Extinguished Life: The End of the World According to Byron The world ends and there is nothing which can stop its definite termination. As a matter of fact, the tangible darkness is creeping nearer and nearer. Even death, it carries a smell which travels through the place. Such is the world one encounters in Lord Byron’s “Darkness”. Lord Byron narrates the poem about an ending and disappearing world, which has been abandoned by the human spirit. The only things which are left are anger and despair. There is no kindness nor happiness. The author masterfully writes about what goes on around his life and his environment in the piece. Byron’s representation of the fantastic world of Darkness portrays his beliefs and fears. Gordon Lord Byron estates why the life around him seems as it is extinguishing and predicts what would happen in …show more content…
The story portrays the gradual ending of the world in a post- apocalyptic manner at the end of the story there is nothing but darkness. The constant darkness and gloominess the author was subjected to while in Europe was in fact not part of his imagination. According to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the year of 1816 was characterized by a natural phenomenon that changed the world at the time. There was the largest volcano explosion at the time which bough many side effects. There was ash covering many towns. The crops started dying and there was a food shortage and the price for travel also increased. It was really a dark time that was mostly felt in Europe. This brought on itself many more changes such as an increase in price. The period was later known as the “The Year without a Summer”. This constant gloominess and dark environment led Lord Byron to represent in his very particular way what was going on. Lord Byron wrote the poem Darkness, which begins, “I had a dream, which was not all a dream/ The bright sun was