Childe Harold`s Pilgrimage

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
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Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage is a lengthy narrative poem in four parts
written by Lord Byron. It was published between 1812 and 1818 and is
dedicated to "Ianthe". The poem describes the travels and reflections of
a world-weary young man who, disillusioned with a life of pleasure
and revelry, looks for distraction in foreign lands. In a wider sense, it is
an expression of the melancholy and disillusionment felt by a
generation weary of the wars of the post-Revolutionary and
Napoleonic eras. The title comes from the term childe, a medieval title
for a young man who was a candidate for knighthood.
Frontispiece to a c. 1825 edition of Childe
Harold's Pilgrimage:
Lo! where the Giant on the mountain stands,
His blood-red tresses deep'ning in the sun,
With death-shot glowing in his fiery hands,
And eye that scorcheth all it glares upon;
Restless it rolls, now fixed, and now anon
Flashing a far,—and at his iron feet
Destruction cowers to mark what deeds are done.
For on this morn three potent nations meet,
To shed before his shrine the blood he deems
most sweet.
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
Origins
The poem contains elements thought to be autobiographical, as Byron
generated some of the storyline from experience gained during his
travels through Portugal, the Mediterranean and Aegean Sea between
1809 and 1811. The "Ianthe" of the dedication was the term of
endearment he used for Lady Charlotte Harley. Charlotte Bacon née
Harley was the second daughter of 5th Earl of Oxford and Lady
Oxford Jane Elizabeth Scott née Harley, about 11 years old when
Childe Harold was first published. Throughout the poem Byron, in
character of Childe Harold, regretted his wasted early youth, hence
re-evaluating his life choices and re-designing himself through going
on the pilgrimage, during which he lamented on various historical
events including the Iberian Peninsular War among others.
Despite Byron's initial hesitation at having the first two cantos of the
Charlotte Harley (1801–1880) as Ianthe, to whom
poem published because he felt it revealed too much of himself, it was
Byron dedicated Childe Harold.
published, at the urging of friends, by John Murray in 1812, and
brought both the poem and its author to immediate and unexpected public attention. Byron later wrote, "I awoke one
morning and found myself famous". The first two cantos in John Murray's edition were illustrated by Richard
Westall, well known painter and illustrator who was then commissioned to paint portraits of Byron.
Byronic hero
The work provided the first example of the Byronic hero.[1] The idea of the Byronic hero is one that consists of many
different characteristics. The hero must have a rather high level of intelligence and perception as well as be able to
easily adapt to new situations and use cunning to his own gain. It is clear from this description that this hero is
well-educated and by extension is rather sophisticated in his style. Aside from the obvious charm and attractiveness
that this automatically creates, he struggles with his integrity, being prone to mood swings. Generally, the hero has a
disrespect for certain figures of authority, thus creating the image of the Byronic hero as an exile or an outcast. The
hero also has a tendency to be arrogant and cynical, indulging in self-destructive behaviour which leads to the need
to seduce women. Although his sexual attraction through being mysterious is rather helpful, it often gets the hero
into trouble. Characters with the qualities of the Byronic hero have appeared in novels, films and plays ever since.
Structure
The poem has four cantos written in Spenserian stanzas, which consist of eight iambic pentameter lines followed by
one alexandrine (a twelve syllable iambic line), and has rhyme pattern ABABBCBCC.
Interpretations
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Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
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Childe Harold became a vehicle for Byron's own beliefs and ideas;
indeed in the preface to canto four Byron acknowledges that there is
little or no difference between author and protagonist. According to
Jerome McGann, by masking himself behind a literary artifice, Byron
was able to express his view that "man's greatest tragedy is that he can
conceive of a perfection which he cannot attain".[2]
Cultural references
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage by Joseph Mallord
William Turner, 1823.
Parts of it have been quoted towards the end of Asterix in Belgium and
the 2000 film Britannic.
Hector Berlioz drew inspiration from this poem in the creation of his second symphony, a programmatic and
arguably semi-autobiographical work called Harold en Italie.
References
[1] cf. ¶ 3 in the article on the topic (http:/ / www. wwnorton. com/ college/ english/ nael/ romantic/ topic_5/ welcome. htm) from the Norton
Anthology of English Literature
[2] McGann, ed, Byron: The Complete Poetical Works, ed. with Introduction, Apparatus, and Commentaries. 7 Vols. Clarendon Press, The
Oxford English Texts series, 1980–1993
External links
Quotations related to Childe Harold's Pilgrimage at Wikiquote
• Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=Childe Harold's Pilgrimage) at
Internet Archive (scanned books original editions illustrated)
• Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/5131) at Project Gutenberg (plain text)
Article Sources and Contributors
Article Sources and Contributors
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=605191490 Contributors: Amandajm, Amccune, Amire80, Anonymous from the 21st century, BD2412,
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Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:Lord Byron - Childe Harold's Pilgimage - Dugdale edition.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lord_Byron_-_Childe_Harold's_Pilgimage_-_Dugdale_edition.jpg
License: Public Domain Contributors: I.H. Jones
File:Richard Westall & W. Finden, "Ianthe".jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Richard_Westall_&_W._Finden,_"Ianthe".jpg License: Public Domain Contributors:
Amccune
File:Childe harold.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Childe_harold.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Bukk, Ham, Inge-Lyubov, Jed
file:Wikiquote-logo.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wikiquote-logo.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: -xfi-, Dbc334, Doodledoo, Elian, Guillom, Jeffq,
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