Criticism: On This Day I complete my thirty-sixth year
“His last poem, given below, was written upon his turning thirty-six, three months before dying. Comparing himself, rather dramatically, to William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, he remembers his own decent from Banquo, ancestor of the Stuart kings. They are “whom / Thy life-blood tracks its parent lake,” and he desires a soldier’s death in battle to be worthy of them. Erotic self-aversion is felt throughout the poem, since the noble lord was in love, for a final time, with his Greek page boy Loukas, who refused Byron’s advances.”*
-Till I End My Song, A Gathering of Last Poems: Edited by Harold Bloom
-This book is a collection of Harold Bloom criticisms of poet’s last poems.
As Harold Bloom stated, this was the last poem written by Lord Byron three months before he died at age thirty-six (as stated in the title), and Bloom says that Byron writes as if he is almost anticipating a death. This critique ties in really well to previous research I have done in which I learned that Byron likes to compare himself to protagonists in his poems. In this poem the main point, and comparison, he is trying to make is that he wants to die a memorable death (as were the deaths in Macbeth which he was alluding to).
The version of the poem in Till I End My Song edited by Harold Bloom has several end notes informing the reader of important allusions Lord Byron was making when writing his poem. The first one actually appears in the first line of the poem, “Tis time this heart should be unmoved.” This line is taken from the last line of Stanzas to the Po. Another denotation is, “My days are in the yellow leaf.” This line is also taken from an original source, but this time directly alludes to the main theme of the poem; the deaths in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This line appears in Shakespeare’s Sonnet LXXIII and Macbeth V.III.21 ff.
“The Spartan, borne upon his shield,” is the third denotation and this time is alluding to an ancient Spartan ritual where dead or injured Spartan warriors were honored by being carried off the battlefield. This is a very symbolic sentence as Lord Byron is referring to himself as the Spartan, and he is describing his life as a battlefield. Since Harold Bloom understands that Byron senses he is nearing his death, the allusion being made is that Byron is finally being carried off the battlefield honorably (dying a memorable death where he will be honored).
The final denotation does actually tie into the theme of the rest of the poem abstractly by comparing Macbeth’s ancestors to his own. “Awake, my spirit! Think through whom.” As Harold Bloom stated in the criticism above, Byron is a descendant of a Scottish king as was Macbeth (Banquo). The word that is used to symbolize this relationship.
*The red phrases above indicate the main points of Harold Bloom's criticism and the poem.
-Till I End My Song, A Gathering of Last Poems: Edited by Harold Bloom
-This book is a collection of Harold Bloom criticisms of poet’s last poems.
As Harold Bloom stated, this was the last poem written by Lord Byron three months before he died at age thirty-six (as stated in the title), and Bloom says that Byron writes as if he is almost anticipating a death. This critique ties in really well to previous research I have done in which I learned that Byron likes to compare himself to protagonists in his poems. In this poem the main point, and comparison, he is trying to make is that he wants to die a memorable death (as were the deaths in Macbeth which he was alluding to).
The version of the poem in Till I End My Song edited by Harold Bloom has several end notes informing the reader of important allusions Lord Byron was making when writing his poem. The first one actually appears in the first line of the poem, “Tis time this heart should be unmoved.” This line is taken from the last line of Stanzas to the Po. Another denotation is, “My days are in the yellow leaf.” This line is also taken from an original source, but this time directly alludes to the main theme of the poem; the deaths in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This line appears in Shakespeare’s Sonnet LXXIII and Macbeth V.III.21 ff.
“The Spartan, borne upon his shield,” is the third denotation and this time is alluding to an ancient Spartan ritual where dead or injured Spartan warriors were honored by being carried off the battlefield. This is a very symbolic sentence as Lord Byron is referring to himself as the Spartan, and he is describing his life as a battlefield. Since Harold Bloom understands that Byron senses he is nearing his death, the allusion being made is that Byron is finally being carried off the battlefield honorably (dying a memorable death where he will be honored).
The final denotation does actually tie into the theme of the rest of the poem abstractly by comparing Macbeth’s ancestors to his own. “Awake, my spirit! Think through whom.” As Harold Bloom stated in the criticism above, Byron is a descendant of a Scottish king as was Macbeth (Banquo). The word that is used to symbolize this relationship.
*The red phrases above indicate the main points of Harold Bloom's criticism and the poem.
Criticism: She walks in beauty
“But sacred songs pure and simple are in short supply in the collection, which starts with the completely secular “She Walks in Beauty,” Byron’s lyric response to glimpsing his cousin Anne Wilmot at a Lansdowne House entertainment.”
-Lord Byron: by Peter W. Graham
“These stanzas were written on returning from a ballroom, where he had seen Lady Wilmot Horton, who appeared in mourning with numerous spangles on her dress.”
-The Poetical Works of Byron: by Robert F. Gleckner
In these two different books of criticism, that is all that is said about this particular poem. Lord Byron did not try to create an abstract theme or symbolize anything, but rather laid the facts straight and described exactly what he saw in vivid detail. The poem is simply about his beautiful cousin whom he saw at a ball, and was so attracted to her that he lyrically wrote about her beauty. The tone comes across as admiration and desire.
*The red phrases above indicate the main points of Harold Bloom's criticism and the poem.
-Lord Byron: by Peter W. Graham
“These stanzas were written on returning from a ballroom, where he had seen Lady Wilmot Horton, who appeared in mourning with numerous spangles on her dress.”
-The Poetical Works of Byron: by Robert F. Gleckner
In these two different books of criticism, that is all that is said about this particular poem. Lord Byron did not try to create an abstract theme or symbolize anything, but rather laid the facts straight and described exactly what he saw in vivid detail. The poem is simply about his beautiful cousin whom he saw at a ball, and was so attracted to her that he lyrically wrote about her beauty. The tone comes across as admiration and desire.
*The red phrases above indicate the main points of Harold Bloom's criticism and the poem.