When a Man Hath No Freedom to Fight for at Home

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When a Man Hath No Freedom to Fight for at Home

当男人没有在家战斗的自由时

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Introduction to George Gordon Byron

George Gordon Byron (1788 –1824) commonly known as Lord Byron, was an English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic Movement.He born into an ancient aristocratic family and inherited the title of a baron and a large estate at the age of ten. Though he was born lame, he was good at sports, especially at swimming. He educated first at Harrow and then Cambridge, and then took his seat in the House of Lords. Byron first went to Switzerland, where he made acquaintance with Shelley. He next established residence in Venice, where in the three years from 1816 to 1819 he produced, among other works, the verse drama Manfred (1817), the first two cantos of Don Juan (1818—1819), and the fourth and final canto of Childe Harold (1818).

His main works include Hours of Idleness(1807), Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage(1812), The Giaour(1813), The Bride of Abydos(1813), She Walks in Beauty(1814), The Siege of Corinth(1816), Don Juan(1818-1823)， Cain（1821）， and Manfred(1817). Don Juan is Byron's masterpiece, a great comic epic of the early 19th century. It is a poem based on a traditional Spanish legend of a great lover and seducer of women.

Byron is one of the most excellent representatives of English Romanticism and one of the most influential poets of the time. His literary career was closely linked with the struggle and progressive movements of his age. He opposed oppression and slavery, and has an ardent love for liberty. He praised the people’s revolutionary struggles in his works. His poems are favorites of the British workers and the laboring people of other countries. Byron’s poems show energy and vigor, romantic daring (bold, brave) and powerful passion. He stands with Shakespeare and Scott among the British writers who exert the greatest influence over the mainland Europe and the Chinese youth greatly. But some critics think many of his lines are harsh, rugged and not rhythmical.

Summary of When a Man Hath No Freedom to

Fight for at Home

When a Man Hath No Freedom to Fight for at Home was written in 1824 when Byron traveled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence .This poem is short but inspiring. It tells us that a man should not only fight for liberty at his

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own country but other countries. It also expressed Byron’s pursue of the ardent love of liberty, the noble spirit of a man should be self-reliant and the steadfast determination of die for a righteous cause if not succeeding.

Translation of When a Man Hath No Freedom to Fight for at Home

When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home

When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,

Let him combat for that of his neighbours;

Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome,

And get knock’d on his head for his labours.

To do good to mankind is the chivalrous plan,

And is always as nobly requited;

Then battle for freedom wherever you can,

And, if not shot or hang’d, you’ll get knighted.

参考译文：

邦国若非投身地

淬醴止

邦国若非投身地，为邻自由亦称勇；

试想希罗荣耀处，心腑震荡欲何处。

与人为善作侠计，赢取功名总慰想；

自由圣战须勉励，身不死时策勋章。

英国文学经典阅读

An analysis of When a Man Hath No Freedom to

Fight for at Home

This poem is short and it adopts cross rhyme or cross rhyme (ABAB) pattern. It combines the poet’s experience and discussion of fight for liberty at other countries. In this poem, Byron based the fight on the Greek side in the Greek War of Independence expressed an ardent love of liberty and a fierce hatred of tyranny. He practiced what he had preached; his ―Byronic Hero‖ was well expressed in this poem. Byronic hero

Byronic hero was created by Byron in the Romantic period of the English literature. The Byronic hero is characterized by bravery, hard working spirit and rebellion. These heroes rise against tyranny and injustice, but they are merely lone fighters striving for personal freedom and some individualistic ends. Don Juan is the best representative of the Byronic hero.

A proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin.

Carrying on his shoulders the burden of righting all the wrongs in a

corrupt society,

Rising single-handedly against any kind of tyrannical rules either in

government, in religion, or in moral principles with unconquerable wills

and inexhaustible energies.

Such a hero appears first in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, and then further

developed in later works such as the Oriented Tales, Man Fred, and Don

Juan in different guises.

The figure is, to some extent, modeled on the life and personality of Byron himself, and makes Byron famous both at home and abroad.

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