I : LXXXIX - XCII Spain: A History of Violence

The Spaniards, the French and the Dutch all helped America during the Revolutionary War. On the 3rd of Sep. 1783, The Treaty of Paris ended the tedious war that crossed several continents and prolonged for almost a decade after United States had already declared its independence on 4th of July, 1776, the glorious date that you're supposed to remember as long as you're a citizen of planet earth and believe in liberty of humanity. Anyway, it almost seemed to me that the American Revolutionary War inspired the French Revolution, which broke out as early as in 1791, although most of us attributed the year of 1793 of more importance during the progress of the war, during which a young Napoleon Bonaparte proved his worth for the first time. 

Everything that happened was connected, dare I say, especially since the world is getting smaller as men's ambition and thirst for power grows infinitely bigger, and of course, communication is made more convenient. The rise of Lady Liberty indubitably influenced the entirety of western civilization. (The statue physically rose in 1886 but since it's commemorating 1776 in the first place, let's pretend that Lady Liberty had already been there in spirit.)

A modern personification of United States (Columbia) during WWI 

Columbia had been the name for a land with which we associate freedom, after the guy who discovered her of course, Christopher Columbus, whose accomplishment initiated the Spanish colonization of the new world. 

So why is that part of the history relevant to our subject of discussion now? Obviously there's the connection of the Spanish Empire, but it's far more than just a name. The War of Pyrenees, or better known as the Great War, pitted the first coalition during the French Revolutionary Wars. After the initial outbreak in January, France got in full on attack mode and in two months' time, decided to break up with her long-term-ally Spain. Spain was miserably defeated. 

Francisco Pizarro

There's almost a bitterness in the poet's tone. Francisco, Gonzalo, Juan and Hernando, those are the names of the Pizarro brothers, their reign in Peru was quite short (1531-1538) but still a major part in the Spanish conquest of the new world, Quito (The Royal Audience of Quito) being a part of it, was established in 1563, ruling most parts of Ecuador, northern Peru, southern Columbia and some part of Brazil. 

And now? Spain is under attack! It's all cause and effect says the poet. 

There are three major battles mentioned in Stanza 90, all of which violent and none can draw a conclusion to the never-ending conflicts. Wellesley gradually becomes a name almost as big as Napoleon, who would eventually defeat the legendary French modern Achilles, Byron's personal hero.

• Battle of Talavera Think France, Spain and Britain as three gambler in Vegas. No matter what the statistics say in  the end, the biggest winner will always, did I say ALWAYS, be the house. Death was hosting the game this time, seizing his prize from all sides, with France losing the most at the battle of Talavera. Previously I mentioned this battle in The Inglorious Three, with Byron's descriptive and heart wrenching stanzas (around XLI) telling the tale of devastation.

• Battle of Barrossa This was a pointless one: that day in March 1811, the ally of Britain, Portugal and Spain trying to lift the siege of Cadiz against France and the battle of Barrossa broke. Technically they won, according to numbers and what not, but Cadiz remained under French control until more than a year later. French Marshal Claude Victor was even able to bargain a partial victory. Of course in war if the two sides both won it also meant that they both lost. Again, the grave played the house.

• Battle of Albuera Elaborated in stanza XLIII, (again, reference The Inglorious Three) the battle of Albuera was called the bloodiest of all during Peninsular War. Not only did it fail to lift the siege of Badajoz, it wounded the relationship between Spain and Britain, for it was said that Britain didn't play hard enough.

Marshal Claude Victor

All those struggles and all those lives lost, sill Spain didn't get her freedom and peace. It's such a tiresome and emotionally draining thing to do looking at the timeline of the war, for you see how people just so too far and plant so many seeds of evil over something rather trivial.

It is very hard to look at things the same way again after you've read lots about history. Sometimes, most of the time, we repeat the same mistakes our ancestors did. All the lost glory of past civilization was the cost of a transient vanity.

For Childe Harold, this has been a trip of personal growth. At this point, the boy who lamented the fall of his family estate is thinking about something much bigger. When you've climbed mountains and watched the rise and fall of nations, you would start to realize the frivolity of what you thought you held so dear.

I : LXXXV - LXXXVIII Blindly, They Fought On

On 5th of Feb. 1810, the French started bombarding Cadiz and the Siege of Cadiz continued until 24th of Aug. 1812. The fortification of this port city proved to be so strong. Those walls seemed to be invincible! Surrounded by three arm forces, Cadiz stood still, or at least, she held on for a long time. The French almost lost hope of ever taking this place. 

