ANALYSIS

“Darkness” is a poem which was written by Lord Byron in 1812. “That year was known as the Year Without a Summer - this is because Mount Tambora had erupted in the Dutch East Indies the previous year, casting enough ash in to the atmosphere to block out the sun and cause abnormal weather across much of northeast America and northern Europe. This pall of darkness inspired Byron to write his poem. Literary critics were initially content to classify it as a "last man" poem, telling the apocalyptic story of the last man on earth. More recent critics have focused on the poem's historical context, as well as the anti-biblical nature of the poem, despite its many references to the Bible” (fragment from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkness_(poem).

It has been difficult for me to choose a poem, but the first time I read “Darkness” I said: this is the poem; this is the poem I want to analyze. Only reading a few lines I understood it transmitted me something the others didn’t.

The first time I read it I feel as immensity surrounded me, as I can see that void world, that world which was breaking slowly but strongly. A world without any exit, any hope, any option, any alternative to survive. A world that has forgotten their passions, their dreams, their illusions… it’s the sadder picture I can imagine. A world that will be swallowed by darkness, by emptiness, and only that will remain: nothing, the colour black as when you close your eyes. The difference would be you’d have your eyes opened but you couldn’t see. A world with a fate, a horrible fate that can’t be changed. An apocalyptic fate.

First line is beauty, it expresses something it could be real and the first thing in which you think is some good, something you desire, but if you continue reading your first impression disappears. Following the words from the poem we are in a world without sun, a world without light or warmth. Can a world survive without that? No, it’s impossible, their end is coming.

The coldness is our new neighbour, but the uncertainty, the insecurity and as consequence the fear, they accompany it. That provokes confusion between people and the chaos, the self-destruction due to disorientation people experiment. Destruction starts with an extinguished sun, an incident will carry the destruction of plants, animals, people, cities and the world.

We can feel sadness and desperation with verses as:

 Line 7- “And men forgot their passions in the dread”

Lines 12 & 13- “The habitations of all things which dwell, were burnt for beacons; cities were consumed”

Lines 19, 20 & 21- “Forests were set on fire-but hour by hour they fell and faded-and the crackling trunks extinguished with a crash-and all was black”

Line 40- “Gorging himself in gloom: no love was left”

Line 46- “The meagre by the meagre were devoured”

Lines 70, 71 & 72- “Famine had written Fiend. The world was void, seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless. A lump of death-a chaos of hard clay”

These verses describe the way in which everything is being destroyed, how things are disappearing, slowly but continually.

Other expressions as the next ones are absolute expressions; they don’t leave us to believe in a possible escape.

Line 41- “All earth was but one thought-and that was death”

Line 71- “Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless”

Line 81- “And the clouds perished! Darkness had no nee of them. She was the Universe!”

Byron to create that shivering atmosphere is using negative adverbs as rayless, pathless, seasonless, herbless, lifeless… that helps to remark again and again there is nothing, nothing exist except darkness. He also uses verbs that suggest us the end of something, verbs as extinguished, consumed, devoured… Words are related to fear as desolation, fearful, to hurry, terrified… Adjectives and nouns that show us decrepitude and everything alive are wasting away, as example we have famine, meagre, skeleton hands, ashes, feeble breath… Everything he uses is connected with the same topics: destruction, fear, death, extinction and ending. These topics are the nucleus to mould the poem.

Interesting parts would be on the one hand the loyal dog is with its master, possibly the only with calm and certain serenity between the chaos. On the other hand, that at the end “Find” seems to be who causes the apocalypses. It’s curious because God is who technically handle our lives, our “faith”. In my opinion both are some kind of irony or mockery.

Summarizing, “Darkness” even showing all that shows is a beautiful poem, a magnificent poem that shares the vision, the idea one day came to my mind. An image that makes you to think in everything that form part of your world.