In this article, we will consider Byron's poem, published between 1812 and 1818, and outline its summary. The Childe-Harold Pilgrimage is the name of this world-famous work.
First, let's say a few words about the story of the creation of the poem. Byron at the end of June 1809 began his two-year journey. He visited Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Albania, Greece. The poet was interested in how the peoples of these states live, what their culture is. The social contrasts he had to deal with particularly struck him. Byron saw the arbitrariness of foreign and local tyrants, not limited by anything. He was outraged by the complete lack of rights of local peoples. All these impressions resulted in the poet’s reflections on these issues that make up the plot of the poem, its summary. The Childe-Harold Pilgrimage is a work in which the author addresses the most important topics of history and modernity, as well as eternal problems.
This two-year journey has given the poet much. He realized that his lyre should serve the community. Byron felt his civic calling. In these 2 years, the poet wrote the first 2 songs of his future poem "Pilgrimage of Childe-Harold." A very brief summary of this work gives an idea only about the plot, but not about the artistic features. Therefore, before moving on to the main part of the article, we will say a few words about them.
Byron Romanticism
This work is considered the first in Byron's romance, with a new type of romance that differs from its predecessors. George Gordon does not run from reality, unlike other word artists. The poet defends the freedom of peoples, their inalienable right to wage a national liberation war. Byron defends the human person from humiliation and violence. However, it requires active action from the person himself. The poet stigmatizes him for worshiping tyranny.
Like all romantics, George Byron sang of nature. But in this respect, he was different from his predecessors. The poet sang it not abstractly, but in relation to man. Byron argued that only a spiritually developed and free person can feel harmony with nature. The connection of times permeates the whole poem. The light of modernity illuminates the past and at the same time allows us to look into the future.
The main features of the work we noted. We now turn directly to the brief content of the poem "Pilgrimage of Childe-Harold."
1 song (summary)
The first part refers to the invasion of Napoleon’s troops on the Iberian Peninsula. The poet sympathizes with the Spaniards, who fight with the invaders. George Byron shows people in mass scenes, in action, when people have fun, work, fight. In his field of vision are also individual heroic personalities. For example, he talks about a girl from Zaragoza. The key to the success of the struggle of the inhabitants of Spain for a just cause, the poet considers the unity of the hero with the people. This victory is also important for other enslaved peoples who are waiting for Spain to achieve freedom. The poet hopes that people from other countries will rise up behind her. This is what the first song of the poem "Pilgrimage of Childe-Harold" says.
2 song
A summary of the second song of the work develops the content of the previous one. The author continues the theme of the struggling people. During the trip, Childe-Harold finds himself in Albania, after which he lands in Greece.
Description of Greece
A substantial part of the second song is dedicated to this country. Its description continues the summary that we have compiled. The Childe-Harold Pilgrimage is a work in which Byron sees a contrast between the past of Greece, which was once truly great, and the humiliated position of the people under the Turkish yoke. George Gordon admires "beautiful Hellas." However, his enthusiasm is replaced by anger towards her descendants, who submitted to the yoke of foreign invaders. Greece, he notes, is trampled into the mud. The backs of slaves bend under Turkish lashes, but the Greek is silent. This outrages the poet.
However, his anger gives way to the hope that the people still live "the force of indomitable liberty", characteristic of the ancestors. And the poet calls on the country to rise to fight. Byron's love for Greece is unchanged. The stanzas of the poem dedicated to her help us understand why George Gordon decided to participate in the struggle for the liberation of the Greek people.
Publishing the first two songs
The first two songs of the poem were born on March 10, 1812. Above was a summary of them. The Childe-Harold Pilgrimage immediately gained recognition. After the publication of the first two songs, Byron gained great fame. His work has survived many publications, and the popularity of George Gordon grew day by day.
3rd song
Arriving in Switzerland, Byron began to study life in this country. Everything that seemed to him remarkable, he imprinted in his diary and in letters. The poet described the locals, their way of life, nature, historical places. All these observations were incorporated into the poem "Pilgrimage of Childe-Harold." A summary of the third song is brought to your attention.
It reflected the travel impressions of the poet. Byron was forced to leave for Switzerland, leaving his homeland. In this country, he reflects on the battle of Waterloo (the poet first visited this historic place), discusses the defeat of Napoleon.
Reflections on the War
The look of the poet from the Battle of Waterloo goes to paintings of majestic nature. Byron does not stop thinking that wars that humanity does not stop waging have destroyed the beauty both created by human hands and natural for many centuries. Thoughts about the war reappear when the lyrical hero of the work compares the battle that took place in the 15th century when the city of Morat fought for its independence with the events of Waterloo. Byron notes that this battle was not won by tyrants, but by citizenship, liberty, and law. Only these goals can justify the bloody wars, as George Byron ("Childe-Harold Pilgrimage") believed.
