Elinor Nauen & Lord Byron [Terence Winch]


 After the publication of his early work Childe Harold, Lord Byron (1788–1824) memorably remarked that he “awoke one morning and found myself famous.”  He became, in fact, something of a global superstar, adumbrating the kind of fame later reserved for the likes of Sinatra and Elvis, who weren’t even poets. English lit students will remember his club foot, his incestuous affair with his half sister, his invention of “the Byronic hero,” his death at age 36 while fighting for Greek independence from the Turks. His great masterpiece is, of course, Don Juan, a poem of more than 2,000 stanzas of ottava rima, a nimble 8-line vessel that rhymes abababcc and is borrowed from the Italians. This extraordinary poem, which Byron called an “Epic Satire,” remains funny, biting, and highly readable. The “Fragment” that usually begins texts of the poem includes these lines:

                                And for the future—(but I write this reeling,

                Having got drunk exceedingly today,

                                So that I seem to stand upon the ceiling)

                I say—the future is a serious matter—

                And so—for God’s sake—hock and soda water!


He is, he writes later, “fond of fire, and crickets, and all that,/A lobster salad, and champagne, and chat.”


 I loved reading Byron long ago when I was a student, but my impression has been that his fame has waned, his influence abated, in the 202 years since his death.  At least that was my feeling until I came upon one of the most impressive and audacious long poems of our time—Elinor Nauen’s So Late into the Night (Rain Mountain Press, NYC), some 625 stanzas of ottava rima containing a poem that is at once a homage to Don Juan and a completely contemporary comic epic in its own right.  Like Byron’s, Nauen’s poem is full of acute observations, wry reflections, loves, resentments, and silliness.  You will learn about her two romantic obsessions (Derek Jeter and her husband Johnny Stanton), her thoughts on poetry, politics, even cars:


                The fastest car I ever drove (versus

                The car I drove fastest) must have been Paul

                Stallings’ Ferrari. Slowest? The worst is

                My ’70 Datsun 510, which qual-

                Ified for many unkind curses

                Each time it wobbled. Not a car to haul

                Ass in! I loved it, though, as I did my

                Every vehicle. Till we said goodbye.


 And belief:

                                        …I can’t seem to endorse

                A stance on the presence of God or soul.

                I’ve resolved to assign whatever force

                Is the reason for existence the role

                And name “God.”  It’s how to live in the presence

                Of the mystery that tests my essence.


Part of the narrative of So Late into the Night involves a road trip, but, really, the language of the entire poem has unrelenting drive and acceleration, a rollicking momentum that gets you home right before the poetry curfew kicks in.  Byron and ottava rima, Nauen says in her introduction, gave her the means to “contain, shape and propel everything I could possibly want to say—narration, social commentary, description—in a persona I could both reinvent and stay true to. I knew I would discover more and more ways to live inside this form.”  She has certainly succeeded. Next thing you know, she’s going to wake up famous.

An earlier version of this post originally ran on the Best American Poetry site on 4 August 2011.

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Elinor Nauen has continued her prolific creative life since the post above first appeared in 2011. Check her website to catch up on her work of recent years. In fact, just last week I received a copy of her latest---a brand-new, annotated edition of her book Cars, first published in 1980 and brought back into the world by Baltimore poet and literary impresario David Beaudouin. Give it a spin.
   



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Comments on "Elinor Nauen & Lord Byron"  from 2011

Can't wait to get a copy. Thanks for the recommendation, which shows the same great qualities you ascribe to Byron and Nauen Mister Winch.
  Michael Lally | August 04, 2011 at 05:35 PM

Thanks for this inspiring post, for making me want to read Elinor Nauen's book, for making me want to reread Don Juan, and for reminding me that the vast wonderland of poetry has so many treasures just waiting to be read and/or reread. Also, "adumbrating" is such a choice word. Just seeing it quite cheered me up. Thanks for the great links, too.
  Doug Lang | August 05, 2011 at 10:04 AM

Oh boy! I can't wait to read this book. I love love love Don Juan. I read it a few years ago - it was perfect reading for a long subway commute though sometimes I got so involved that I nearly missed my stop. His observations about society and character are spot on today. And the war scenes are gripping and horrific. So, that someone today could take the form and run with it is, well, quite exciting. Thank you for introducing us to a new poet and this fine work.
  Stacey | August 05, 2011 at 10:37 AM

Brilliant comparison. Makes me eager to read both. Thanks Terence.
  Phyllis Rosenzweig | August 05, 2011 at 03:59 PM

As a habit more than a rule, I don’t read books not written by Terence Winch, but since Terence Winch recommends I read this book, I just might.
  Stephen | August 08, 2011 at 11:09 AM

"... A persona I could reinvent and stay true to." Not easy to do both—to drive on a road that's forming while it informs you. Great review.
  Jeffrey Cyphers Wright | December 08, 2021 at 05:29 PM



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