To Close the Doors and Windows of Conciousness for a Time. R.R. 3

Byron, Nietzsche, and the Mystery of Forgetting


In the article Byron, Nietzsche and The Mystery of Forgetting, James Soderholm exploits the similarities between Wilhelm Nietzsche and Byron's play Manfred, along with the irony of mindful forgetfulness. Manfred is a play best known for its shocking plot, but even more shocking the reality that encouraged Byron to write the play. Crafted after his own life, the show opened a gateway to freedom for Byron from the loneliness of his secrets. Thus helping him deal with the pain. As an intentional result of the plays release Byron enjoyed the humiliation that his two ex-lovers; ex-wife Annabella Byron, and half-sister Augusta Leigh had to endure in England while he lay low out of town. One of the most important scenes in Manfred is when a discouraged boy calls upon spirits to help him do what he could not, forget the past and move on. Next he was, instead, handed eternal memory. In real life Lord Byron wished he could escape from the mistakes he made in the past. In his heart he knew the mind is a wonderful thing, but can not erase what is real. If Byron could intentionally forget anything he wished, I'm sure after the play was released would be the time to use the skill. Nietzsche mentioned the concept of mindful forgetfulness in several of his own writings such as a series of books entitled Daybreak, Disadvantages of History for Life then again in Essay of the Genealogy of Morals. Even though one could say Nietzsche was an "expert" in the art of consciously forgetting Nietzsche wouldn't except that his mind was actively forgetting. An example is this quote by thee refusing to believe that the plot for Manfred had been taken from a previous play written by Goethe entitled Faust,
"I have no word, only a glance, for those who dare to pronounce the word Faust’ in the presence of Manfred".
Another example is when Nietzsche contradicts himself when he writes an article summarized by James, "We must fasten on those qualities most admirable in our heroes and neglect what is contradictory, absurd, or otherwise disagreeable in their works." Nietzsche puts Byron before him as a hero, when Byron is no such thing. Byron, Nietzsche and The Mystery of Forgetting is about James pointing out the paradoxes of Nietzsche excessive writing on the mechanics of forgetfulness yet indulges in forgetting himself.


My favorite part of James Soderholm’s article is where he quotes Kierkegaard,
"The more poetically one remembers, the more easily one forgets, for to remember poetically is actually only an expression of forgetting". The quote makes you question what forgetting really is to the mind. If you remember only the good, you’re forgetting the bad. If you remember the bad you’re often forgetting the good. To think poetically is to look at everything with a new eye, and see beauty. So no matter what situation placed in, you’re always mindfully forgetting certain aspects. As for choosing your memorize, I’m not sure if that can be done. Automatically when a person goes through a tragic experience I believe the mind blocks the pain and fear that you at one time felt, but is easier to survive without. Over the summer I was in a small car crash. When my friend and I finally got home after the scene we tried to bring up the emotions we felt while it was happening, but neither of us could remember. This is one of my only stories of active forgetfulness that I recall. The concept of the mind and why it chooses some memories while discarding others is interesting. I think it’s a good concept for James to bring in with romantic poets since romanticism is about being more actively involved with your natural abilities. Maybe there is a way to control what you remember, or maybe more access to the mind would make situations even more difficult to forget. James mentions that Wordsworth is a "lover of memory" and can even recall the garments he wore on certain days. This could be why the romantic poet Lord Byron had such a hard time coping with his mistakes, he was so in tuned that his mind wouldn’t let him free. Just like with Byron I feel like remembering everything would make it difficult to be happy. Nietzsche said it best, "There could be no happiness, no cheerfulness, no hope, no pride, no present, without forgetfulness".

