“Childe Harold Pilgrimage” as a Topographical Poem

Ahmed Shaker

University of Baghdad

College of languages, English Department

Romantic and Victorian Poetry

December 7, 2023
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Introduction

Childe pilgrimage is a loco-descriptive poem which made Byron internationally famous. It was a

quest for meaning in a Europe no longer defined by Christianity nor the French revolution divine

belief in human perfection. The protagonist, Harold, Byron other self, indulged with sinful

activities, whom he treats with irony and moral condemnation. The poem is celebrated because it

seemingly alluded to the authentic experience of its author. “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” is

written in a style designed to appeal to a new audience through its coherent and non-foundational

explorations of history, politics and contemporary politics. The poem perspective is European,

dismissing religious understandings of history and society, in favor of questioning societal ideal

through a series of meditations around verdicts on heroism, fame and achievement. (Bone, 2004,

77) The publication of the first two cantos of “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” in 1812 is the

starting point of the second-generation Romanticism impact on the culture. Byron gave a

distinctive turn to the Romantic Movement, and interrupted the modes of the popular modes

poetry. (Bone, 2004, 78)

Historical and Literary Context

Lord Byron 1788 – 1824

Lord Byron is one of the greatest British authors of his time and a Romantic Period major figure

alongside William Wordsworth, John Keats, and Percy Bysshe and Mary Shelley. Lord Byron’s

life was defined by love affairs and inappropriate relationships, unsettled debts, and illegitimate

children. Caroline Lamb, with whom Byron had a relationship, described him as “mad, bad, and

dangerous to know.”
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Lord Byron went on a two year journey across Spain, Portugal, Albania, and Greece, from which

he derived the inspiration for “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”. He later went to travel across Italy

participating in a number of affairs, writing and publishing works like “Don Juan”.

While in Missolonghi, Lord Byron had a strong fever and died at the age of 36. His heart was

buried in Missolonghi Because of his support and acts of heroism in the Greek Wars of

Independence, and his body was shipped back to England. His burial at Westminster Abbey was

denied, so Byron was buried in his family tomb in New Stead. He was deeply mourned in

England and in Greece. (Perkins, 2019)

Topographical poetry

Topographical poetry, also called local poetry, combines the description of a specific natural

scene with historical, political, or moral reflections that are associated with the scene or are

suggested by its details. Local poems were later developed into a major Romantic form; the

descriptive lyric is characterized by a sustained flow of thoughts, and feelings. (Meyer Howard

Abrams & Geoffrey Galt Harpham, 2015, 406)

Topographical Storytelling in “Childe Harold Pilgrimage”

The poem is divided into four cantos; each contains many topographical elements that reflect

Byron’s own experiences and observations during his journeys across Europe. As Harold travels

through Portugal, Spain, Albania, Greece, and Italy, the poem paints vivid pictures of these

landscapes, often highlighting their decay and ruins. This emphasis on fallen empires and

crumbling civilizations reflects Childe Harold's own sense of lost innocence and the

disillusionment with a world seemingly devoid of meaning. (Marchand, 1957, 12)

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Canto I – Spain, England, and Portugal

Bryon introduces Childe Harold, an English nobleman who has been wasting his life with

drinking, and lust with unbefitting women. “The Childe departed from his father's hall” (I, VII)

Hopeless, he leaves his family home, his heritage, his lands to travel, although with no clear

destination, he thinks, he will find happiness and some meaning to his life once he leaves

England.

Harold reach Portugal, he finds himself moving in bizarre and startling ways. He begins

exploring the land, moving blindly in search of his destiny, he wander into the mountains near

Lisbon, to Cintra, Harold admires the sight of the beautiful landscape “Oh, Christ! it is a goodly

sight to see”(I, XV) then he states his disgrace about the war with the French, “But man would

mar them with an impious hand”(I, XV) he contrasts the beauty of nature and ugliness of war,

implying that men destroy the nature’s charm with immoral actions.

Harold is once more in bewilderment of the beauty of the surroundings in Spain, but he is also

horrified by how far civilization has descended. When he watches a bullfight in Spain, he gets

his first real insight into human cruelty “Full in the centre stands the bull at bay,” “And now the

Matadores around him play” (I, LXXVIII). He witnesses the bravery of the bull and the brutality

with which the humans torment it, as well as the beast's incomprehension about why anyone

would attempt to harm it “Sheathed in his form the deadly weapon lies” (I, LXXIX). As usual,

the bullfight results in the bull's death, but Harold's search for the purpose of his life is left

unfulfilled.
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Canto II – Albania and Greece

Canto II begins with a salute to the achievements of classical Greece, inspired by Harold's trip to

the Acropolis. Harold sees the ruins of Greece's great accomplishments “Fair Greece, sad relic of

departed worth!” (II, LXXIX), and Byron reads them as a reflection of Greek freedom being lost

now “Spirit of Freedom! when on Phyle’s brow” (II, LXXIV). This foreshadows his later

involvement in the Greek independence movement. Byron laments the situation of Greece, an

ancient civilization of wisdom and knowledge, now under occupation and despair! He

encourages them to fight for freedom.

Childe Harold explores the wild and rugged landscape of Albania, and Byron portrays it as a

land of rugged beauty and mystery, “Land of Albania, let me bend mine eyes” (II, XXXVIII).

Although the Albanians seem barbarous to him “On thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men,” (II,

XXXVIII) he is contrasting between the landscape and the people emphasizing that the people

there are a reflection of this mysterious and rigged and hard terrain. After his tour Harold decides

to head back to England marking the end of canto the second.

