On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year
On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year Lyrics
January 22nd, Missolonghi
1.
'T is time this heart should be unmoved,
Since others it hath ceased to move:
Yet, though I cannot be beloved,
Still let me love!
2.
My days are in the yellow leaf;
The flowers and fruits of Love are gone;
The worm, the canker, and the grief
Are mine alone!
3.
The fire that on my bosom preys
Is lone as some Volcanic isle;
No torch is kindled at its blaze—
A funeral pile.
4.
The hope, the fear, the jealous care,
The exalted portion of the pain
And power of love, I cannot share,
But wear the chain.
But 't is not thus—and 't is not here—
Such thoughts should shake my soul, nor now
Where Glory decks the hero's bier,
Or binds his brow.
6.
The Sword, the Banner, and the Field,
Glory and Greece, around me see!
The Spartan, borne upon his shield,
Was not more free.
7.
Awake! (not Greece—she is awake!)
Awake, my spirit! Think through whom
Thy life-blood tracks its parent lake,
And then strike home!
8.
Tread those reviving passions down,
Unworthy manhood!—unto thee
Indifferent should the smile or frown
Of Beauty be.
9.
If thou regret'st thy youth, why live?
The land of honourable death
Is here:—up to the Field, and give
Away thy breath!
About
About the Romantic Poets
Byron was one of the ‘big six’ Romantic Poets, the others being Shelley, Worsdsworh, Coleridge, Blake and Keats.
A tenet of Romantic poetry is its focus on nature. The use of the word ‘wild’ evokes the supernatural and man’s insignificance in comparison to the natural world. It was a turbulent time when the Napoleonic Wars had not long ended and Europe was in a state of flux and unrest. In England the infamous Peterloo Massacre had occurred in August 1819, when cavalry charged into a crowd demonstrating against poor economic conditions and lack of parliamentary representation in the north of England..
Summary
This was the last poem Lord Byron wrote before he died at age 36. Composed on January 22nd, 1824 at Missolonghi in Greece, having arrived three weeks earlier and taken command of his “army of liberation” which would free Greece from the Turks. But he died of fever on 19 April, possibly caused by infection from the poor medical practices of the time.
The autobiographical story starts with Byron looking back on his past thirty-six years, having passed his youth and reached maturity as he contemplates going to war to fight for Greek Independence. The poem is especially poignant as it intimates that Byron was anticipating his death, which indeed he wanted … an honourable and memorable death like a warrior. He was clearly tired of his hedonistic lifestyle. He was, in effect, establishing his own legacy.
Structure
The poem comprises ten quatrains, that is stanzas of four lines each. There is a regular ABAB interlocking rhyme scheme in each stanza. The metrical rhythm in each stanza comprises three lines of iambic tetrameter, that is four metrical feet or iambs per line, where a iamb is made up of one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable. The fourth line is iambic dimeter, that is two iambs per line, a curtailed, abrupt end, known as a catalectic. The effect is to give each stanza a somewhat heavy, slow and emphatic ending, ironically, as he was predicting his own end.
Language and Imagery
The voice is that of the speaker who is no doubt also the poet, using the first person singular pronoun. The tone is contemplative and solemn. Byron’s miltary adventure is, as he is aware, dangerous and life-threatening.
The dominant imagery is miltary, speaking of ‘glory’, a ‘hero’s bier’ and comparing the enterprise to the conflict between ancient Greece and Sparta. Yet, he also refers to Love and Beauty, capitalised abstracts, typical of the Romantic poetic tradition.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year
