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246 The Romantic period 1789–1832
satires of Dryden or Pope. He saw Pope as his main technical model,
but his satires are not based on a vision of positive moral values. The
character of Don Juan is a constant seeker of meaning rather than one
who already knows the moral basis for his actions. He is not a complete
anti-hero; but neither is his quest wholly heroic. Byron’s own view of
his hero is ironic in places, as in the following instance:
He pored upon the leaves, and on the flowers,
And heard a voice in all the winds; and then
He thought of wood-nymphs and immortal bowers,
And how the goddesses came down to men:
He missed the pathway, he forgot the hours,
And when he looked upon his watch again,
He found how much old Time had been a winner –
He also found that he had lost his dinner.
Here Juan is first described as a kind of mock Romantic poet (with perhaps
a slight hint of Wordsworth and Tintern Abbey); the final two lines show
his love of nature to be over-indulgent. He is brought comically down to
earth in a sharp colloquial reminder which contrasts ironically with the
more elevated language and topic at the beginning of the stanza.
Such sudden changes in style are common in Byron’s poetry. Byron
learned from the mock-heroic style of Pope and Dryden, and uses
colloquial language widely (which the Augustans did not). In fact,
although Wordsworth had advocated the use of the language of ordinary
men, Don Juan contains more everyday language than The Prelude and
The Excursion put together. The famous short lyric So we’ll go no more
a-roving (1817) shows how simple and heartfelt Byron can be:
So we’ll go no more a-roving
So late into the night,
Though the heart be still as loving,
And the moon be still as bright.
For the sword outwears its sheath,
And the soul wears out the breast,
And the heart must pause to breathe,
And love itself have rest.