So, we’ll go no more a-roving
I chose this poem because I was intrigued by its mischievousness and also because it was very straightforward. Byron wrote So, we’ll go no more a-roving after attending the Carnival in Venice. Similar to Mardi Gras, Carnival was, and still is, a social gathering filled with celebration, excess, and conspicuous consumption. Masks were worn to conceal identities and also served to eliminate social divisions. Byron had earned a reputation for his promiscuous behavior. It was assumed that his writings were about his own life and adventures, and to that end, I interpreted this poem to be about his “roving” (philandering) at Carnival.
The poem (pg. 358) first appeared in a letter Byron wrote from Venice at age 29. In the first stanza, he says that there will be no more roving late into the night, even though the heart still loves and the moon is still bright. In the last stanza, he reaffirms the first stanza by saying that the night was made for loving, and the day comes too soon, but even so, there will be no more roving at night.
Why does he say this? Perhaps he is growing tired of his exploits, or perhaps he has simply overindulged. The second stanza provides more information. The first line reads “For the sword outwears its sheath” (draw your own conclusion here). The second line, “and the soul wears out the breast,” parallels the first line. “And the heart must pause to breathe, And love itself have rest” (he needs a breather or hiatus).
Byron uses symbolic language to covey his message and the reader is drawn in by the allure of his secrets. It is not clear whether he intends this to be a temporary respite or whether he will be giving up his lascivious lifestyle altogether. Likely, his intent in sharing this information was merely to boast because he was proud of his self-inflicted malaise.
Like the 1st generation Romantics, Byron embraced new ways of expressing his thoughts and feelings, however the topics he approached would have been too risqué for the 1st generation. Byron’s writings were amorous, enticing, and irreverent and that is what sets him apart from the 1st generation Romantics.
3 comments:
Brenda,
Excellent posting! You do a great job of focusing and digging deeper into Byron's poem, and of quoting and commenting on specific passages. In doing so you make several insightful observations on the poem. This is exactly what I would like to see more of in the postings.
Good posting and I really like all the pictures you attached with your postings.
You know when I read this poem and think about Byron's time in Venice, I cannot help recall Verlaine's set of poems called
'Fetes Gallantes" Many of them are simple scene poems but they often depict scenes of promiscuous youth and elegant parties (which is what Fetes Gallantes means) in Venice. The poems were written often based upon Rococco-style paintings which depicted the rich of society in all of their extravagances. "Mandoline" is probably my favorite poem from this set about a group of women at an evening party outside under a tree and the little ways that they go "a-roving" :-)
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