Winter Winds (Prose Poem)

A crisp winter night spent in the same place were so many memories were made in summers passed. I never attended the school but every time I went there I found myself at ease, at home.
This specific night I strayed from the group of people to sit on the swing furthest away. I wanted to enjoy the darkness in peace. I hadn't realized the chains were full of ice until the brisk wind was hitting my face but I couldn't feel it on my hands. I didn't care. The stars were so distracting I couldn't look anywhere else. The sky completely clear. I had forgotten I was leaning back in the swing, refusing to look away from the soft sky, my arms quickly fell asleep. I then forced myself against gravity and pulled my body up strait.
"How could things have changed so quickly?"
Under these same stars after the sun went down on warm summer nights, I would listen to the sweet sound of a close friend playing out his dreams on the guitar. This was our sacred place. Somewhere to come when it was too late to go anywhere else. A place to go to search for shooting stars and real conversation. Everyone has forgotten that now. Always looking for something better to do because the people present aren't enough. Just some kids you have one or two things in common with. Not enough to enjoy the wonder of a simple night.
There's no way to describe the summer from two years ago, except... maybe.. free. We were never bored, we didn't even know the meaning of the word.
I opened my eyes wider in the darkness. I heard the murmuring getting louder with more excitement in the unfamiliar voices. "Are we leaving?" I asked in disbelief. I didn't even have to ask, I already knew the answer. Dragging my feet on the padded ground beneath me the swing slowed down enough for me to agonizingly slide off. After I shoved my slightly blue hands into my pockets I walked away knowing it wouldn't be long before I visited the familiar place again.

Eternal Knowledge

While looking on Etsy.com I came across this painting of Lord Byron. I had never thought that a poems purpose was to leave an impact.I always thought of poetry as another way to express oneself like dancing, or playing an instrument, and the information got leaked out into the public. Then again even dancing and music are meant to provoke emotions from audiences. But was that the point at the beginning? Anyway the artist Lydia Burris explained that she made this after hearing that Byron made a request before he died; He'd rather someone make a wine glass from his skull than have it uselessly rot inside the Earth. Byron believed that whoever were to drink from the glass would inherit some of his roaming minds thoughts and ideas. It sounds like something Romans used to believe from hods, and i think that's what Lydia was trying to portray with the stoic face, and neutral color pallet. My favorite part is how she used a dead tree for the branches of knowledge coming from his mind, and the cracked forehead as if the only purpose for these vessels is to carry around our brains like greenery in a garden pot. Also like a living thing a tree must be fed nourishment. Lord Byron's love for literature, along with many other things, certainly fed his appetite. Another reason it was appropriate for Lydia to use a tree was Byron's close mind with the natural world. Like all romantics Byron believed in inhaling organic beauty instead of crushing it with bare feet.  The quote "The Immortal Ideas of a Dead Poet"  is appropriate for not only all poets, but people who choose to share their beliefs. I don't see why every human on the planet can not be a poet of their own, we all write our thoughts down. The difference is not all are made into books, though still equally important. Individualism is a strong piece of romanticism too, so I hope that Byron would agree with me if he were still here. Even the tiniest sentence with just enough creativity and faithfulness to the author's heart can be a masterpiece.

For more beautiful artwork by Lydia Burris click here

-Athena

Reading Response #3

Byron, Poetics and History, By Jane Stabler of Cambridge University.

In the article, Byron, Poetics and History I think that Jane Stable’s goal is to make it simple for us to understand, and to put his life in a nutshell for us. She also seems to be putting more of her opinion in the article than anything. A lot of her writing is related to the historical debates of Byron’s time. Stabler responds to some recent studies of publishing and audienceing Romantic period which I don’t know if I’m right but I think she is saying this because maybe she thinks that it doesn’t need to be anymore publisized, Stabler says that Byron’s politics developed in response to contemporary (the current conditions at his time influenced the way he wrote and what ever it mat be that he decided he wanted to write.) culture and history. In that statement she is explaining to us how Byron, or anyone for that matter thinks of what they want to write about or our writing style. In my opinion the answer is it’s the way you were raised, whats going on around you at the time you decided you want to write. I think that this article is perfect for my blog entery’s because the article in a sense is talking about what his up bringing was and how it relates to his writing, poems and memoirs.  it seemed like the article was for her to put her questions out there and while writing them down and publishing them figuring out the answers to them. Although she didn’t answer all of her questions it seems like she on a mission to figure each and every one of them out. There is one sentence from the article that went with one of my blogs. She describes that Don Juan is his greatest poem and got him a lot of fame. She also explains he received a lot of his information from British politics. It the sense that he wrote about the drama in Britain. And how sneaky and cut throat the people were back then. Like for example a quote from the saying is “unpublished letters between Byron’s publisher’s and his friends revealing a powerful impulse among his contemporaries (friends, peer group) to direct his controversial poetic style to their own political ends.” Basically the author is explaining to us that these people were taking Byron’s words and using them to advance in whatever it is that they are trying to accomplish. He was being tricked and used for his brilliance. 

