FREE ESSAY ON THE BYRONIC HERO

THE BYRONIC HERO

The Byronic Hero
John Wilson wrote, "It is in the contrast between his august conceptions of man, and his
contemptuous opinions of men, that much of the almost incomprehensible charm, and power,
and enchantment, of his poetry consists." The abstruse "he" that Wilson refers to is Lord
Byron. This famed poet developed an unmistakable style that both praises and admonishes
man. Byron was not a misanthrope, but he never forgot man's faults. Through his poetry,
Byron developed his views and expanded them. In fact, Byron developed a hero; a hero that
would not back down to a challenge, rather, a hero that would stand up courageously and
fight for what was good and true. In "The Destruction of Sennacherib," Byron represents a
hero who faces defeat. This poem serves as an example of Byron's unique style,
philosophy, and ideals.
The title of the poem, "The Destruction of Sennacherib," serves as a synopsis for the
subject; the poem entails the death of Sennacherib. The first stanza describes the
entrance of Sennacherib onto a battle scene. It is clear that he is a cunning military
strategist as Byron describes him as a "wolf on the fold." Sennacherib and his "cohorts"
are regal "in purple and gold." They seem to be a well-organized army with weapons and
courage to spare. In the second stanza there is a foreshadowing of the end of Sennacherib
with the reference to leaves being green in summer, but blown away in the autumn.
Quickly, much like death in real life, the Angel of Death appears and breathes in the
face of Sennacherib and his men. Their lifeless bodies appear waxen in their cold state,
as their hearts "for ever grew still." As the poem continues, Byron points out that
Sennacherib's pride is lost in death. The image of Sennacherib's last breath overlaps
with one of waves crashing against a shore in lines seventeen and eighteen. The fifth
stanza ends great Sennacherib's life. In the last stanza the people of Assyria mourn the
demise of their leader, and in effect, the demise of their civilization. All that was
great of their nation "hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!" 
The poem is made up of six stanzas and twenty-four lines. The third line stands out for
its alliteration, "and the sheen of the spears was like stars on the sea." From the
beginning of the poem and throughout there are allusions to the ocean and beaches. Byron
uses natural images to depict the scenes. In the second stanza, the alliterated phrase,
"Like the leaves," is repeated, however, in line five the leaves are green in summer and
in line seven, the leaves have been blown away in autumn. True to the Romantic Movement,
the poem impresses the image of seasons changing as an analogy for life and death. The
rhyme scheme is AABBCCDD and so on until the last stanza, in which Byron repeats the
rhyme from the preceding stanza. This creates a shift from the death scene to the
reaction of Sennacherib's people. In the last line, Byron introduces another shift with a
new rhyme. This shift moves from the immediate response to the death of Sennacherib to
the overall end of the Assyrian nation. 
Sennacherib was an interesting choice of subject for Lord Byron..According to Columbia
Encyclopedia, Sennacherib "constructed canals and aqueducts and built a magnificent
palace at Nineveh." From this aspect, Sennacherib was not the Byronic hero. Byron would
have preferred a more hidden ideal as he favored the brooding loner for his hero. As a
king with such legendary identifications, Sennacherib drifts from the mold. However, it
is clear that Byron holds great respect for Sennacherib. Rather than shame Sennacherib
with a cowardly death (he was actually murdered by two of his sons) Byron chooses to
glorify his last stand in battle, thereby leaving the memory of Sennacherib one of man,
conqueror, hero.