My Soul is Dark - Lord Byron

MY SOUL IS DARK...

My soul is dark – Oh! quickly string

The harp I yet can brook to hear;

And let thy gentle fingers fling

Its melting murmurs o’er mine ear. 

If in this heart a hope be dear,

That sound shall charm it forth again:

If in these eyes there lurk a tear,

‘Twill flow, and cease to burn my brain.

But bid the strain be wild and deep,

Nor let thy notes of joy be first:

I tell thee, minstrel, I must weep,

Or else this heavy heart will burst;

For it hath been by sorrow nursed,

And ached in sleepless silence, long;

And now ’tis doomed to know the worst,

And break at once – or yield to song.

Mental death vs. life

Feelings vs. insensitiveness and numbness

Joy vs. tears and weep

Darkness vs. light

Music and sounds vs. silence

Gentle fingers vs. heavy heart

Lurk vs. burst

Hope vs. end

RHYME:

ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH

ROMANTIC HERO

iambic tetrameter --> heart beat like, heart-piercing issue

"..defined by their rejection or questioning of standard social conventions and norms of behavior, their alienation from larger society, their focus on the self as the center of existence, and their ability to inspire others to commit acts of good and kindness."

"..not idealized heroes, but imperfect and often flawed individuals who, despite their sometimes less than savory personalities, often behave in a heroic manner."

often happened that speaker in a poem is a poet

Speaker --> Byron himself?

speaks from the 1st person --> connects and transfers emotions and feelings more to the reader

My soul is…

I yet can brook to hear…

…to burn my brain

I tell thee, minstrel, I must weep…

MOTIFS

THEMES & MOOD

mental death and depression, search for hope, desire to be reborn

TONE: sorrowful and melancholic

My soul is dark – Oh! quickly string

The harp I yet can brook to hear;

And let thy gentle fingers fling

Its melting murmurs o’er mine ear. 

If in this heart a hope be dear,

That sound shall charm it forth again:

If in these eyes there lurk a tear,

‘Twill flow, and cease to burn my brain.

But bid the strain be wild and deep,

Nor let thy notes of joy be first:

I tell thee, minstrel, I must weep,

Or else this heavy heart will burst;

For it hath been by sorrow nursed,

And ached in sleepless silence, long;

And now ’tis doomed to know the worst,

And break at once – or yield to song.

but hope comes at the end

1815

madness

LORD BYRON

rumors

expression oneself through music

scandals

leaving England

it is normal to express yourself!

sexual affairs

unhappy marriage

 Alliteration

fingers fling tension

inspiration

melting murmurs o’er mine ear

 smoothness

• was born in London on January 22, 1788
• came out from the ordinary family, but after the death of his great uncle, got the title of Lord --> opportunity for education

burn my brain fight & tension

To oppose

the Enlightenment which included reason, logic, meaning, tabula rasa, concept of metropolis, technology, labour oppression, science and the Industrial Revolution

LANGUAGE: 'brook' = stream, allow (today)

= use, enjoy (in the poem)

be wild and deep hard diction

HUMAN BEING is allowed to feel and express his\her-self!

in sleepless silence tricky and dangerous

ROMANTICISM

• was suspected of having a sexual relationship with Augusta Leigh, who is known to be his half-sister
• first collection of poetry - unsuccessful
• travels to the Ageaen, Spain, Albania, Malta and Greece. In 1812, Byron published 'Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage' --> a favorite amongst the London society.
• political activities in the House of Lords

3 sentences expressing 3 thoughts and reflecting the development

imagination

nature

feelings

love

adventure

idealism

heroism

dream

romantic quest

association

• known for scandals about sexual affairs, including one with married woman
• unsuccessful owm marriage
• more of travelling --> writes plays

• dies 1824, Lord Byron died after contracting a fever in Missolonghi

IMAGES & analysis

harp = soul

strings = nerves; personal sensitive moments

HEART STRINGS – emotional poem, emotions can be played by music, unless he will be broken

gentle fingers playing stings of harp

gentle fingers = the way to come to the problem slowly without heavy pressure

soul as an instrument

soul dark substance, unexplored\ rotten\ empty\ destroyed area

"melting murmurs o’er mine ear": music as a smoke, light and barely noticeable, melts in the ear

ADAM

mood

Ability to hear the sound = hope. Because it is ability to become sensitive again, vulnerable and start to care

depressed, dissapointed, indifferent, thinks about suicide

feelings and sensibility through burning pain

musician who writes funeral music

Eve blames romantic writers --> Adam use to hang out and play chess with them --> got influenced by Byron, Shelley and Wollstonecraft.

Does not really Adam have heroes?

the wall filled with the portraits of famous writers, physicists and musicians, including Kafka, Einstein and Christopher Marlowe.

At some point Eve tells him that she remembers his hero to be Marlowe, who being a vampire as well, dies at the end of the movie from blood poisoning.

