THE BYRONIC STANDARD Ecology in Byron’s Poetry

Abstract

Byron’s work is unique amongst writers of the 18th and 19th century due to the human element and its interaction with nature. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the view of nature in Byron’s poetry (specifically his sea poetry) and establish a Byronic Standard of ecopoesis offering counterbalance to the Wordsworthian Standard and the ecocritical binaries of dwelling-wandering and nature-culture. This will be done by redefining and extending the definitions of the binaries and how they relate to each other. Primarily, this paper will focus on the ways in which Byron’s poetry redefines the binary nature-culture and how his ecological consciousness is presented in his sea poetry. The essay will point at the cultural interaction, the human element, with nature and the relationship between the two. It will show how the sea connects all things and how nature offers a constant to culture’s variations and inconsistencies. Furthermore, using these focal points this paper hopes to establish a Byronic Standard of ecopoesis.