Map of Cadiz in 1813.

"War even to the knife!" A common mistranslation of the laconic phrase "guerra y cuchillo", General Palafox's respond to French invaders' demand during the brutal second siege of Saragossa "paz y capitulacion"(peace ans surrender). The phrase actually meant, concisely, "war and knife", the point being, they will defend till the last drop of blood. 

General Palafox painted by Goya

It was uneasy for the allied force to lift the siege, as the British didn't quite trust the Spanish. Of course, the Spanish didn't give up, hence winning Byron's high regards here. 

There's again, a time lapse in the mentioned events here. The author explored the city of Cadiz in 1809 when he witnessed the unforgettable bullfight. The siege happened a year after, and didn't commence until after the poem was published. When he was drafting the first canto of Childe Harold, Byron would have known about the struggle and hold-off between Anglo-Spanish defense and French assailers in the city of Cadiz. The ruthless fight between the noble looking matadors and the enslaved beast, is definitely similar to the people of Spain who's in a rather similar situation. 

Since his youthful years spent riding pony and reading a formidable amount of books in Aberdeen, Byron had been drawn to history. Of course, his lament on people's lack of perspective wouldn't make too much sense to those Spaniards in trouble. They couldn't do anything but picking up their knives and protect their families. No matter what era it is, war never ceases to cause unnecessary deaths. It's a vicious cycle that most of us just refuse to admit. 

The reality is, the human race is not very responsible when we take actions. The savage acts of destruction and barbarism leaves us barren lands, and a dejected sight of mortifying remains of our own kind. So many times have people of enlightenment stood and sigh in front of ruins of past generations, yet the more important question is: how do we break this behavior pattern?

I : LXXXI - LXXXIV When You're Engulfed in the Fire of Jealousy

Mozart's Magic Flute premiered on the 30th of September 1791, two months before the sorrowful early passing of the legendary musical prodigy. "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" (Hell's Vengeance Boils in My Heart), was the Königin der Nacht, or Queen of the Night's second aria. The ultimate archetype of "the lady engulfed in the flame of jealousy". Get a taste of the song here:

part of the sheet music from the opera

Queen of the Night played by Diana Damrau

Jealousy is that green-coloured devil who stirs up trouble and enjoys his destruction. The other Queen who had been famous for her jealousy was Hera, or Juno (depending on if you prefer the Greek way or the Roman). Her flame of jealousy ignited oh so many historical events, mostly saturated with blood and deaths: the exile of Europa, the fall of Troy, the terrible fate Aeneid had through, so on so forth.

Jupiter and Juno (Hera) by Annibale Carracci.

Lethe, one of the five rivers of the Underworld, is said to be the river of oblivion. You're supposed to drink it as you cross over to the other side, after which you forget everything about your earthly life. Our young traveler here is certainly going through some coming-of-age-aching. The scenes he's been exposed to, the events that have been exploding around him have all contributed his rapid emotional growth. He's no longer that lad whose main focus in life had been the tenderness of love. And he has also realized the danger of love. Indeed love many a time is related to jealousy, which is quite the root of most crimes, if you think about it! Now, I suppose the Cupid the cherubic angel will never seem the same to you, although he was a victim of jealousy himself, when Hera disapproved and got outraged by his love affair with Psyche.

Byron's The Girl of Cadiz might best demonstrate his impression of the women in this Spanish city of passion. It is said that the poet had the briefest encounter with a beautiful daughter of an Admiral, yet thanks to the rigid schedule he didn't hold a chance in developing any sort of relationship with her.

Harold's experience in Cadiz reminded me of the Kubler-Ross model, or, the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance. The model couldn't perfectly fit describing someone as emotionally enriched as our poet himself, but we can definitely see a soup of sensitive experience between the lines, especially the last two stages. 

He's almost ready to forget, to give up love, although still "bargaining" with the attraction he still felt. Eventually he channeled the emotions towards creativity, hence the verses and the lays.

In the face of the formidable Jealousy, Love is weak, and Death is merely a childish solution as "denial" is only the first stage of acceptance. Of course, it is still believed that Beauty prevails, just like Cupid and Psyche had each other in the end, Aeneid rebuilt his country, and Rome flourished.

I : LXVIII - LXXIV Before the Killing

I could only imagine how the air would thicken before a bullfight. What an act of savage and grace, exciting and dreadful, sacred and barbaric. How ironic it happened to be the sabbath, and this city is giving the gods in all the glory, a competition between man and beast, a struggle till the last breath.

