Preview

Darkness By Lord Byron Mood

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
943 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Darkness By Lord Byron Mood
In Lord Byron’s poem “Darkness”, he represents humanity in a pessimistic way. To quote English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, his portrayal of humanity’s life is “nasty, brutish, and short”. This negative portrayal is shown through the theme of the poem, and through the imagery and tone. The theme of this poem, which is the lack of hope, shows Byron’s pessimistic representation of humanity. Bestial images, fearful images, and lifeless images of the world all further show Byron’s view on humanity. Finally, his grim tone on the subject displays what he thinks about humanity’s life. With these literary devices, Byron’s negative representation of humanity is clear.
A possible theme for Lord Byron’s “Darkness” is that there is a lack of hope. This poem depicts a postapocalyptic …show more content…
This poem has a tone of depression and despair. “Darkness” imagines a world where there is no light left, and humans regress to things such as killing and cannibalism. Byron describes this postapocalyptic world as somewhere where “no Love was left”, a place where everyone’s only thoughts are of “death” (Byron lines 41-42). Byron believes that humanity will get to a point of chaos and disorder, that they will not have any love or light left in them. He portrays humanity as only thinking about death, as their fear and desperation about this new world is causing them to behave more like animals. Byron’s grim tone is shown through his portrayal of humanity. Tones of desperation can also be seen through darkness gradually taking over. By the end of the poem, the world is void of everything besides darkness, “She was the Universe” (Byron line 82). Byron is imagining a world where nothing exists anymore, where there is no life left. His attitude about humanity is clearly desperate and full of despair; he does not believe that humanity would keep any morality or light in this
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Comparing T.S. Elliot's "The Hollow Men," with "The Heart of Darkness," by Joseph Conrad
    • 671 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Comparing T.S. Elliot's "The Hollow Men," with "The Heart of Darkness," by Joseph Conrad

    The poem by T.S. Elliot, The Hollow Men and The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad embody apathy and indifference. Both Conrads Station Manager and Elliots hollow men present a profound intellectual and emotional lack of interest or concern as well as being devoid of distinguishable humanity. The two texts highlight the grave characteristics of both the station manger and the hollow men by embellishing the details of their vacant eyes as well as deaths other kingdom, of which they both inhabit, their indefinite characteristics and their hollowness.…

    • 671 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Literary Devices used in 'The Raven' by Edgar Allan Poe
    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Literary Devices used in 'The Raven' by Edgar Allan Poe

    The melodic nature of the poem and its very gloomy tone is reinforced by Poe’s choice of words and the sound effects that they convey. By the use of rhyme, the poem is made to…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Frankenstein and Blade Runner
    • 1067 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Frankenstein and Blade Runner

    During Shelley’s time the Industrial Revolution was a colossal movement, which displayed the rise of urbanization. Imagine this: you are walking down an aisle sandwiched between two escalating torn factories with black smoke roaring, clawing towards the murky sky. These were the conditions which led the Romantics to value the powers of nature. In respect to these notions gothic imagery is displayed in nature “the moon gazed my midnight labors” Shelley imposes supernatural elements of nature which emphasize a sense of thrill and excitement which existed during Shelley’s context of scientific capabilities. Furthermore, nature itself has the ability to console the individual. We identify this in “the sky was serene […]…

    • 1067 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Tone Of Night By Elie Wiesel
    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Tone Of Night By Elie Wiesel

    In the memoir night the author Elie Wiesel questions his fate to show the reader a sad disbelieving tone .This is choice is important to the narrative as a whole because it develops the reader's understanding of the character conflict about how to deal with his own sadness. Ellie thinks it tells the reader and shows how Elie was living a normal when the nazi army took over germany and moved all the jews straight into the ghetto’s once moved into the ghetto all the jews were moved into concentration camps and separated from their families. These memories from elie changed his life forever for the rest of his life. When Elie said “never shall I forget that night , the first night in the camp that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed”.…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of The Poem 'The Man Who Spilled Light'
    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Analysis Of The Poem 'The Man Who Spilled Light'

    Beginning in media res, the poem starts out recounting the situation where a man brings light to his city. After he sees fear among the people, who claim that the shadows in the dark are “dangerous”, thereby “crouching” to hide themselves from the darkness, the man goes to help them overcome their terror. Later, he realizes that their fear of darkness ultimately leads to their yearning for something different: light. He, who can be seen as an altruistic, but spontaneous man, sees their desire for light,…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Comparing Individualism In The Devil And Tom Walker
    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Comparing Individualism In The Devil And Tom Walker

    Through literature, Romantic writers strove to define themselves and their place in life. In Nature, Emerson wrote, “In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.” Transcendentalists defined themselves through nature and the Over-Soul. Longfellow’s optimistic view of life, A Psalm of Life, tells of how individuals should be. “Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.” Gothic works such as Poe’s The Raven with its macabre and psychological torment and supernatural elements exposes the darker side of mankind. Telling of the Raven, Poe writes, “And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming; And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted--nevermore!” Emily Dickinson’s poetry illustrates a great deal of individuality, and what she believes individuals are capable of. In The Brain--is wider than the Sky--, she relates the astounding capacity of the human brain. “The Brain--is wider than the Sky--...The Brain is deeper than the sea--...The Brain is just the weight of God--.” In their own way, each Romantic author reflect the idea of the individual in their…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Lord Byron's She Walks In Beauty
    • 1885 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Lord Byron's She Walks In Beauty

