Lord Byron’s pro-war poem?
This untitled poem was written by Lord Byron in 1820:
When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,
Let him combat for that of his neighbors;
Let him think of the glories of Greece and Rome,
And get knocked on his head for his labors.
To do good to mankind is the chivalrous plan,
And is always nobly requited;
Then battle for freedom wherever you can,
And, if not shot or hanged, you’ll get knighted.
I’m not sure how to decipher this poem’s tone—is it a patriotic poem, or an anti-war poem? Irony and ambivalence are clearly present, but so is a world-weary affirmation to nevertheless do one’s duty in support of freedom and one’s highest ideals.
Byron, it should be recalled, died in Greece, having gone there to join in the country’s fight for independence, so the subject of this poem was not abstract to him.
Is the tension within the poem—pro-war v. anti-war—precisely what makes it interesting? I find the fourth line and the eighth line quite jarring, as if taking back the lines that preceed them. They strike me as caustic, and yet not quite decisive for a conclusive interpretation. Perhaps somebody has some other thoughts about the meaning of this poem?
Santi
Found another of your little gems here and at the risk of being over-exposed on this blog at the moment cannot resist a brief comment.
I think I detect a fair amount of cynicism lurking in these lines. A light mocking and possible self mocking of do gooders who look for a cause to espouse. There is a hint of serve them right if they get a knock on the head in search of unclearly motivated generalised abstract idealism. Is ‘chivalrous’ a suitable word for genuine human altruism? It seems too trivial. Battling for freedom will undoubtedly be the right thing to be seen to do and undoubtely bring rewards if one is lucky.
aunty dawkins
March 12, 2009 at 3:18 pm
The tone of this poem is ironic. You can tell by the lines “get knocked on his head for his labors” and “if not shot or hanged you’ll get knighted” He deals lightly with the costs of fighting in war. “Knocked on his head” is a light, humorous way of referring to serious injury (you can tell the tone is humorous also by the way the rhymes sound). If you survive getting shot or hanged then you’ll get knighted. This is meant to be funny.
He is mocking those who seek out adventure and involve themselves in wars that they really have no reason to be involved in.
The supreme irony, of course, is that Byron died fighting for the Greek army against the Turks–a war he entered for the adventure.
julia
May 30, 2009 at 6:29 pm