Canto III – England, Belgium, and Switzerland

Before resuming the story of Harold, Byron informs readers that the young hero has undergone

significant change since the first two cantos were published. Byron was essentially forced to

leave England, leaving his daughter Ada, “ADA! sole daughter of my house and heart?”(III, I)
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because of the traumatic separation and the scandal surrounding his relationship with Augusta

“Is thy face like thy mother’s, my fair child!” (III, I) Canto III much darker tone betrays his

bitterness and Harold's personality—which was never notably distinct from the narrator's—now

appears more blended.

Harold “Long-absent HAROLD reappears at last” (III, VIII) runs away to the peace and quiet of

the countryside, discovering that it is the only thing that can truly comfort him. He senses a

connection to the mountains, the ocean, the forest, and the desert, “Where rose the mountains,

there to him were friends.” (III, XIII) Byron uses Harold and the poem in general to reflect his

own emotions and shows the romantic philosophy of using nature as an escape pod from the

hardships of reality.

Harold arrives at "the grave of France,"(III, XVIII) the scene of the Battle of Waterloo, where

Byron investigates the subject of Napoleon's authoritarian rule and uses the occasion to look

more broadly at tyranny implying the battle outcome as the end of Napoleon “In “pride of place”

here last the eagle flew.” (III, XVIII) Byron reflects how empires and heroes fight and fall.

Leaders as Napoleon may rise above but eventually fall as ancient Greece “departed worth.”

Harold is in astonishment of the Alps' majestic beauty and grandeur, “Above me are the Alps,

The palaces of Nature, whose vast walls.”(III, LXII) He senses a purification of his heart and an

elevation of his soul. He draws a comparison between human society's artificiality, corruption,

and the immaculate natural state of the Alps. People can reach the greatness of nature, but they

are limited in their earthly "How Earth may pierce to Heaven, yet leave vain man below"(III,

LXII) However, Harold is free to be himself and enjoy the splendor of nature in the Alps.
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In the context of Switzerland magnificent landscape, and being the birthplace of the philosopher

Jean Jacques Rousseau, Byron describes Rousseau as a "self-torturing sophist,"(III, LXXVII)

referring to his tendency to engage in self-reflection and philosophical contemplation, often

leading to emotional torment. In addition to Rousseau ability to convey deep and overwhelming

emotions were born from his experiences of suffering and grief “from woe Wrung overwhelming

eloquence”. His eloquence was a result of the pain he endured.

Canto IV – Italy

Canto IV opens in Venice, an enchanted city of breathtaking beauty that appears to rise out of the

sea but is actually a place of disintegration with its palaces "crumbling to the shore."( IV, III)

Venice's magnificent structures, like St. Mark's Cathedral, evoke memories of its former

independence and splendor as a city-state, but those days are long gone.

Italy continues to inspire Byron, who considers notable authors like Dante, who was connected

to Florence, the Italian equivalent of Athens. Not only was Italy the birthplace of Vergil's poetry,

but it also saw the rise and fall of an empire—a fact that immediately makes one think of

Napoleon and France. Rome is the very "field of freedom, faction, fame, and blood," (IV, CXIII)

but France has "gotten drunk with blood to vomit crime."(IV, XCVII) Harold’s visit to the

Roman Coliseum, an architectural marvel and a place of torture where gladiators fought for

sport, is perhaps the best example of human achievement and defeat.

In fact, Byron's account of the Coliseum in Rome perfectly captures the sense of place

importance in the poem as a metaphor for humans rise and fall: “While stands the Coliseum,

Rome shall stand” and “When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall."(IV, CXLV) Every location

Harold visits is a symbol of the human yearning for success and permanence, but they are also all
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in ruins, signifying the failure of humanity. Byron finds inspiration for the possibility of human

magnificence in the remnants of ancient buildings like the Roman Pantheon and St. Peter's

church and dome. Byron observes, "growing with its growth, we thus dilate/ Our spirits to the

size of that they contemplate"(IV, CLVIII) as he watches St. Peter's.

Byron highlights that the ocean is the pilgrim's final resting place, symbolizing the vastness of

the world that man struggles to create and survive within its sphere. All places created by

humans must be measured against the immense force and beauty of nature.

Conclusion

Childe Harold, Byron other self, journey resemble the human spirit for exploration and

adventure, and the Romantic ideals of freedom, revolution against tyranny, and love for nature.

Throughout his journey, Harold visit numerous places, such as Greece, Italy, Albania,

Switzerland, Spain, and his home country of England.

Each of his visits resembles a side effect of the human involvements in contrast to human nature.

Greece ruins represent the forgotten glory of ancient civilization, Italian Roman architecture

resembles the human rise and fall, Spain's Bulls fight resembles the human cruelty against the

natural world, Switzerland natural magnificence is the escape for the Romantic poet, Albanian

harsh and rugged terrain resembles the harsh lives of eastern European countries, and England is

the home of Byron who he leaves due to his personal problems, leaving his wealth and love.

All of these natural and manmade landmarks holds a story of the human suffering, greatness, and

nature, described from the Romantic lens of Lord Byron.

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References

Bone, D. (2004). The Cambridge companion to Byron. Cambridge University Press.

Byron, L. (2020). The Essential Works of Lord Byron. Musaicum Books.

Marchand, L. (1957). Byron: A Biography. Knopf.

Meyer Howard Abrams, & Geoffrey Galt Harpham. (2015). A glossary of literary terms.

Wadsworth Cengage Learning, Cop.

Perkins, M. (2019). Biography of the Mad, Bad, and Dangerous Lord Byron. ThoughtCo.

https://www.thoughtco.com/lord-byron-4689043