    Harold Bloom, a Yale University professor, once said that “George Gordon, Lord Byron, is literature’s most notorious instance of a writer’s life becoming his work, indeed taking the place of it.” (Pesta, Bloom and Willis 1). Lord Byron was a famous poet that illustrated his emotions through his literature very effectively. Ironically, Byron enjoyed reading and writing, but hated poetry at an early age (Pesta, Bloom and Willis 9). However, Byron’s first piece of literature to be published, called “Fugitive Pieces,” was introduced in November, 1806 (Pesta, Bloom and Willis 21). Many factors contributed to the various writing styles and themes of Lord Byron’s literature; his troubled childhood as well as the way that he obsessed over sexual relationships…

    • 1885 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Emily Dickinson Poem 355 Commentary
    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Emily Dickinson Poem 355 Commentary

    Emily Dickinson’s main purpose in poem 355 is to describe an indefinable depression. She creates a melancholy persona to depict the chaos and despair she feels because of her condition. Her poem is structured around her uncertainty towards her mental state. Dickinson, in the first two stanzas, eliminates possibilities to what she may be feeling. She analyzes that “it was not death”, “it was not night”, “it was not frost”, “nor fire”. The poem appeals to the human sense of touch, as Dickinson compares tangible sensations that the body normally experiences to her tumultuous emotions. In the third stanza, Dickinson synthesizes all of the possibilities she eradicated in the previous two stanzas, ominously stating that her condition “tasted like them all”. The narrator is unable to distinguish her feelings from one another, leading the reader to conclude that she is in a chaotic state of mind. She compares her condition to a funeral, both of which evoke death. In the fourth stanza, Dickinson continues to explore her persona’s dark psyche. The narrator experiences terror and despair to the point where she “could not breathe.” Her only “key” to escape this punishment is to be able to understand what she is feeling and why…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Close Reading of Hope is a thing with feathers
    • 1320 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Close Reading of Hope is a thing with feathers

    Dickinson’s poem “Hope” was written in both simple syntax and diction, but backed up with a strong meaning. Though the word order and punctuation are somewhat strange, the actual words are easy to understand on their own. However, what makes them interesting is how they relate to one another and how they play an important factor to the overall theme of hope. Throughout the poem the words chosen are those we use everyday and made up of one or two syllables. The plain diction that is used throughout most of the poem shows the naturalness of hope. Yet Dickinson breaks this flow with the word ‘extremity’ to show the burdens that hope can help one overcome. While hope is a difficult idea to grasp, Dickinson uses a simple writing style to explain hope in a philosophical view through the exploration of hope through all types of landscapes, such as the chillest land and strangest sea.…

    • 1320 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Bloodsucking Bat 'And' Club Footed Ghoul's Poetry
    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Bloodsucking Bat 'And' Club Footed Ghoul's Poetry

    Throughout human history, we have been fascinated with our own mortality. This obsession with life and death has carried over into our literary works, and given birth to stories such as Dr. Frankenstein, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dr. Faustus. These tales revolve around the preservation and unnatural extension of life, either through the power of science or the supernatural. On these ideas there are three pertinent examples of poems in which life is shown as being frail. In all of these poems life is presented as being weak and easily susceptible to negative outside forces. However, they each express this in a distinct manner; either through clinging to the life of a loved one, showing life’s weakness through its corruption and demonstrating…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparing Death
    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Comparing Death

    In the two poems “Death, Be Not Proud,” by John Donne and “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,” by Dylan Thomas both deal with the issue of death, yet in different ways. The theme of each one of these poems is the subject of death. Each author chooses to tackle this difficult topic head on, but they do so in different styles. Like day and night the mood in each poem is in total contrast to each other. Although the tone is totally different in each poem, the theme of death is accepted in each as well.…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Frankenstein Essay
    • 2201 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Frankenstein Essay

    Mary Shelley’s novel was published in a prominent period of the 1800’s known as the Gothic Era. A very dark and bleak time, where polluted British cities were filled to the brim with the diseased, overworked and dying factory workers, (Charles Booth claims about 30% of Londoners lived in poverty between 1887 and 1892) it was an opportunity for authors to express the widespread despairing and fearful emotions of the public through literature. As people started to oppose and question religious authorities that once dominated government decisions, schools and towns, a God-less society was formed. It was a time where people lived in the darkness of their homes with only candlelight to brighten the night. The flickering shadows the candles produced made the nights quite frightening; reflected in many haunting tales produced in the era. Mary Shelley’s novel is an explicit example of an author who incorporates these emotions into…

    • 2201 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Emily Dickinson Annotated Bibliography
    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Emily Dickinson Annotated Bibliography

    Cody, John. After Great Pain: The Inner Life of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, Belknap Press, 1971. N. Pag. Print.…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    We Grow Accustomed To The Night By Emily Dickinson Essay
    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages

    We Grow Accustomed To The Night By Emily Dickinson Essay

    Depression is an ever-changing dual sword of solitude and struggle. Emily Dickinson’s poem “We Grow Accustomed to the Dark” illustrates the concept that depression is a scarring battle that brings similar individuals together in the hope of overcoming it; however, in Robert Frost’s poem “Acquainted with the Night” depicts depression as a lone ballet to be fought by the individual themselves. Both poems use personification, metaphors, and opposite points of view to illustrate their points.…

    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis of Lord Byron's "Manfred"
    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Analysis of Lord Byron's "Manfred"

    Lord Byron’s dramatic poem, Manfred, written during 1816-1817 can be interpreted in many ways. Manfred represents Byron’s vision of the Byronic hero, who is seen superior to humans, but rejects the comfort brought to him by religious representatives. Throughout this poem, it is clear that he feels regret and guilt, to whom and for what it is, is another question. Some believe that his guilt is directed toward his lover, Astarte. The theme that seems to be most apparent in this poem is the guilt he proclaims throughout and how death is possibly is only solution.…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics