Конспект урока «ACKNOWLEDGED LEADER» по английскому языку

GEORGE GORDON BYRON “ACKNOWLEDGED LEADER”

Byron was Prometheus of his century, an indignant personality based

himself in his proud uprising.

V. Belinsky

1^st Compere: We begin our school party dedicated to the greatest revolutionary English poet George Gordon Byron, whose 225^th anniversary is celebrated this year. His name is known all over the world. Today we’ll tell you about his life and works.

2^nd Compere: George Gordon Byron was born in London, on January 22, 1788 into an old aristocratic family. His mother came of a rich Scottish family. His father was a poor army officer who very soon spent his wife’s money and died when the boy was three years old.

The boy was lame from birth, yet, thanks to his strong will and regular training, he became an excellent rider, a champion swimmer, and a boxer and took part in athletic exercises.

Byron spent first ten years of his life in Scotland. He was fond of the rocky coast and mountains of the country. His love of natural scenery was reflected in many of his poems.

Pupil: О детства картины! С любовью и мукой

Вас вижу, и с нынешним горько сравнить

Былое! Здесь ум озарился наукой,

Здесь дружба зажглась, чтоб недолгою быть;

Здесь образы ваши мне вызвать приятно,

Товарищи-други веселья и бед;

Здесь память о вас восстаёт благодатно

И в сердце живёт, хоть надежды уж нет.

Вот горы, где спортом мы тешились славно,

Река, где мы плавали, луг, где дрались;

Вот школа, куда колокольчик исправно

Сзывал нас, чтоб вновь мы за книжки взялись.

Вот место, где я, по часам размышляя,

На камне могильном сидел вечерком;

Вот горка, где я, вкруг погоста гуляя,

Следил за прощальным заката лучом.

Сны юности, как мне вас жаль! Вы бесценны!

Увянет ли память о милых годах?

Покинут я, грустен; но вы незабвенны:

Пусть радости ваши живут хоть в мечтах.

Но если б средь лет, уносящих стремленьем,

Рок новую радость узнать мне судил, -

Её испытав, я скажу с умиленьем:

«Так было в те дни, как ребёнком я был».

1^st Compere: The boy went to a Grammar school. He liked history and read a great deal about Rome, Greece, Turkey.

In 1798 his grand-uncle died and the boy inherited the title of lord and the family estate Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire. The family went to live there and George was sent to Harrow School, where boys of aristocratic families received their education. The boys liked George because he read a great deal and knew many interesting facts from history. He wrote poems and read them to his friends.

When the boy was sixteen he fell in love with Mary Ann Chaworth. But the girl did not like Byron. She said she grew tired of “that lame boy”, and later married another man. Byron could not easily forget her and his love for her gave a sad colouring to all his future life. He indulged his grief by writing melancholy poetry and Mary became the symbol of idealized and unattainable love. Later, when he had achieved fame and became the darling of London society, she came to regret her rejection.

Pupil: Ты так бледна и так мила в печали,

Что, если вдруг веселье воспалит

Румянцем розы белые ланит,

Я грубый цвет их вынесу едва ли.

Ещё молю, чтоб очи не сверкали,

Не то мой дерзкий взор познает стыд.

И, обессилев, робость обнажит,

Как после бури – трепетные дали.

Хотя ресницы душу скрыли тенью,

Ты блещешь грустной нежностью своей,

Как серафим, несущий утешенье,

Но сам далёкий от земных скорбей;

И я склоняюсь ниц в благоговенье

И оттого люблю ещё сильней.

2^nd Compere: At seventeen Byron entered Cambridge University and there his literary career began. It was the time after the first bourgeois revolution in France when the revolutionary governments of Europe were trying to kill freedom. The European nations were struggling against Napoleon for their independence. The industrial revolution developed in England and a lot of people lost their work. Byron hated exploitation and sympathized with the workers. In 1807, when he was a student, he published his first collection of poems “Hours of Idleness”. The critics attacked Byron. A year later he answered to the critics in his first satire “English Bards and Scotch Reviewers”.

1^st Compere: In 1808 Byron graduated from the University and the next year took his hereditary seat in the House of Lords. In 1809 he left England on a long journey which took two years. He visited Portugal, Spain. Albania, Greece and Turkey. In his travels over Europe the poet saw exploitation similar to that in his country. Byron described his travels in a long poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”. The first two parts of the poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” were published in 1812. They were received with enthusiasm byhis contemporaries and Byron became one of the most popular men in London.

Pupil: Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (Canto the first)

1. Adieu, adieu! My native shore

Fades o’er the waters blue,

The night-winds sigh, the breakers roar,

And shrieks the wild sea-mew.

