Which is also the first epigraph to the Ode.

- 110 -

distinction between the hero and the common m a m Death is the great Leveller«

In a skillful play upon the word 'vulgar', Byron manages to combine its latlnate

usage ('vulgus', the populace, the rabble, the mass) with its more modern

pejorative sense of indecent or coarse, the latter sense being stressed by

its alliterative association with the word 'vile'. Thus Byron's contempt for

both the hero and mankind generally is cogently expressed.^-

The tercet develops the last part of the above sentencei the 'living

great' matching 'their living dust', and 'higher sparks should animate' matching

'weighed more carats'. The difference in emphasis between the quatrain (which

is concerned with death) and the tercet (concerned with life), can be felt

through a comparison of the sonority of their words and their distinctive

Imagery. The quatralnb 'dust* and 'clay' and its loading of 'weigh'd', 'vile'

and 'vulgar', freight the lines with a dark, dulled and heavy sense of death.

The tercet, however, is packed with vividness and vitality« 'living great',

'higher sparks', 'animate', 'dazzle and dismay'. The imagery here is both

of lightness and of brightness, which leads to a curious paradox. Byron is

dealing in-terms of weight in this stanzas 'Weigh'd', 'balance', 'scales'.

Yet the 'living great' are (or were) considered to be the 'weightier', so to

speak, in so far as they are paradoxically the 'lighter'. By 'lighter' is

meant more spiritual, more god-like. The word 'sparks' here, and its 2 associates, is an important and ubiquitous word in Byron's vocabulary. It

consistently suggests spirit or mind or, put another way, what is Promethean

1. An alternative reading in an earlier proof for 'vulgar clay' is 'common clay' f tW . Ill, 2 6 ^ , which does not carry the same subtleties of suggestion as the present accepted reading. Furthermore, by spacing the alliteration, 'vile ... vulgar', Byron gives more individual emphasis to the two words! 'common clay' retains the tone of contempt, but has not the same emphatic rings it sounds too trite, too easy,

Cf. "sparks of that celestial fire", LJ. Ill, 225s "Promethean spark", Manfred. I, i, 154j "fiery dust", DJ.IT, 212j "fiery particle", JU. XI,

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Ill -

or 'half-deity' in man. The 'living great', Byron had supposed, should have

been endowed with some god-like attributes that remove them far above their

fellow men (the 'common people', 'vulgus' - the idea here contrasts directly

with line 2), in order to 'dazzle and dismay' them. These two words are

highly suggestive. The word 'dazzle' (another Sun or star image) evokes what

Wilson Knight has said of line 7 of the previous stanza, while 'dismay' suggests

the same as 'dazzle', though in a more negative light, with the addition of

fear 'shame' and also the 'dismay' of mankind for not being able to reach

such comparable heights. Such overloaded words reflect the equivocal impres­

sion the 'living great' cam make on their fellow men, and also the multifarious

and unresolved tensions in Byron's mind regarding his attitude to such 'great'

men.

Thè personification of 'Contempt' in the final couplet seems to relate

itself to another of Byron's Journal entries already alluded to'"t 'that all

this was not a mere ,1eu of the gods'. The implication here is that the 'gods'

2

are indeed contemptuous of earthly 'Conquerors' i in the face of an overruling

and hostile Fate, all mankind is impotent, including its 'living great'.

The next stanza breaks away from such metaphysical speculations, returning

to Napoleon himself - or rather, his second wlfes

And she, proud Austria's mournful flower, Thy still imperial bridej

How bears her breast the torturing hour? Still clings she to thy side?

Must she too bend, must she too share Thy late repentance, long despair. Thou throneless Homicide?

If still she loves thee, hoard that gem,

'Tis worth thy vanished diadem! 13.

1. LJ. Ill, 218.

- 112 -

This does Indeed seem a cruel and unnecessary thrust at Napoleon's private life,

yet It serves to Illustrate several Important a n d related points. Firstly, how

Napoleon's public career has polluted even the most personal and Intimate side

of his domestic existence by alienating those closest to him. Doubt Is cast

on the continued support, loyalty and affection of Marle-Loulse by the repeated

questions throughout the stanza and by the 'If' at the opening of the eighth

line. The effect of this Is to emphasize even further Napoleon's present

Isolation. Moreover, by juxtaposing the private and public aspects of life

(love with power and ambition), Byron effectively reveals what he considers to

be of real and enduring value. The couplet bears the weight of this pointi

human relationship (the 'gem') is a more precious commodity than mastery of

the world, or the attempted mastery of the world'*', (homicide' and 'vanished

diadem' suggest, respectively, the necessarily bloody means to power and the

temporary and insecure nature of that power once obtained). The word

'Homicide' reinforces the criticism Byron has already raised in lines 6/7 of

stanza 2, 'Thine only gift hath been the grave/ To those that worshipp'd thee',

while expanding it to embrace the wholesale murder Napoleon's desire for power

has entailed. It is also worth noting the delicate terms in which Byron

refers to Marie-Louisei 'flower', 'bride', 'breast', 'clings*. The femininity

of the image that arises here is not only apt with respect to Marie-Louise, but

it seems to capture the fragility and vulnerability of the precious love and human affection which Byron is extolling. It also suggests that Napoleon has

brought ruin upon even an Innocent victim, and thus underscores the evil nature

of his ambition. That Napoleon has indeed forfeited the comfort of human

society is confirmed in the final three stanzas.