E21: All Is Vanity, Saith the Preacher - Lord Byron

Lord Byron - All Is Vanity, Saith the Preacher

 

Written/Published in: Hebrew Melodies nr. 21 1815

Theme: Lord Byron’s poem is inspired by the Book of Qohelet. He transfers Qohelet’s feeling of life into a psalm, thereby condensing the Biblical material in his own way. He makes Qohelet, whom he conventionally identifies with King Solomon, look back at the happy times in his life. He interprets the Preacher’s resignation and depression by introducing the serpent from Genesis 3; this aspect helps to generalize Qohelet‘s pessimistic outlook on human life. Zsengellér, J. 2022. Understanding Texts in Early Judaism: Studies on Biblical, Qumranic, Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature in Memory of Géza Xeravits. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110768534

Poem:

I.Fame, wisdom, love, and power were mine,And health and youth possess'd me;My goblets blush'd from every vine,And lovely forms caress'd me;I sunn'd my heart in beauty's eyes,And felt my soul grow tender:All earth can give, or mortal prize,Was mine of regal splendour.II.I strive to number o'er what daysRemembrance can discover,Which all that life or earth displaysWould lure me to live over.There rose no day, there roll'd no hourOf pleasure unembitter'd;And not a trapping deck'd my powerThat gall'd not while it glitter'd.III.The serpent of the field, by artAnd spells, is won from harming;But that which coils around the heart,Oh! who hath pwer of charming?It will not list to wisdom's lore,Nor music's voice can lure it;But there it stings for evermoreThe soul that must endure it.

 

Credits: Lord Byron 1815, József Zsengellér 2022

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