I think this article makes a lot of sense and it pretty much hit the target in facts. I’ve done a lot of research on Byron. And everything that Jane Stabler said reminded me in someway about my blog posts. For example I think she is talking about privacy in her article, I believe that Lord Byron was a very secretive person. He liked his privacy. I would imagine that he would at least just because he had to keep a lot of events in his like quiet. And Jane Stabler is talking about how sometimes poets don’t want there stuff out in the open. I also believe that she did a good job because she also covered the negatives in his life. Which there were a lot. He had ups and downs but it didn’t seem like he lived with regrets. He just wrote. Lord Byron took the experiences of his life and turned them into poetry that the world will never leave behind.

Byron's Masterpeice- Don Juan

The poem Don Juan is very long so summarizing it would be more understandabl, so I did some research and this is the summary of Don Juan that made the most sense to me so I would think that any other teen would understand it somewhat too. These are not my words because the poem is the size of a book. I think it's over eighty cantos long. So this makes it more simple for the reader.

Byron dedicates the poem to the Poet Laureate, Robert Southey; satirizes Southey and the other Lake Poets for their politics, pretentions and verse; and insults the Foreign Secretary, Castlereagh.

Don Juan is born to Don Jose and Donna Inez; his education. Don Alfonso discovers his wife, Julia, and 16-year old Juan; Don Juan is sent traveling to escape the scandal.

Don Juan sets sail from Cadiz and is shipwrecked. He washes ashore on a Greek pirate island where he meets Haidée, the pirate's daughter.

Lambro, Haidée's father, returns after being rumoured dead to find Don Juan in possession of his home and daughter.

Lambro captures Don Juan and sends him off to slavery in Turkey. Haidée dies.

The Sultan's latest wife, Gulbeyaz, sees Juan on the slave block and anonymously purchases him. Her servant, Baba, conducts Juan to her palace disguised as a girl. Juan spurn's Gulbeyaz' advances which are interrupted by the arrival of the Sultan.

Juan, still disguised, is led back to the seraglio with the rest of the female slaves. His disguise is not discovered, but several of the harem vie for the opportunity to share their beds, and Dudù prevails. Gulbeyaz is informed and summons Juan and Dudù in a rage.

The action jumps to preparation for the Russian attack on the Turkish fortress of Ismail. Juan, disguised as an English mercenary, and his companions are brought to the Russian general, Suwarrow.

Ismail is attacked and taken. Juan saves a young orphaned girl, Leila.

Juan comes to St Petersburgh with news of the victory, and attracts the attentions of Catherine the Great.

Catherine sends Don Juan ambassador to England. Leila accompanies him.

Juan arrives in England.

Leila's education is entrusted to Mrs. Pinchbeck.

Lord Henry and Lady Adeline Amundeville invite Juan to their country seat.

Juan rides to the hounds, and begins to spend time with Lady Adeline.

Lady Adeline tries to arrange a match for Juan, but does not approve when Aurora Raby catches his eye.

Lord Henry holds court, and Juan meets a ghost.




