I’ve decided to upload the occasional podcast onto the website. And I thought I’d begin (surprise, surprise) with Byron. And (to add further surprise) with Byron’s most Venetian poem, “Beppo”.
It’s not too much to say that this is the poem in which he discovered his voice: that is to say, in discovering the Italian form of “ottava rima” (an eight-line stanza, rhyming ABABABCC, used in some of the greatest narrative poems in Italian), he found a way to bring that conversational, light tone so characteristic of his correspondence into his poetry. The poet known throughout Europe for melodramatic romances and gloomy meditations suddenly revealed himself as a witty and chatty raconteur. And Venice becomes the setting for a tale of pure carnivalesque comedy, with Byron as narrator playing the part of a genial and slightly cynical “cicerone” (rather like my Alvise) showing off his knowledge of the “sea-born city” to his stiff-necked compatriots.
There’s a lot more to say about the poem (and I have done so here and there) but for the moment I just invite you to enjoy the carnival fun of our greatest comic poet.
Thanks, Tom! Yes, it’s me. Glad you enjoyed it!
listening on the lawn on a late green afternoon in Vermont
Rachel, where better to listen to a tale of “fiddling, feasting, dancing, drinking, masquing / And other things which may be had for asking”?
Listening in Tasmania on a wet winter night! Pure pleasure.
Reading your comment on a dry summer day! Thanks – glad you’re enjoying it.
Your Tasmanian listener is entirely beguiled. It has been decades since I last read the poem, and you’ve brought it to life so delightfully. So many things I had forgotten. He uses the words ‘ketchup’ and ‘absurd’ and ‘orientalism’! And ‘suburban’! Gregory, you’ve a gift for this. You should be doing recorded books.
Thanks again, Dave! Yes, “ketchup” is a surprise – and he was mocking orientalism two centuries before Said – who only mentions Byron in passing, perhaps because he didn’t really fit into his argument.
I’d love to do recorded books – if someone would pay me to do so!
One of my favourite Byrons, second only to =Don Juan=.
And, of course, it led the way to “Don Juan”…
It’s been many years since I read this. It’s lovely to hear it brought alive by your reading. Thank you!
Thanks, Robert! Glad you enjoyed it.
A fabulous reading. Thank you for that. Did you record it in a studio? The sound quality is exceptional.
Thank you! Glad you liked it.
I recorded it at home, using a microphone my son advised me to buy.
Just wonderful Gregory! You sailed through the whole work without a cough or stutter. An astonishing performance. I followed you with the text and laughed at Byron’s impertinence. What a rogue he was. If you were a singer you’d be Giuseppe De Luca. Thank you for inspiring me to come to terms with Beppo.
Janet, not sure how I missed your comment nine months ago! Thanks so much. Very glad you enjoyed it. And yes, what a rogue he was. I’m intrigued by the idea I’d be Giuseppe De Luca; I’d love to hear more on that.
By the way, I have a very good editing app which allows me to remove coughs and stutters. I wouldn’t take on a long poem like this without it…