''Beppo: A Venetian Story'' is a lengthy poem by

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

, written in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

in 1817. ''Beppo'' marks Byron's first attempt at writing using the Italian ''

ottava rima Ottava rima is a rhyming stanza form of Italian origin. Originally used for long poems on heroic themes, it later came to be popular in the writing of mock-heroic works. Its earliest known use is in the writings of Giovanni Boccaccio. The otta ...

metre The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

, which emphasized

satiric Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or ...

digression. It is the precursor to Byron's most famous and generally considered best poem, ''

Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni (Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. Famous versions of the story include a 17th-century play, '' El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra'' ...

''. The poem contains 760 verses, divided into 95 stanzas.

Narrative

The poem tells the story of a Venetian lady, Laura, whose husband, Giuseppe (or "Beppo" for short), has been lost at sea for the past three years. According to Venetian customs she takes on a '' Cavalier Servente'', simply called "the Count". When the two of them attend the

Venetian Carnival The Carnival of Venice ( it, Carnevale di Venezia) is an annual festival held in Venice, Italy. The carnival ends on Shrove Tuesday (''Martedì Grasso'' or Mardi Gras), which is the day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. The festival i ...

, she is closely observed by a Turk who turns out to be her missing husband. Beppo explains that he has been captured and enslaved, and was freed by a band of

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

s that he subsequently joined. Having accumulated enough money he left piracy and returned to reclaim his wife and be re-baptized. Laura rejoins Beppo and befriends the Count.

Analysis and allusions

The poem's main merit lies in its comparison of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

morals Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of cond ...

, arguing that the English aversion to

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

is mere

hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...

in light of the probably shocking, but more honest, custom of the ''Cavalier Servente'' in Italy. In comparison to Byron's ''Oriental Tales'' of 1813, it suggests that a looser attitude towards morals may be more pragmatic. The poem manifests a number of typical Byronic qualities, like the digressive structure and the use of satirical jabs at targets familiar to Byron's readership, such as literate women and as well as other poets (including

Robert Southey Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...

, who appears as "Botherby"). As he does in major poems like ''

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage ''Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'' is a long narrative poem in four parts written by Lord Byron. The poem was published between 1812 and 1818. Dedicated to " Ianthe", it describes the travels and reflections of a world-weary young man, who is dis ...

'' and ''

'', in ''Beppo'' Byron mixes fictional elements with autobiographical ones. Reputedly,

Lady William Russell Elizabeth Anne, Lady William Russell (2 October 1793 – 10 August 1874) was the wife of Lord George Russell and a well-known socialite. Early life Elizabeth Anne Theophila Rawdon was born on 2 October 1793, child of Frances (''née'' Hall-St ...

was the inspiration for "'' newhose bloom could, after dancing, dare the dawn''".

References

External links

{{Byron Poetry by Lord Byron 1817 poems