From Lord Byron’s Don Juan:
Than I resign thine image, oh, my fair!
Or think of any thing excepting thee;
A mind diseased no remedy can physic
(Here the ship gave a lurch, and he grew sea-sick).
“Sooner shall heaven kiss earth (here he fell sicker),
Oh, Julia! what is every other woe?
(For God’s sake let me have a glass of liquor;
Pedro, Battista, help me down below.)
Julia, my love! (you rascal, Pedro, quicker) —
Oh, Julia! (this curst vessel pitches so) —
Belovéd Julia, hear me still beseeching!”
(Here he grew inarticulate with retching.)
I found this very funny, especially considering there was a great debate in the nineteenth century about the proper subject matter in poetry: was the own era worthy enough of poetry, or should a poet retell the stories of the Classics? Poets like Ruskin, Carlyle, and Patmore saw the poet as a prophet, whose poetry entailed hidden truths and divine messages, so poetry was crucial for a proper and developed society. I think from the above excerpt you might know Byron’s opinion on a poet’s subject matter! You can read all of Don Juan here, it’s a great poem, and very readable and entertaining.
Also for you smokers out there: J.M. Barrie writes 13 chapters on the art of smoking. It’s really quite a good read!
Lastly Serial Sensation is publishing Mrs. Henry Woods’ East Lynne in small bits every week, so you can read it as a series, as it appeared in Victorian newspapers.
Byron was wonderfully irreverent. This post inspires me to read Don Juan all the way through instead of just picking around in it as I’ve done up to now.
David: That will be quite an achievement, it’s a long poem! It’s really nice though, I think you’ll have a lot of fun reading it. Do let us know if you come across any more poetry-inappropriate subjects while reading it ;)