I tell thee, minstrel, I must weep,
Or else this
heavy heart will burst,
For it hath been by sorrow nursed,
And ached in sleepless silence long;
And now ‘tis doom’d to know the worst,
And break at once - or yield to song.
The war of Greece against the Turks had been going on that time. Byron longed for action
and went to Greece to take part in the struggle for national independence. There he was seized with
fever and died at Missolonghi on April 18, 1824, at the age of 36.
The Greeks desired that his
remains should be buried in the country for which he had spent his life, but his friends wanted him
to be buried in Westminster Abbey. The English authorities refused it, and the poet’s body, already
transported from Greece to England, was buried in the family vault near Newstead. His spirit might
have flourished better in some world other than the heavy Georgian society in which he grew up.
The last episode in Greece showed that he had leadership and courage.
Sir Walter Scott
(1771 - 1832)
Sir Walter Scott was a Scottish romantic writer, the first great
writer of historical novels. He was born in Edinburgh on August
15, 1771. His father was an Edinburgh lawyer and had a large
family. Walter, the future writer,
was the ninth of his twelve
children. When not yet two years old, the boy fell ill with a
disease that left him lame. His parents thought country air would
be good for him and sent him to his grandparents’ farm. It was a
place
with hills, crags and ruined tower. Walter soon became a
strong boy. In spite of his lameness he climbed the hills and rode
his pony at a gallop. Walter’s grandparents told him thrilling
Scottish tales. He learned to love the solemn history of Scotland
and liked to recite Scottish ballads and poems.
Scott enjoyed taking trips into the Scottish countryside.
These trips gave him profound knowledge of the life of rural people, and provided material for his
first major publication, “Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border” (1802-1803).
This book was a
collection of popular songs and ballads and consisted of three volumes.
At the suggestion of his father, Scott became a lawyer and practiced for fourteen years.
During his business trips he visited the places of famous battles and collected old ballads. Like
many writers belonging to the Romantic trend, Scott, too, felt that all the good days were gone. He
wished to record all the historical facts he knew before they were forgotten.
At the age of 26 Scott married, and bought a large estate not far from Edinburgh. There
Scott built a fine house in the style of a castle. His house became a
sort of museum of Scottish
history and culture.
In 1805 he began to publish his own romantic poems, which attracted the attention of the
reading public. The best were “The Lay of the Last Minstrel” (1805), “Marmion” (1808) and “The
Lady of the Lake” (1810). These poems reproduce old legends and combine them with historical
material. They were written with great poetic skill and poet became very famous. But when Byron’s
wonderful poems appeared, Scott, to
quote his own words, “left the field of poetry to his rival ”
who by that time was already a friend of his. He took to writing novels. It marked a new period in
Scott’s creative work. He declined the honour of poet-laureate in 1813 because he understood that
writing official verses and odes on the birthdays of members of the royal family would interfere
with his creative work.
In 1814 Scott published his “Waverley, or ‘Tis Sixty Years Since”. This novel describes a
Scottish rebellian against England in 1745. As he had an established reputation as a poet,
Scott
decided to print his first novel anonymously. The book was a great success, and everybody wanted
to know who the author was. Scott published many of his novels under the name of “The Author of
Waverley”. During the next seventeen years (1815 - 1832) Scott wrote more than 27 other novels,
four plays and many stories and tales besides. All of his novels were referred to as part of the
Waverley series, because the author was identified on the title page as “The Author of Waverley”.
Scott’s authorship was officially revealed in 1827, but it had been known for years.
Despite his success and fame, Scott’s last years were sad. They were marked by illness and
financial difficulties brought on by the failure of a publishing company in which he had an interest.
At that time his health was broken down. His doctors sent him to Italy; but it was too late. Before
reaching Italy he had to turn back, and on his arrival at his estate he died.
Literary critics divide Scott’s works into three groups:
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