“Strange Sight this Congress!”. Byron’s The Age of Bronze (1823) and the Congress of Verona
Abstract
Byron’s satirical poem The Age of Bronze, a ‘hit’ at the Congress of Verona, targets the sycophancy of artists who celebrated the Congress and other manifestations of political power. The Age of Bronze asserts a different, more active and critical task for the artist, than the decorativeness expected within the European Congress system. “I am Diogenes”, states the poet, speaking truth to power in an age of obfuscation. Byron’s biting allusions to prominent public poetry and sculpture are selectively compared with other contemporary satire. The antisemitic terms of Byron’s critique of global financialisation are analysed, as is Byron’s self-conscious undermining of his chosen poetic form.
Presentato: 28 Novembre 2022 | Accettato: 23 Dicembre 2023 | Pubblicato 13 Aprile 2023 | Lingua: en
Keywords Cultural patriotism • Satire • European Romanticism • Byron • British Romanticism • Congress of Verona
Copyright © 2022 James Vigus. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/EL/2420-823X/2022/01/002