Yon sun that sets upon the sea

We follow in his flight.

Farewell awhile to him and thee,

My native Land – Good Night!

A few short hours and He will rise

To give the Morrow birth,

And I shall hail the main and skies,

But not my Mother Earth.

Deserted in my own good Hall,

Its hearth is desolate,

Wild weeds are gathering on the wall,

My Dog howls at the gate.

Pupil: 1. Прощай, прощай! Мой брег родной

В лазури вод поник.

Вздыхает бриз, ревёт прибой,

И чайки вьётся крик.

Скрывают солнце волн хребты,

У нас одни пути.

Прощай же, солнце, с ним и ты,

Родной мой край, прости!

Недолог срок – и вновь оно

Взойдёт, а я привет

Лишь морю с небом шлю: давно

Земли родимой нет.

Пуст отчий дом, остыл очаг,

И вихрь золу разнёс:

На гребне стен пророс сорняк,

У входа воет пёс.

Перевод Г. Шенгели

3^rd Compere: In 1812 Byron made his first speech in the House of Lords. He spoke in defence of the English proletariat and blamed the government for the unbearable conditions of the life of the workers. Later the poet again raised his voice in defence of the oppressed workers, encouraging them to fight for freedom in his “Song for the Luddites”.

Pupil: Song for the Luddites

As the Liberty lads o’er the sea

Bought their freedom, and cheaply, with blood,

So we, boys, we

Will die fighting, or live free,

And down with all kings but king Lud!

When the web that we weave is complete,

And the shuttle exchanged for the sword,

We will fling the winding sheet,

O’er the despot at our feet,

And dye it deep in the gore he has poured.

Though black as his heart its hue,

Since his veins are corrupted to mud,

Yet this is the dew

Which the tree shall renew

Of Liberty, planted by Ludd!

Pupil: Песня для луддитов

Как за морем кровью свободу свою

Ребята купили дешёвой ценой,

Так будем и мы; или сгибнем в бою,

Иль к вольному все перейдём мы житью,

А всех королей, кроме Луда, - долой!

Когда ж свою ткань мы соткём и в руках

Мечи на челнок променяем мы вновь,

Мы саван набросим на мёртвый наш страх,

На деспота труп, распростёртый во прах,

И саван окрасит сражённого кровь.

Пусть кровь та, как сердце злодея, черна.

Затем, что из грязных текла она жил, -

Она, как роса, нам нужна:

Ведь древо свободы вспоит нам она,

Которое Лудд посадил!

Перевод Н. Холодковского

4^th Compere: Between 1813 and 1816 Byron composed his “Oriental Tales”: “The Giaour”, “The Corsair”, “Lara” and others. The hero of each poem is a rebel against society. He is a man of strong will and passion. Proud and independent, he rises against tyranny and injustice to gain his personal freedom and happiness. His revolt, however, is too individualistic and therefore it is doomed to failure. These romantic poems were admired by Byron’s contemporaries and called forth a new mode of thought and feeling called “Byronism”.

3^rd Compere: In September 1814, he proposed to Anne Isabella (Annabella) Milbanke. The marriage took place on the 2^nd of January, 1815. After a honeymoon “not all sunshine”, the Byrons, in March, settled in London. His wife was a cold and pedantic woman. They had a daughter, whom Byron loved very much. But he was not happy with his wife and soon they parted. Byron’s revolutionary speeches in Parliament and the divorce helped his enemies to begin an attack against the poet. Byron was accused of immorality and had to leave England. He went to Switzerland. There Byron met Percy Bysshe Shelley and the two poets became friends. While in Switzerland, Byron wrote the third canto of “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”, “The Prisoner of Chillon”, the dramatic poem ”Manfred”, and many lyrics.

Pupil: She Walks in Beauty

She walks in Beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies:

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

Pupil: Она идёт во всей красе

Она идёт во всей красе –

Светла, как ночь её страны.

Вся глубь небес и звёзды все

В её очах заключены,

Как солнце в утренней росе,

Но только мраком смягчены.

Прибавить луч иль тень отнять –

И будет уж совсем не та

Волос агатовая прядь,

Не те глаза, не те уста

И лоб, где помыслов печать

Так безупречна, так чиста.

И этот взгляд, и цвет ланит,

И лёгкий смех, как всплеск морской,

Всё в ней о мире говорит.

Она в душе хранит покой

И если счастье подарит,

То самой щедрою рукой!