If you feel like you would want to read the rest of the poem then click here, http://www.online-literature.com/byron/don-juan/1/




Baily Copeland

Biography

Lord Byron was born January 22^nd 1788, to John Byron and Catherine Gordon. Byron's names changed throughout his life. He was born George Gordon Byron in London. Gordon was a baptismal name, his name was changed several times. At the age of 10, he inherited the English Barony of Byron, becoming Lord Byron.  When Byron's mother-in-law, Judith Noel died in 1822, her will required that he change his surname to "Noel" in order to inherit half her estate. While not at school or college, Byron lived with his mother at Burgage Manor. Byron made friendships with Elizabeth Pigot and her brother, John, he staged two plays for the entertainment of the community with these two. Elizabeth Pigot encouraged him to write his first volumes of poetry, which were mostly poems from when he was 14. Byron's first loves included Mary Duff and Margaret Parker, his distant cousins, and Mary Chaworth, whom he met while at Harrow. Byron later wrote that his passion for Duff began when he was eight years old. Byron refused to return to Harrow in September 1803 because of his love for Chaworth. In Byron's later memoirs Mary Chaworth was the person who had adult sexual feeling with. Byron returned to Harrow in January 1804, where he had made emotional involvements with the local boys. The most successful of those was with the John FitzGibbon, who he had later run into in Italy. His later poems explain what he calls a "consciousness of sexual differences that may in the end make England untenable to him" Byron was in fact attracted to both sexes, While at Trinity, Byron met and formed a close friendship with the younger John Edleston. About his "protégé" he wrote, "He has been my almost constant associate since October, 1805, when I entered Trinity College” He later was more fond of married women, In 1812, Byron embarked on a well-publicized affair with the married Lady Caroline Lamb that shocked the British public. Byron broke up with Lamb so he would be able to date others such as Lady Oxford, but Lamb never entirely recovered, pursuing him even after he tired of her. She was emotionally disturbed, and lost so much weight that Byron cruelly commented to her mother-in-law, his friend Lady Melbourne, that he was "haunted by a skeleton.” Long after the break-up of Lady Caroline, he started to date her cousin Anne Isabella Milbanke, he had proposed several times with no luck, but eventually had gotten married at Seaham Hall, County Durham, on 2 January 1815. The marriage proved unhappy. He treated her poorly. They had a daughter. On 16 January 1816, Lady Byron left him, taking Ada with her. On 21 April, Byron signed the Deed of Separation, or a divorce, Lady Byron describes it as a very unhappy marriage.

Blake's Prophesies Revealed (Community Blog)

When looking through the blogs made by my English class at CAL I was really interested in a specific blog called Blake's Prophecies Revealed that helped by further understand the prophecies of William Blake. The group that created this blog includes my classmates Edde Diaz, Makenna Childers, Alex Pinzone and Hanh Tran.  This blog was put together in a very organized and neat manner that really fits together that made me want to continue looking through it. They have a brown color scheme that gives a scholar feeling to it which is really appropriate because they are teaching about William Blake.
The posts of this blog specify on Blake's prophecies which include the prophecies of America, Europe, and Asia. They go into depth to describe and explain the symbolism within each prophecy. Since the prophecies of Blake include a lot of symbolism throughout the poems he wrote it was hard for me to understand all of his deeper meanings. These posts are very helpful because they helped me get that deeper understanding of the prophecies that I needed in order to understand the prophecies he wrote. Each post also includes a copy of the original art that Blake made that go with each prophecy poem. The pictures are very interesting because they themselves include so much symbolism that goes with the poem.
What really got my attention from this blog was an entry made by Edde Diaz on an article by Thomas J. J. Altizer called “The Revolutionary Vision of William Blake”. This post describes Blake's opinion and beliefs of Christianity. Edde Diaz portrays the meaning of Christianity that Blake describes in his poems and life. This post is something that I really enjoyed reading because it shows different point of views and is very well explained.

I found this blog very helpful and full of interesting information that really does help further understand William Blake as a poet. This blog teaches on the prophecies of Blake and on his opinion of Christianity. The blog helps understand the symbolism in Blake’s work and can teach everyone at least a little about William Blake. I think that this blog has fulfilled its goal in sharing its knowledge of William Blake’s prophesies, and helps reveal a lot.