Tis No Slight Task To Write On Common Things Essay

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"Whate'er the critic says or poet sings,/'Tis no slight task to write on common things."
This is a quote by Horace which was used in Byron’s satire, Don Juan. Byron connects the difficulty of his art to his unimaginative nature of his medium, being poetry. The words he uses have no magic in themselves. Byron writes poetry not with the use of individual words but with how the words form a relationship together and create poetry. Byron was a leading figure in the romantic era of poetry. "Whate'er the critic says or poet sings,/'Tis no slight task to write on common things."
I do agree with this observation. It is a task of great difficulty writing poetry, especially poetry that people read and critics will appreciate. It is no easy task
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When it comes to romantic poetry, reason and logic take a backseat. When it comes to romantic poetry emotion is the ruler. Spontaneity in romantic poetry comes from an emotional outflow, and sometimes even pain can be the inspiration. A romantic poet can let loose his/her imagination in the process of interpreting natural occurrence. The rationalists tend to see or associate nature with some kind of a machine. A romanticist's perception of nature is that of an organic occurrence. Nature is also viewed as a setting or place which offers rest from the artificial world that we live in. The priestly life, culture, and traditions are mentioned frequently in romantic poetry. Romantic poetry uses this feature in order to show readers the complexities of life in a simple way. Through the use of symbolism in poetry, it allows readers to interpret different meanings from a single expression. Repetitive use of a character or object is one of the ways in which symbolism is used in poetry. The use of romanticism in poetry appeals to our dreamy inner thoughts. It helps us exceed the boundaries that are set by logical thinking. It helps us understand the wholesome truth instead of just making conclusions on what we see or obtain by logical …show more content…
The poem was first published in 1816; however Byron falsely credited its writing to 1808 in order to protect the identity of its subject, Lady Frances Wedderburn Webster. The poem could be described as a kind of autobiography of Byron’s emotional state that follows the end of his secret affair with Lady Frances and his frustrations towards her unfaithfulness to him with the Duke. Without the knowledge of this the poem would be very vague and mysterious. The sex of the lover and the beloved is not revealed, and the poem does not give any idea as to the place, time or any setting in the poem.

The poem begins with a tone of desperation, pain and despair which is obtained throughout the whole of the writing. Byron does this instantly when the characters are introduced to the readers accompanied with the words silence and tears which emphasise the tone of despair. The ladies cheek is described as being pale and cold which is rationally explained as someone being ill. The poetic imagery comes to life when the cold cheek is followed by a colder kiss; the reader’s imagination is sparked. The word cold does not refer to sickness but rather the emotional distance and detachment as the lovers grow

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