Narrative structure of Lord Byron's Don Juan
Abstract
It is a raw, numbing Autumn day as the wind sweeps down the Euxine and the waves break on the deck of Lambro's slave-bearing vessel. The numbing chill of the day is vividly coupled with the horror of Juan's separation from his beloved Haidee. Chains on his legs and pallor on his cheek tell a grim, melancholy tale of what befalls innocence in a cruel, unpitying universe. The tear has just begun to steal down young Juan's cheek when a "rather stout and hale" Englishman, a ruddy soldier with "an open brow a little marked with care" turns to him and inquires if he might offer any consolation. The young hero recites his tale of woe, how he has been torn from the side of his one true love, how life will never again have a rosy hue, while the soldier listens with concern and interest, but also a certain sang-froid. When he replies it is with a sadness distilled by years of experience: All, when life is new, Commence with feelings warm, and prospects high; But time strips our illusions of their hue, And one by one in turn, some grand mistake Casts off its bright skin yearly like the snake. (v.21)