a little wild$hey tamed him down amon*st them4 to destroy

His natural spirit not in -ain they toil’d

/t least it seem’d so6 and his mother’s oy#as to declare how sa*e and still and steadyHer youn* philosopher was *rown already.



&1

1 had my doubts perhaps 1 ha-e them still

But what 1 say is neither here nor there4

1 %new his father well and ha-e some s%ill1n character – but it would not be fair

From sire to son to au*ur *ood or ill4

He and his wife were an ill,sorted pair –

But scandal’s my a-ersion – 1 protest/*ainst all e-il spea%in* e-en in est.

&11

For my part 1 say nothin* – nothin* – butThis 1 will say – my reasons are my own –

$hat if 1 had an only son to put

$o school (as od be praised that 1 ha-e none)

’$is not with 8onna 1neA 1 would shutHim up to learn his catechism alone

o – no – 1’d send him out betimes to colle*e

For there it was 1 pic%’d up my own %nowled*e.

&111For there one learns – ’tis not for me to boast

$hou*h 1 acGuired – but 1 pass o-er that

/s well as all the ree% 1 since ha-e lost41 say that there’s the place – but 4erbum sat .>

1 thin% 1 pic%’d up too as well as most

Inowled*e of matters – but no matter 'hat –

1 ne-er married – but 1 thin% 1 %now$hat sons should not be educated so.

&10

Loun* Juan now was si5teen years of a*e$all handsome slender but well %nit4 he seem’d

/cti-e thou*h not so spri*htly as a pa*e6/nd e-erybody but his mother deem’d

Him almost man6 but she flew in a ra*e/nd bit her lips (for else she mi*ht ha-e scream’d)

1f any said so for to be precocious

#as in her eyes a thin* the most atrocious.

&0

/mon*st her numerous acGuaintance all

7elected for discretion and de-otion

$here was the 8onna Julia whom to call;retty were but to *i-e a feeble notion

f many charms in her as natural

/s sweetness to the flower or salt to oceanHer Aone to 0enus or his bow to Cupid(But this last simile is trite and stupid).

&01

$he dar%ness of her riental eye/ccorded with her <oorish ori*in

(Her blood was not all 7panish by the by6

1n 7pain you %now this is a sort of sin)6#hen proud ranada fell and forced to fly



Boabdil wept of 8onna Julia’s %in

7ome went to /frica some stay’d in 7pain

Her *reat,*reat,*randmamma chose to remain.

&011

7he married (1 for*et the pedi*ree)

#ith an Hidal*o who transmitted down

His blood less noble than such blood should be6/t such alliances his sires would frown

1n that point so precise in each de*ree

$hat they bred in and in as mi*ht be shown

<arryin* their cousins – nay their aunts and nieces#hich always spoils the breed if it increases.

&0111

$his heathenish cross restored the breed a*ainDuin’d its blood but much impro-ed its flesh6

For from a root the u*liest in ld 7pain

7prun* up a branch as beautiful as fresh6

$he sons no more were short the dau*hters plain4

But there’s a rumour which 1 fain would hush’$is said that 8onna Julia’s *randmamma

;roduced her 8on more heirs at lo-e than law.

&1K

Howe-er this mi*ht be the race went on

1mpro-in* still throu*h e-ery *eneration

Entil it centred in an only son#ho left an only dau*hter6 my narration

<ay ha-e su**ested that this sin*le one

Could be but Julia (whom on this occasion

1 shall ha-e much to spea% about) and she#as married charmin* chaste and twenty,three.

&K

Her eye (1’m -ery fond of handsome eyes)#as lar*e and dar% suppressin* half its fire

Entil she spo%e then throu*h its soft dis*uise

Flash’d an e5pression more of pride than ire

/nd lo-e than either6 and there would arise/ somethin* in them which was not desire

But would ha-e been perhaps but for the soul

#hich stru**led throu*h and chasten’d down the whole.

&K1

Her *lossy hair was cluster’d o’er a brow

Bri*ht with intelli*ence and fair and smooth6Her eyebrow’s shape was li%e th’ aerial bowHer chee% all purple with the beam of youth

<ountin* at times to a transparent *low

/s if her -eins ran li*htnin*6 she in sooth

;ossess’d an air and *race by no means common4Her stature tall – 1 hate a dumpy woman.