The arena is full, the bull restless, the energy spouting like blood, and you hear the roaring though uncertain whether it's from the magnificent animal, or the resonance and echoes of the crowd's breathes and thoughts.

arena before the fight

It's something insatiably beautiful and sad, for you know the fight goes on until one side of the opponents is dead. 

The sabbath, in a religious sense, is the 7th day in a week, god's sacred day of rest. Depending on which religion you're in, the timing would be different. Here the poet is indicating Christian sabbath, though in Judaism, sabbath starts after sundown on Friday.

It's strikingly a cultural thing, for a bullfight in Spain is like a religious gathering in, well, for example says the poet, in London. Nobilities from all directions swarm in from their country houses, their carriages jamming the streets, to the cathedrals they go. 

Yet here in this arena it's a celebration of men's conquering of nature, in finest apparels and noblest agility. Something Byron wouldn't be able to do if I may add, which is possibly why he got so overwhelmed and fascinated by this beauty, or terror, depending on your point of view. 

There's no differences between the votaries of god: young, old, rich, poor, their confessions alike, forgiven before the altar, similarly amongst the audience of a bullfight. They are witnessing a crime, committed by men, yet the killers will be rewarded for their courage and heroism. Isn't it ironic if you really think about the nature of the fight?

All is silent before the killing. Imagine, outside of the area the streets would be empty. Everyone you know would be sitting inside of this round, heated, tormenting space overlooking a stretch of crimson coloured earth. The battle between the matador and the bull will soon begin. 

You'd be surprised to find out that the audience consists mostly of ladies. It's an exhibition of strength and agility of men, to be sure, indeed an attraction and a fantastical scene. 

The arena is a power source ready to release its energy at any time now. It's almost as though nothing else in the universe mattered, and all is focused on the centre of this space: the matador dressed in gold and embroidery; the bull, o that magnificent creature, is a spiritual embodiment of what is expected of the matador. The two of them, discrepant in size and actual strength, yet equivalent in their bosting aura.

It's been documented in memoirs that Byron didn't enjoy the bullfight although inspired by it. I cannot imagine what kind of emotional turmoil he'd been in during the show, but I believe that he would see more of himself, not in the matador  but rather in the bull, panting and prancing underneath the gazing of an entire universe. There about to be bloodshed and injury. Just like what his fame did to him, which exploded too quickly when he was mere 24.

the Matador - from Charles Lisanby

Vicente Blasco Ibanez wrote a Blood and Sand (Sangre y Arena). The entire act of a bullfight is almost a reflection of Byron's life, which had been teaming with struggle and mess, metaphorically presented in a limited space: it has more symbolism but much more exciting and concise. I'm not certain whether he enjoyed much of the act, but he surely understood all and sympathized with both. Maybe more with the bull, for the matador represents more of his vanity, yet the bull, his truth identity.

I : LXV - LXVII Interlude

On the 29th of July, Byron arrived at Cadiz. Of course, it's impossible to match perfectly his agenda to that adventure of the Childe (the timeline would be skipped and sometimes backwards if you insist doing so.) In Cadiz, Byron was startled, and nonetheless, marveled by the bullfight, which I will get into details in a future post. And now as we get ready for a bloodier scene, let's do some fact check of the surroundings. 

Poster of Cadiz's carnival of 1926

Being one of those ever-so-populated cities, Cadiz have always attracted revels and its streets are always loud. The poster is for the carnival in 1926, more than 100 years since Byron set foot on its shore, but hey, things don't change that much, and the Spanish passion lives on. Rather different from the amiable Seville with her more sensible taste in arts and culture, Cadiz had an appetite much more fierce. Her blood-thirst desire fascinated the boy who hungered for strange sights.

Paphos is the birthplace is Aphrodite, also the name of Pygmalion's son with Galatea, the marble maiden that came to life thanks to the goddess herself. Another of her most noted business here was when Odysseus was on his way homewards, the goddess stopped by her birthplace to help our beloved hero.   

There's proper magic in those words: "a thousand altars rise, for ever blazing bright". The cult of Aphrodite started in Paphos. The city and the goddess is linked together for eternity.

The Temple of Aphrodite

The snapshots of Spain have been the richest of kinds. The votaries of Venus were, turned out to be, brought up to be compared with the crowds at the bullfight. It's a feast of sight, sound and scent all at once; and emotion too. You can almost see the ladies in the audience holding their breaths, worrying about the bullfighter, yet still over-excited about the glorious sight they about to witness.

All is ready and all is waiting; time stands still.