The summary of the third part, however, includes not only reflections on the war. We invite you to get acquainted with other important topics of Byron's reasoning.
The connection of man with nature, the glorification of Russo and Voltaire
Contemplating the nature of Switzerland, George Gordon comes to the idea that everyone is a part of nature. The joy of life is unity with it. Developing his thought, the poet glorifies the enlightener Russo, who advocated the connection of man with nature. This philosopher proclaimed the ideas of freedom and equality of people. Byron recalls another thinker, Voltaire. He prepared the minds of people for revolution. His mind "on the foundation of doubt" created the temple of "rebellious thought."
So, the poet’s third song reflects the poet’s thoughts about events that worried the whole world at that time. Byron weaves into the laid-back, free narrative hymns to nature, apt and concise characteristics of various historical figures, as well as a genre scene that depicts the ball before the Battle of Waterloo.
4th song
We turn to the description of the 4th song of the poem "Pilgrimage of Childe-Harold." It was created in Italy and first published in 1818. For Byron, Italy became a state in which many of his life and creative ideas were realized. It was here that George Gordon found personal happiness by meeting with Teresa Gvichchioli.
Description of Italy
It should be noted that the fourth song is the most voluminous in the work. In it, Byron seeks to create a diverse and integral image of the country, which became its second homeland. George Gordon was very fond of Italy. He admired her high artistic culture and historical past. However, the poet still looked at her as a man who had not forgotten his people and his native country. As long as the British language sounds, the great poet George Gordon Byron will keep his homeland in his memory.
The Childe-Harold Pilgrimage is nevertheless devoted primarily to describing other states. In the image of the poet, Italy is a country that for other nations cannot become a stranger. Byron is convinced that for her honor "the nations must stand up." However, he urges the Italians themselves to fight. He says that you need to remember examples from the history of his state, marked by a heroic past. Her great sons should always remain in people's memory. The poet, referring to Venice, reminds the people of the "thousand-year freedom." Byron cannot see how she reconciled to the loss of her independence. He is convinced that the human soul ripens and grows only in struggle.
Discussions about Italian heroes, thinkers and poets
In Ferarre, he recalls Torquato Tasso, the great poet, George Gordon Byron ("Pilgrimage of Childe-Harold"). A summary of the history associated with his name should certainly be stated.
The duke gave the order to declare Tasso crazy, after which this poet spent 7 years in prison. Byron writes that the name of the duke would have long been forgotten if his atrocities had not been associated with the fate of Torquato. Italian heroes, thinkers and poets are dear to everyone. George Gordon calls Florence, where Bocaccio, Petrarch and Dante were born, "an ungrateful city," since there is "not even a bust." "Land of his dreams" was Rome, to which the poet devoted many stanzas. Byron's gaze through ruins and monuments seeks to penetrate deep into centuries in order to revive bygone times.
A look at history
The fourth song contains many descriptions of Italian attractions. However, it also shows how Byron tries to overcome the prevailing romantic idea of the history of mankind in his poem “Pilgrimage of Childe Harold”. A brief summary of the chapters of this work is not an easy task, since it contains a lot of reasoning and almost no plot. It should be noted that often the poet amazes with his foresight of future events. He holds back his own imagination so as not to delve into reasonings abstracted from reality. In passages devoted to the revolution in France, George Gordon expresses the hope that the grain sown with liberty in the future "will no longer produce a bitter fruit."
Time and eternity
Byron, as in the three previous songs, inspiredly describes the beauty of nature in the fourth part of the poem “Pilgrimage of Childe Harold,” a summary of which is already approaching the finale. The image of the sea, presented at the end of the work, is unforgettable, like the picture of Velino waterfall, conveying all its splendor. According to George Gordon, nature provides man with the opportunity to come into contact with eternity. In the consciousness of the poet, eternity is an invariable category. Time is in constant motion, it is fleeting. The running of time often throws George Byron into sadness and despondency. However, he associates with him certain hopes. The poet believes that in the future those who slander him will be exposed. Only time is the corrector of "false judgments."
This concludes the Childe-Harold Pilgrimage. A summary of the songs of this work, of course, gives only the most general idea of it. It should be noted that A.S. Pushkin was very interested in the poem, who even completed its translation. The work incorporates the great life experience of George Byron from his youth until the beginning of the most fruitful period in his work.