Essays on literary works - 2023

Essay on the life and work of G. G. Byron
Lord George Gordon Byron

In the history of mankind there are names that never cease to excite the minds and hearts of more and more new generations. Interest in them is so deep that sometimes you even forget how long ago they lived and worked. More than a century and a half has passed since Byron's death, but his name is always close and dear to those for whom noble and courageous deeds are valuable, who understand the high and wonderful feelings of fighters for national independence and freedom of peoples, the tireless activity of thinkers and educators who affirm the victory of reason over ignorance and obscurantism. Byron's work was uniquely innovative, his poetry entered the history of world literature as an outstanding phenomenon associated with the era of romanticism, his life path was associated with participation in the Carbonari movement for the independence of Italy and Greece.

And as a poet, and as a fighter for freedom, Byron was for his time, in the words of Pushkin, "the ruler of thoughts." And until now, his work remains modern. Until now, passions are raging around the name of the poet and disputes are ongoing. The basis of Soviet Byron studies was the tradition of advanced Russian criticism, which was initiated by Pushkin and the Decembrists, criticism that was developed in the writings of revolutionary democrats, especially Belinsky.

Pushkin called Byron a "genius" and praised the novelty of his poetry in many of his works. Pushkin compared the personality and character of Byron with the elements of the sea: Your image was marked on it,

It was created by your spirit:

How powerful, deep and gloomy

you are, How we can’t tame anything, -

he wrote in the poem “To the Sea”.

Byron won great recognition among the Decembrists, for whom he was an example of serving the cause of freedom, the struggle against tyranny. The Decembrists translated his works, they themselves created poems and poems about him.

Belinsky gave a high assessment of the socio-political significance of Byron's poetry in Russian criticism. He argued with the authors of works about Byron, who condemned the poet, considering his work as the result of random circumstances and events of his life, as an expression of character traits.

Determining Byron's place in world literature, Belinsky pointed out that "every great poet is great because the roots of his suffering and bliss are deeply rooted in the soil of society and history, that he, therefore, is an organ and representative of society, time, humanity."

The poets of Russia, starting with Pushkin and Lermontov, opened to the Russian reader the spiritual world of the English poet, the originality of his poetic vision, and thanks to them Byron's freedom-loving poetry spread throughout the country.

Byron's works are published in various languages. His poetry, full of high spiritual content, is still revered.

Byron's legacy is great, the poet has always remained true to his words:

... everything that oppresses humanity will

always find an enemy in me.