&K11

#edded she was some years and to a man

f fifty and such husbands are in plenty6

/nd yet 1 thin% instead of such a one ‘$ were better to ha-e t'o of fi-e,and,twenty

:specially in countries near the sun4

/nd now 1 thin% on ‘t Pmi *ien in menteP

&adies e-en of the most uneasy -irtue;refer a spouse whose a*e is short of thirty.

&K111

’$is a sad thin* 1 cannot choose but say/nd all the fault of that indecent sun

#ho cannot lea-e alone our helpless clay

But will %eep ba%in* broilin* burnin* on

$hat howsoe-er people fast and pray$he flesh is frail and so the soul undone4

#hat men call *allantry and *ods adultery

1s much more common where the climate’s sultry.

&K10Happy the nations of the moral orthQ

#here all is -irtue and the winter season

7ends sin without a ra* on shi-erin* forth(’$was snow that brou*ht 7t. /nthony to reason)6

#here uries cast up what a wife is worth

By layin* whate’er sum in mulct they please on

$he lo-er who must pay a handsome priceBecause it is a mar%etable -ice.

&K0

/lfonso was the name of Julia’s lord/ man well loo%in* for his years and who

#as neither much belo-ed nor yet abhorr’d4$hey li-ed to*ether as most people do

7ufferin* each other’s foibles by accord/nd not e5actly either one or t'o6

Let he was ealous thou*h he did not show it

For ealousy disli%es the world to %now it.

&K01

Julia was – yet 1 ne-er could see why –

#ith 8onna 1neA Guite a fa-ourite friend6

Between their tastes there was small sympathyFor not a line had Julia e-er penn’d4

7ome people whisper but no doubt they lie

For malice still imputes some pri-ate end)$hat 1neA had ere 8on /lfonso’s marria*eFor*ot with him her -ery prudent carria*e6



&K011

/nd that still %eepin* up the old connection

#hich time had lately render’d much more chaste

7he too% his lady also in affection/nd certainly this course was much the best4

7he flatter’d Julia with her sa*e protection

/nd complimented 8on /lfonso’s taste6

/nd if she could not (who canR) silence scandal/t least she left it a more slender handle.

&K0111

1 can’t tell whether Julia saw the affair#ith other people’s eyes or if her own

8isco-eries made but none could be aware

f this at least no symptom e’er was shown6

;erhaps she did not %now or did not care1ndifferent from the first or callous *rown4

1’m really puAAled what to thin% or say

7he %ept her counsel in so close a way.

&K1KJuan she saw and as a pretty child

Caress’d him often – such a thin* mi*ht be

Suite innocently done and harmless styled#hen she had twenty years and thirteen he6

But 1 am not so sure 1 should ha-e smiled pararhyme alliteration

#hen he was si5teen Julia twenty,three6

$hese few short years ma%e wondrous alterations;articularly amon*st sun,burnt nations.

&KK

#hate’er the cause mi*ht be they had become alliterationChan*ed6 for the dame *rew distant the youth shy assonance alliteration

$heir loo%s cast down their *reetin*s almost dumb alliteration/nd much embarrassment in either eye6 alliteration internal rhyme

$here surely will be little doubt with some$hat 8onna Julia %new the reason why

But as for Juan he had no more notion internal rhyme

$han he who ne-er saw the sea of ocean.

&KK1

Let Julia’s -ery coldness still was %ind alliteration

/nd tremulously *entle her small hand

#ithdrew itself from his but left behind/ little pressure thrillin* and so bland internal rhyme

/nd sli*ht so -ery sli*ht that to the mind

’$was but a doubt6 but ne’er ma*ician’s wand#rou*ht chan*e with all /rmida’s fairy art&i%e what this li*ht touch left on Juan’s heart. alliteration R



&KK11

/nd if she met him thou*h she smiled no more

7he loo%’d a sadness sweeter than her smile alliteration

/s if her heart had deeper thou*hts in store internal rhyme7he must not own? but cherish’d more the while

For that compression in its burnin* core6

:-en innocence itself has many a wile

/nd will not dare to trust itself with truth/nd lo-e is tau*ht hypocrisy from youth.

&KK111

But passion most dissembles yet betrays:-en by its dar%ness6 as the blac%est s%y

Foretells the hea-iest tempest it displays assonan(e

1ts wor%in*s throu*h the -ainly *uarded eye

/nd in whate-er aspect it arrays1tself ’tis still the same hypocrisy6 alliteration

Coldness or an*er e-en disdain or hate assonan(e

/re mas%s it often wears and still too late.

&KK10$hen there were si*hs the deeper for suppression

/nd stolen3 *lances sweeter for the theft 'ord)lay

/nd burnin* blushes thou*h for no trans*ression alliteration$remblin*s when met and restlessness when left6 assonan(e

/ll these are little preludes to possession

f which youn* passion cannot be bereft

/nd merely tend to show how *reatly lo-e is:mbarrass’d at first startin* with a no-ice.

&KK0

;oor Julia’s heart was in an aw%ward state67he felt it *oin* and resol-ed to ma%e

$he noblest efforts for herself and mateFor honour’s pride’s reli*ion’s -irtue’s sa%e6

Her resolutions were most truly *reat/nd almost mi*ht ha-e made a $arGuin Gua%e4 alliteration

7he pray’d the 0ir*in <ary for her *race

/s bein* the best ud*e of a lady’s case. alliteration assonan(e

&KK01

7he -ow’d she ne-er would see Juan more

/nd ne5t day paid a -isit to his mother

/nd loo%’d e5tremely at the openin* door #hich by the 0ir*in’s *race let in another6

rateful she was and yet a little sore –

/*ain it o pens it can be no other’$is surely Juan now – oQ 1’m afraid$hat ni*ht the 0ir*in was no further pray’d.

? to own – admit3 stolen – furti-e



&KK011

7he now determined that a -irtuous woman

7hould rather face and o-ercome temptation

$hat fli*ht was base and dastardly and no man7hould e-er *i-e her heart the least sensation6

$hat is to say a thou*ht beyond the common

;reference that we must feel upon occasion

For people who are pleasanter than othersBut then they only seem so many brothers.

&KK0111

/nd e-en if by chance – and who can tellR$he de-il’s so -ery sly – she should disco-er

$hat all within was not so -ery well

/nd if still free that such or such a lo-er assonan(e

<i*ht please perhaps a -irtuous wife can Guell7uch thou*hts and be the better when they’re o-er6

/nd if the man should as% ’tis but denial4

1 recommend youn* ladies to ma%e trial.

&KK1K/nd then there are such thin*s as lo-e di-ine

Bri*ht and immaculate unmi5’d and pure

7uch as the an*els thin% so -ery fine/nd matrons who would be no less secure

;latonic perfect =ust such lo-e as mine>6

$hus Julia said – and thou*ht so to be sure6

/nd so 1’d ha-e her thin% were 1 the mann whom her re-eries celestial ran. alliteration assonan(e

&KKK

7uch lo-e is innocent and may e5istBetween youn* persons without any dan*er.

/ hand may first and then a lip be %ist6For my part to such doin*s 1’m a stran*er

But hear these freedoms form the utmost listf all o’er which such lo-e may be a ran*er4

1f peo ple *o beyond ’tis Guite a crime assonan(e

But not my fault – 1 tell them all in time. alliteration

&KKK1

&o-e then but lo-e within its proper limits

#as Julia’s innocent determination

1n youn* 8on Juan’s fa-our and to him its:5ertion mi*ht be useful on occasion6

/nd li*hted at too pure a shrine to dim its

:thereal lustre with what sweet persuasion alliterationHe mi*ht be tau*ht by lo-e and her to*ether –1 really don’t %now what nor Julia either.



&KKK11

Frau*ht with this fine intention and well fenced alliteration

1n mail of proof – her purity of soul – alliteration

7he for the future of her stren*th con-inced./nd that her honour was a roc% or mole assonan(e

:5ceedin* sa*ely from that hour dispensed alliteration

#ith any %ind of troublesome control6 alliteration

But whether Julia to the tas% was eGual alliteration1s that which must be mention’d in the seGuel. alliteration

&KKK111

Her plan she deem’d both innocent and feasible/nd surely with a striplin* of si5teen

ot scandal’s fan*s could fi5 on much that’s seiAable alliteration assonan(e

r if they did so satisfied to mean assonan(e

othin* but what was *ood her breast was peaceable –/ Guiet conscience ma%es one so sereneQ

Christians ha-e burnt each other Guite persuaded

$hat all the /postles would ha-e done as they did.



&KKK10

/nd if in the mean time her husband died

But Hea-en forbid that such a thou*ht should cross

Her brain thou*h in a dreamQ (and then she si*h’d) e-er could she sur-i-e that common loss6 assonan(e

But ust suppose that moment should betide assonan(e

1 only say suppose it – inter nos. assonan(e

($his should be entre nous & for Julia thou*ht assonan(e1n French but then the rhyme would *o for nau*ht.) assonan(e

&KKK0

1 only say suppose this supposition4 alliterationJuan bein* then *rown up to man’s estate

#ould fully suit a widow of condition assonan(e

:-en se-en years hence it would not be too late6 assonan(e

/nd in the interim (to pursue this -ision)$he mischief after all could not be *reat

For he would learn the rudiments of lo-e

1 mean the sera)h way of those abo-e.

&KKK017o much for Julia. ow we’ll turn to Juan.

;oor little fellowQ he had no idea

f his own case and ne-er hit the true one61n feelin*s Guic% as -id’s <iss <edea

He puAAled o-er what he found a new one

But not as yet ima*ined it could be

$hin* Guite in course and not at all alarmin*#hich with a little patience mi*ht *row charmin*.

&KKK011

7ilent and pensi-e idle restless slowHis home deserted for the lonely wood

$ormented with a wound he could not %nowHis li%e all deep *rief plun*ed in solitude4

1’m fond myself of solitude or soBut then 1 be* it may be understood

By solitude 1 mean a sultan’s not

/ hermit’s with a haram for a *rot.

&KKK0111

=h &o-eQ in such a wilderness as this

#here transport and security entwine

Here is the empire of thy perfect bliss/nd here thou art a *od indeed di-ine.>

$he bard 1 Guote from does not sin* amiss

#ith the e5ception of the second lineFor that same twinin* =transport and security>/re twisted to a phrase of some obscurity.



&KKK1K

$he poet meant no doubt and thus appeals

$o the *ood sense and senses of man%ind

$he -ery thin* which e-ery body feels/s all ha-e found on trial or may find

$hat no one li%es to be disturb’d at meals

r lo-e. – 1 won’t say more about ‘entwined’

r ‘transport’ as we %new all that beforeBut be* ‘security’ will bolt the door.

KC

Loun* Juan wander’d by the *lassy broo%s$hin%in* unutterable thin*s6 he threw

Himself at len*th within the leafy noo%s

#here the wild branch of the cor% forest *rew6

$here poets find materials for their boo%s/nd e-ery now and then we read them throu*h

7o that their plan and prosody are eli*ible

Enless li%e #ordsworth they pro-e unintelli*ible.

KC1He Juan (and not #ordsworth) so pursued

His self,communion with his own hi*h soul

Entil his mi*hty heart in its *reat moodHad miti*ated part thou*h not the whole

f its disease6 he did the best he could

#ith thin*s not -ery subect to control

/nd turn’d without percei-in* his condition&i%e Colerid*e into a metaphysician.

KC11

He thou*ht about himself and the whole earthf man the wonderful and of the stars

/nd how the deuce they e-er could ha-e birth6/nd then he thou*ht of earthGua%es and of wars

How many miles the moon mi*ht ha-e in *irthf air,balloons and of the many bars

$o perfect %nowled*e of the boundless s%ies6 –

/nd then he thou*ht of 8onna Julia’s eyes.

KC111

1n thou*hts li%e these true wisdom may discern

&on*in*s sublime and aspirations hi*h

#hich some are born with but the most part learn$o pla*ue themsel-es withal they %now not why4

’$was stran*e that one so youn* should thus concern

His brain about the action of the s%y61f you thin% ’twas philosophy that this did1 can’t help thin%in* puberty assisted.



KC10

He pored upon the lea-es and on the flowers

/nd heard a -oice in all the winds6 and then

He thou*ht of wood,nymphs and immortal bowers/nd how the *oddesses came down to men4

He miss’d the pathway he for*ot the hours

/nd when he loo%’d upon his watch a*ain

He found how much old $ime had been a winner –He also found that he had lost his dinner.

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