New-York tribune., 1903-05-17

strict regard to AristotIe's rules But pres
emily he points out 'One slight difference be-
tive n himself ard his epic brethren gone be-
fore" namely, that
They 50 enheIljsh that that tis 6 quite 4n2oIsb bore
Whereas this stOry's actually true
and from what follows it is plain that. scheme
or 10 scheme rules or no rules. his verse is TO
be interpenetrated with life and overIaid with
all its diverse coIOrs.
The secret of Don Juan" then. in 50 far as
We may venture to interpret it. would seem 70
amount TO this: That Byron had, at the outset
a pretty clear vision of the form that he wanted
his poem to take; that he knew his hero through
and through-snce he knew himself and the
time in which he lived and that. while fully
resolved TO delineate character with unsWerv-
ing consistency he was also resolved to give its
traits a kind of universal significance. painting
mankind in a man. Man, as Byron understood
him. was infinite parasangs removed from q
mere abstraction: he was a creature TO be IN
derstood in the light of humanity. first, last and
all the time: the cold CLEAN of phtOsOphlcaI
theory serving to facilitate investigation into his
nature but never quite equalling for the purpose
the rays of the at monday. the radiance or
the moon and stars in romantic places on this
solid earth and the garish lights that men make
in their own urban hauntS Mr. Colerldge mas
never spoken more to the point in the course OF
his remarks in this edition than in describing
the argument of Don Juan as "A vindlcation
of the natural man. and as Byron's criticism or
life" Based, as it was. not simply on the study
of life but on the living Of it. it was natural
that Byron should have put into it a great deal
that would have impeded the action Of a con-
ventiOnaI epic. Being what il is, a work OF
genius, ebulIientIy alive at every point. one IS
wrapt up in its atmosphere and carried over
the difficult places the points that might seem
merely personal and Irrelevant. as though BY
ron himself were declainins his narrative and
by sheer magnetism were making his audience
at one with him. Take, for example, that part ot
the dedication in which. having previously set
out to pay his scornfuI compliments 20 Slltaey
and Wordsworth. the poet brings III Milton 10
illustrate his drift. saying:
Think'st thou could he-the blind old MANI
Like Samuel from the grave. 70 freeze once more
~. ~ Ia - a,a-a;,,- lsgsin an 49,
With time and trials. and those helpless eyes.
And heartlesS daughters and Ia.r--.Hd
poor.
The transition from these lines on his uf-hty
predecessor. to the bitter gibe ut CaStler.i-1.
with which the stanza concludes. is a TRANSITION
from high intellectual emotion To vicious temper.
from the impersonal to the personal We h.,i all
most said from the grand 10 the petty HIt
what does it natter We are reading the OUT
pOurings of a born poet. he carries us atoms ON
the stream of his inspi-'ton with reSl~r.eSs
power, and. though are quite ready 90 admit
that the Lakers and CastIereash have nothing
to do with Don Juan" We are interested Ni
them since they are there. as We are interested
in all those contemporaries Of Byron VINO are
brought in from time TO time is the poem pro-