Does this mean that Adams hero dies? --> dissapointment\hope??

first emotion is sorrow and weeping

EXPRESSES HIMSELF IN MUSIC

tears = treatment & placebo

his character correlates with Romantic hero concept:

"ache [of] sleepless silence"

"reject[s] [and] question[s] [...] standard social conventions and norms of behavior, [is] alienat[ed] from larger society, [his] focus [is] on the self as the center of existence"

"Only Lovers Left Alive is an

unconventional love story between a man

and a woman, Adam and Eve. [...]

These two lovers are archetypal outsiders,

classic bohemians, extremely intelligent and sophisticated — yet still in full possession of their animal instincts. They have traveled the world and experienced many remarkable

things, always inhabiting the shadowed

margins of society. And, like their own love

story, their particular perspective on human history spans centuries — because they happen to be vampires."

tired of zombies (pop-masses who follow), who are "[afraid] of their own imagination"

claims that he does not have heroes

FINDS THE HOPE IN Lebanese FEMALE SINGER

Development of tension

pun on the names

Eve and her reckless and trouble making sister Ave calm, balanced VS. reckless, seeking for trouble, praising the past VS. going along with technologies.

Ave challenges Eve and Adam, she pushes them out their comfort zone. Additionally she mentions God challenging Eve if she is still afraid of God, although Eve says that she does not believe in fairytales

mythology.

RENAISSANCE

EVE VS. AVE

the names are not accidental --> Adam and Eve (first man and woman)--> allusion to the Bible.

the representation of religion immortality, because they are vampires

sucks THE life out of people.

Vampires have human like appearance --> can be easily included in society --> influence humans

--> appeal to humanity

--> transgress humans

did they both OVERCAME BOTH ROMANTICISM?

the opposites

ADAM VS EVE

MELANCHOLIC ------------- JOYFUL

WEST -------------------EAST

Feelings ---------------- emotionless

Darkness --------------- light

Music -------------- silence (reading)

heavy heart ------------- Gentle fingers

end --------------------- Hope

motifs

still lost and cannot find his purpose

managed to overcome and move on

-----------

EVE --> SAIS THAT THE MOST FUN TIME WERE "..the Middle Ages, the Tartars,

the Inquisitions,The floods, the plagues.."

romantics were influenced by renaissance writers

--> HER ROOM IS FILLED UP WITH PILES OF OLD BOOKS

--> satisfiablY READS SHAKESPEARE ON THE PLANE

ADAM --> LIVES IN ABANDONED HOUSE "filled with all sorts of classic [AND RETRO]musical instruments and audio gear”

glorification of all the past and nature,

preferring the medieval TIME

--> AS WELL AS USES OLD PHONE, LAPTOP AND tv INSTEAD JUST NEW IPONE LIKE EVE DOES

--> DOES NOT WANT TO PUT HIS MUSIC INE INTERNET FOR THE MASSES AND FANS

--> GLORIFIES SCIENTISTS AS tESLA, Galileo, Copernicus, WHO WERE REJECTED AT THEIR TIME

MOVIE TAKES "ANTI-POP ORIENTATION"

DO VAMPIRES REALLY OVERCOME HUMAN NATURE?

WHY ARE THEY DEPENDENT ON HUMAN'S BLOOD?

RENAISSANCE LUTE

Humans --> created by nature

--> organic

vampires --> discuse as humans

to come into nature world

--> smth artificial

goes with idea of REPRESENTATION OF religion

ADAM AND EVE ARE AMAZED BY NATURE IN DEAD Detroit: THEY BELIEVE THIS Place WILL BE REBORN AND "BLOOM", THAT NATURE WILL OVERCOME CITY;

discuss THE crystal hidden ON THE MOON;

PRAISE THE BEAUTY OF HUMAN COUPLE IN LOVE

Marlowe - Shakespeare?

Do humans really belong to the nature? --> COMPARISON OF HUMAN BODY TO THE SURFACE OF THE PLANET, TO THE NATURE; HUMANS BLOOD IS THEIR WATER

Who is more organic human or vampire?

only lovers left alive

romantic?

consider Adam and eve as main characters and the FINAL TRANSFORMATION OF kissing couple

ROMANTIC HEROES??

"..ability to inspire others to commit acts of good and kindness. Romantic heroes are not idealized heroes, but imperfect and often flawed individuals who, despite their sometimes less than savory personalities, often behave in a heroic manner.."

IDEALS

VAMPIRES TRANSGRESSED HUMAN NATURE

For it hath been by sorrow nursed,

And ached in sleepless silence, long;

And now ’tis doomed to know the worst,

climax:

And break at once – or yield to song.

MUSICIAN

BOOK LOVER

LOVE OF THE FIRST MAN AND WOMAN

"..the life that Adam and Eve sustain is a well-financed one. Adam throws around wads of cash for his vintage instruments, the lovers need cash to feed their blood habit, and they travel easily on credit cards.."

creating a romantic representation of East, while the reality drastically differs

BY DARIA GULIAIEVA