Pleasant and Romantic World Depicted in "She

¶ … pleasant and romantic world depicted in "She Walks in Beauty," Byron illustrates a dark, cold, and hopeless world in "Darkness." "Darkness" is an elaborately detailed poem that remains a testament to Byron's flexibility as a poet.

When I consider the personal and external forces at work in Byron's life at this time, it becomes easier to understand how he could so masterfully create a world that was full of despair and so far removed from the world he illustrated in "She Walks Like Beauty." By the time "Darkness" was published, Byron was already established as a poet whose talent covered a wide range. (Bartleby) "She Walks in Beauty" was written in 1814, and is presumably written for Mrs. Robert John Wilmot, Byron's cousin. (Wu 668).

Although only two years separate the two poems, there were forces other than love that were influencing Byron's life during those years. History provides a broader understanding of the meaning of the poem. David Perkins states in English Romantic Writers, that "Darkness" was probably inspired by Mary Shelley's The Last Man, published in 1806. (Perkins 795) Another consideration for the Byron's inspiration is Vathek, the "notoriously decadent oriental tale by William Beckford,' which was published in 1786. Apparently, Byron was a fan of the novel.

According to Cox and Snodgrass, Vathek, at least in part, inspired "Darkness." (Romantic Circles) In addition, Byron's poem "Darkness," written in 1816 after a volcanic eruption temporarily altered the world's weather patterns. "Byron seems not only a poet of his past and present, but of our terrifying future glimpsed by Thomasina as well" (Cox).

This is verified in Robock's account of volcanic eruptions (Robock) In fact, Robock goes on to explain that he believes that the first fifteen lines of the poem deal specifically with the effects of what the eruption (or a similar one) would produce. In addition, Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, speaks of the gloomy weather that persisted for days as well. (Shelly xxii).

This is particularly fascinating as I consider what message Byron must have been trying to convey in "Darkness." It is also important to note that Byron was going through a separation with his wife at this time, which could partially explain Byron's desolate picture of the future. Due to growing rumors and constant hounding by the press, Byron fled England. (Martin 209) When all of these things are taken into consideration, it is no wonder that Byron crafted such a dismal poem.

By employing chilling imagery and selecting conscious detail, Byron allows the reader to see his interpretation of the end of the world. Byron's stark contrasts in "Darkness" a poem that envisions the end of the world. (Leung 458). This poem is filled with the opposite types of feelings that Byron seems to be expressing in "She Walks in Beauty." The bright sky that was once present in "She Walks in Beauty" no longer exists; in fact it is no longer extant.

Byron explains that "The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars / Did wander darkling in the eternal space" (Abrams 510;2-3). In addition, the "cloudless climes and starry skies" once beheld in "She Walks in Beauty" are replaced with a sun that is "rayless" and "pathless." The feeling of desolation is reinforced with mankind burning whatever they can find to achieve some kind of light. For example, Byron states that "they did live by watchfires" (10) and "Happy were those who dwelt within the eye / Of the volcanoes, and their mountain-torch" (16-17).

In this dream, he also sees that "Forests were set on fire" (19) and the people "fed / Their funeral piles with fuel" (27-28). However, none of this kept the light for very long and despite all their efforts "all was black" (21). By focusing on the darkness, Byron successfully creates within the reader a sense of the gloom.

The darkness drains mankind of all hope as Byron describes "The brows of men by the despairing light / Wore an unearthly aspect, as by fits / The flashes fell upon them / some lay down / And hid their eyes and wept; (22-25) As the poem progresses, Byron depicts human nature as sinking into a fallen state until "no love was left" (41) and "All earth was but one thought -- and that was death / / Immediate and inglorious" (42-43).

this scenario becomes even worse as men, starved from hunger, die while their "bones were tombless as their flesh" (44-45). In his vision of the apocalypse, Byron tells of two groups of people surviving and building an alter where they piled holy things for an "unholy purpose" (60). In this dramatic scene, the two set everything ablaze and when they saw what they had done, they died.

He tells the reader "The world was void / The populous, and the powerful was a lump / Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless / A lump of death -- a chaos of hard.