New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-02-20
Goethe upon Lord Byron.

Goethe upon Lord Byron.
Lord Byron was altogether in the dark sbout
himself He lived most passionately from day
TO DAY, ana he never knew and cared what he
was about indulging himself with every Ii
csnse, and approving Of nothing in others it
was natural that ne should be at war with him.
self, and the world with him From tbe yerv
beginning, he offended the most eminent vriters
with his g English Bards and Scotch Review
ers"
At later period he could not live with tbsno
without taking step backwards, and revokinr
some of the better things he had said. In his
works he continued his opposition and censure;
he attacked the State and Church This incon.
| siderate opposition compelled him, at length, to
| leave England, and, in the course of time, it
would have driven him out of Europe Every
thing was too narrow for him. Enjoying as he
aid the most unlimited personal liberty, he felt
himself oppressed; to him the world was q
prison ne went to Greece, not from his own
free Will, but because his false position to the
| world compelled him to take that step.
His renouncing all tradition, and all patriot
| ism, was his ruin, and his revolutionary ten
deneies, and his agitation of mind, prevented a
proper development of his talents This eter-
| nal opposition and censure is, moreover. highly
derogatory to his excellent works, such as they
are. For not only does the reader sh IRE the
poets discomfort, but all this opposition tends
| to negation, and negation is nothing What can
be the advantage of saying that bad things are
bad And when | say that good things are
bad, I do a great deal of harm Whoever
| would do good in the world ought not to deal
in censure, he ought not to pay any attention to
what is wrong, and he ought always to do that
which is good. We ought not to destroy, but
we ought to construct what may be pleasing to
humanity.
Lord Byron is to be considered as man, as
an Englishulan, and as great genius He de-
rves his good qualities from his quality as
man; his bad qualities are owing to his being
an Englishman and peer of the realm. His
genius is ineommensurable
All Englishmen, as such, are without refee-
ton. Dissipation and party spirit prevent all
quiet development. But they are great as
practical men.
Lord Byron, for instance, was never able to
reflect on himself, and reflections generally were
by no means his forte, as it proved by his mot
to: Plenty of money and no government"
for plenty Of money lkes in fact no govern
ment .....
But he succeeds in all he produces, and Of
him it may be said that inspiration supplies the
want of reflection. He was always a poet and
hence what came from his heart, was excellent.
| He came by his pieces as women come by pretty
, children; they do not think of them, and do not
] know how or in what way
f His is great and innate genius, and have
never known of any one who possessed true po-
. etc power to such an extent as he In his con-
ceptions of the world, and his clear view of the
past, he is as great as Shakespeare But shak-
speare's pure individuality is more powerful.
| Byron knew this, and that is the reason why he
does not say much about Shakespeare, though he
had whole scenes from his plays in his memory
!, He would gladly have ignored him, for Shak-
spesre's humor is a stumbling stone in his path
, he feels that he cannot compete with it. He did
not ignore Pope, because he had no reason to
q fear him. He respects him, and quotes him on
3 all occasions, for he is well aware that Pope is
q mere wall compared to him.
n His high rank, as an English peer, was very
obnoxious to Byron. Every genius is hampered
of by the outer world, and much more SO q genius
n whose lot is cast in high position, and who i,
,e encountered with wealth A certain middle
lie state is most congena to genius; hence all great
artists and poets spring from the middle classes
1t Byrons passion for the unlimited would moi
n have been so dangerous to him, if his birth had
;, been lower, and his means smaller But as il
|, was he had it in his power to do all he wanted
to do, to follow the impulse of the moment, and
Z this entaHgled him in numberless qUarrels. Be
"a sides, how could man of high rank have re.
a spect and consideration for any other class
!. He gave utterance to every movement of his
:. soul, and he was consequently always engaged
in conflict with the world.
1t is curious fact, that a great portion of the
~ life of high born and wealthy Englishman il
spent in elopements and duels Lord Byron
ie himself tells US that his father ran away witt
~ three women. Under such circumstances, how
le can man be expected to be steady son
He lived always in state Of nature, and b
IN must always have been sensible of the nscessit,
III Of self-defence. Hence his practice of pisto
CT shooting. He might expect challenge at ever,
t, hour in the day. He could not live solitar1
e. life; hence in spite of all his whimsicalities hi
was very indulgent to his companion. For
l. poets he was really as quiet as lamb.
III Byron would be much greater as a poet if al
$, his opposition had vented itself in Parliament
to But as he scarcely came to make a speech, h
It, kept all his inVectives against his nation in hi
OF own heart, and nothing was let to him but
work them up into poetry great many in
e. stances of Byron's negative spirit may be desig
nd mated as Speeches Out Of Doors.
in Byron's Cam shows how unsatisfactory th
RS Church doctrine was to fine mind like his, an
to how he struggled by means of that piece
d, emancipate himself from the doctrine whic
had been forced upon him The English c1erg
have no reason to be grateful to him.
n Byron's women are capital. Women, indeed
n. is the only vessel into which we moderns ma
of pour our ideality Homer has anticipated ever
N thing else in his Achilles and Odysseus; tn
Il bravest man and the wisest,
- - Although Byron died at an early age, it caI
,et not be said that literature lost much. Byro
Ia could not go farther. He had reached the sun
10 nit of his creative power, and however much
.o might have written, he could not have enlarge
Ia the limits which were fixed for his genius.
~ ~ that iucomprai .nsble poem of the Last .Iudl
r. r. ment, he 20 the extremes of his capabilitie
"a Bulwer, who is only As years old, Though
~ has been thirty years before the public is like
u to become one OF the next conservative ministr
His property in Hertfordshire- Knebwortl
40 near Stevenage-is worth about 6 Is, 900 yea
of His works add $4,000 year to this rental, al
av his publications--for he cannot help writir
t. may be calculated at about as much more.
10 Lady Bulwer were defunct, | doubt not thf
a Bulwer would obtain peerage On the tern
me- on which they now stand, he would decline
70. honor to be shared with her. Lady Bulwe
79nt, whom recollect as lovely young creatul
.sd some twenty five years ago, has gradually BET
no changed into stout, coarse minded woman, al
av certainly has not improved the delicacy Of h
as' mind by familiar association with Mrs. TrolloI
81 81 with whom she lives IN. Y. Sunday Times.
''~A LAzrNEss IN PARIs.-The Paris correspon
ent of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin spea
the Indignantly of the incorrigible Incidence Of
ne. booth keepers in the avenues of the Chan
the Elysees How able bodied men, he sa
the entirely destitute of oyer-coyering, while
- cantirrade thermometer ranued twelve 1epr