Analysis of Don Juan: Canto the Second

George Gordon Lord Byron 1788 (London) – 1824 (Missolonghi, Aetolia)



The ship, call'd the most holy "Trinidada,"
       Was steering duly for the port Leghorn;
   For there the Spanish family Moncada
       Were settled long ere Juan's sire was born:
   They were relations, and for them he had a
       Letter of introduction, which the morn
   Of his departure had been sent him by
   His Spanish friends for those in Italy.XXV

His suite consisted of three servants and
      A tutor, the licentiate Pedrillo,
  Who several languages did understand,
      But now lay sick and speechless on his pillow,
  And, rocking in his hammock, long'd for land,
      His headache being increas'd by every billow;
  And the waves oozing through the port-hole made
  His berth a little damp, and him afraid.XXVI

'Twas not without some reason, for the wind
      Increas'd at night, until it blew a gale;
  And though 'twas not much to a naval mind,
      Some landsmen would have look'd a little pale,
  For sailors are, in fact, a different kind:
      At sunset they began to take in sail,
  For the sky show'd it would come on to blow,
  And carry away, perhaps, a mast or so.XXVII

At one o'clock the wind with sudden shift
      Threw the ship right into the trough of the sea,
  Which struck her aft, and made an awkward rift,
      Started the stern-post, also shatter'd the
  Whole of her stern-frame, and, ere she could lift
      Herself from out her present jeopardy,
  The rudder tore away: 'twas time to sound
  The pumps, and there were four feet water found.XXVIII

One gang of people instantly was put
      Upon the pumps, and the remainder set
  To get up part of the cargo, and what not,
      But they could not come at the leak as yet;
  At last they did get at it really, but
      Still their salvation was an even bet:
  The water rush'd through in a way quite puzzling,
  While they thrust sheets, shirts, jackets, bales of muslin,XXIX

Into the opening; but all such ingredients
      Would have been vain, and they must have gone down,
  Despite of all their efforts and expedients,
      But for the pumps: I'm glad to make them known
  To all the brother tars who may have need hence,
      For fifty tons of water were upthrown
  By them per hour, and they had all been undone,
  But for the maker, Mr. Mann, of London.XXX

As day advanc'd the weather seem'd to abate,
      And then the leak they reckon'd to reduce,
  And keep the ship afloat, though three feet yet
      Kept two hand- and one chain-pump still in use.
  The wind blew fresh again: as it grew late
      A squall came on, and while some guns broke loose,
  A gust--which all descriptive power transcends--
  Laid with one blast the ship on her beam ends.XXXI

There she lay, motionless, and seem'd upset;
      The water left the hold, and wash'd the decks,
  And made a scene men do not soon forget;
       For they remember battles, fires and wrecks,
  Or any other thing that brings regret,
      Or breaks their hopes, or hearts, or heads, or necks:
  Thus drownings are much talked of by the divers
  And swimmers who may chance to be survivors.XXXII

Immediately the masts were cut away,
      Both main and mizen; first the mizen went,
  The mainmast follow'd: but the ship still lay
      Like a mere log, and baffled our intent.
  Foremast and bowsprit were cut down, and they
      Eas'd her at last (although we never meant
  To part with all till every hope was blighted),
  And then with violence the old ship righted.XXXIII

It may be easily suppos'd, while this
      Was going on, some people were unquiet,
  That passengers would find it much amiss
      To lose their lives, as well as spoil their diet;
  That even the able seaman, deeming his
      Days nearly o'er, might be dispos'd to riot,
  As upon such occasions tars will ask
  For grog, and sometimes drink rum from the cask.XXXIV

There's nought, no doubt, so much the spirit calms
      As rum and true religion: thus it was,
  Some plunder'd, some drank spirits, some sung psalms,
      The high wind made the treble, and as bass
  The hoarse harsh waves kept time; fright cur'd the qualms
      Of all the luckless landsmen's sea-sick maws:
  Strange sounds of wailing, blasphemy, devotion,
  Clamour'd in chorus to the roaring ocean.XXXV

Perhaps more mischief had been done, but for
      Our Juan, who, with sense beyond his years,
  Got to the spirit-room, and


Scheme ABABCBXD AEAEAEAD AEAEAEED AFACAAAD AAAAAAXF XXFXXBGF AHAHAHXF AIAIAIXF JAEAJAAF KAKAXAXD LXXXLFGD XXA
Poetic Form
Metre 01101101 1101010110 11010100010 0101111011 10010011110 101010101 1101011111 11011101 1101011100 010011 110100101 11110101110 0100110111 111001110010 0011010111 110101011 1101110101 0111011101 0111110101 111110101 11010101001 111011101 1011111111 01001010111 1101011101 10110101101 1101011101 1001110100 1101101111 0111010100 0101011111 0101011101 1111010011 0101000101 1111101011 1111110111 1111111101 1101011101 010110011100 1111110111 0101001110100 1111011111 011111001 1101111111 11010111111 110111001 111100111101 1101010111 11010101101 0101110101 0101011111 1110111101 0111011111 0111011111 01110101001 1111011011 1111000101 0101010101 0101111101 11010101001 1101011101 1111111111 11011111010 010111111 01000010101 1101010101 011010111 10110101001 10101101 101111101 111111001110 0111000111 1111000111 110111001 1100111101 11111111110 1100101011 110101101110 1011010111 1100111101 1111110101 1101010111 1101110111 0111010011 0111111101 110101111 11110100010 101010101 0111011111 1011110111 1101010
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 4,300
Words 742
Sentences 14
Stanzas 12
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 3
Lines Amount 91
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 263
Words per stanza (avg) 61
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 14, 2023

3:50 min read
163

George Gordon Lord Byron

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, known simply as Lord Byron, was an English poet, peer and politician who became a revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence, and is considered one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement. He is regarded as one of the greatest English poets and remains widely read and influential. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage; many of his shorter lyrics in Hebrew Melodies also became popular. He travelled extensively across Europe, especially in Italy, where he lived for seven years in the cities of Venice, Ravenna, and Pisa. During his stay in Italy he frequently visited his friend and fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Later in life Byron joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire and died of disease leading a campaign during that war, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died in 1824 at the age of 36 from a fever contracted after the First and Second Siege of Missolonghi. His only legitimate child, Ada Lovelace, is regarded as a foundational figure in the field of computer programming based on her notes for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. Byron's illegitimate children include Allegra Byron, who died in childhood, and possibly Elizabeth Medora Leigh.  more…

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