Перевод С.Я. Маршака

4^th Compere: In 1817 Byron went to Italy, where he lived until 1823. Italy was under the rule of the Austrians at that time. The poet joined the Carbonary, a revolutionary organization that was struggling for the national independence of Italy. In one of his poems Byron wrote: “When a man has no freedom to fight for at home, let him fight for that of his neighbours”. In Italy Byron wrote many of his best poems: the fourth canto of “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”, “Don Juan” – a satire on bourgeois and aristocratic society, and “Cain”. During the same period he wrote his satirical masterpieces “The Vision of Judgement” and “The age of Bronze”. In “Don Juan” Byron says: “I will teach, if possible, the stones to rise against earth’s tyrants”.

1^st Compere: When the Corbonary movement ended Byron went to Greece and joined the people in their struggle for independence against Turkey. The struggle for national independence had become the aim of Byron’s life. In that struggle he showed himself a good military leader.

Pupil: The famous Greek War Song (Extract)

Sons of the Greeks, arise!

The glorious hour’s gone forth,

And, worthy of such ties,

Display, who gave us birth.

Chorus:

Sons of Greeks! Let us go

In arms against the foe,

Till their hated blood shall flow

In a river past our feet.

Then manfully despising

The Turkish tyrant’s yoke,

Let your country see you rising,

And all her chains are broke.

Brave shades of chiefs and sages,

Behold the coming strife!

Hellenes of past ages,

Oh! Start again to life!

Pupil: Песня греческих повстанцев (отрывок)

О, Греция, восстань!

Сиянье древней славы

Борцов зовёт на брань,

На подвиг величавый.

К оружию! К победам!

Героям страх неведом,

Пускай за нами следом

Течёт тиранов кровь.

С презреньем сбросьте, греки,

Турецкое ярмо,

Кровью вражеской навеки

Смойте рабское клеймо!

Пусть доблестные тени

Героев и вождей

Увидят возрожденье

Эллады прежних дней.

Перевод С.Я. Маршака

2^nd Compere: In the Greek town of Missolonghi Byron fell ill with typhus and died in April 1824. His friends brought Byron’s body to England. They wanted to bury him in Westminster Abbey, where many of England’s great writers are buried, but the English government did not let them, and Byron was buried in Newstead, his native place. 145 years after his death, in 1969, a memorial to Byron was finally placed on the floor of the Abbey. Lord Byron has at last become spiritually acceptable in his homeland. He is to have a plaque in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey.

Byron’s death was mourned by progressive people all over Europe. A. Pushkin devoted a part of his poem «К морю» to Byron as a poet of freedom.

Pupil: Другой от нас умчался гений,

Другой властитель наших дум.

Исчез, оплаканный свободой,

Оставя миру свой венец.

Шуми, волнуйся непогодой:

Он был, о море, твой певец.

Твой образ был на нём означен,

Он духом создан был твоим:

Как ты, могущ, глубок и мрачен,

Как ты, ничем неукротим.

Pupil: I Would I Were a Careless Child

I would I were a careless child,

Still dwelling in my Highland cave,

On roaming through the dusky wild,

Or bounding o’er the dark blue wave;

The cumbrous pomp of Saxon pride,

Accords not with the free-born soul,

Which loves the mountain’s craggy side,

And seeks the rocks where billows roll.

Fortune! Take back these cultured lands,

Take back this name of splendid sound!

I hate the touch of servile hands,

I hate the slaves that cringe around.

Place me among the rocks I love,

Which sounds to Ocean’s wildest roar;

I ask but this – again to rove

Through scenes my youth hath known before.

Few are my years, and yet I feel

The world was ne’er designed for me;

Ah! Why do darkening shades conceal

The hour when man must cease to be?

Once I beheld a splendid dream,

A visionary scene of bliss!

Truth! – wherefore did my hated beam

Awake me to a world like this?

I loved – but those I loved are gone;

Had friends – my early friends are fled;

How cheerless feels the heart alone,

When all the former hopes are dead!

Though gay companions o’er the bowl

Dispel awhile the sense of ill;

Though pleasure stirs the maddening soul,

The heart – the heart – is lonely still.

Pupil: Хочу я быть ребёнком вольным

Хочу я быть ребёнком вольным

И снова жить в родных горах,

Скитаться по лесам раздольным,

Качаться на морских волнах.

Не сжиться мне душой свободной

С саксонской пышной суетой!

Милее мне над зыбью водной

Утёс, в который бьёт прибой!

Судьба! Возьми назад щедроты

И титул, что в веках звучит!

Жить меж рабов мне нет охоты,

Их руки пожимать – мне стыд!

Верни мне край мой одичалый,

Где знал я грёзы ранних лет,

Где рёву океана скалы

Шлют свой бестрепетный ответ!

О, я не стар! Но мир, бесспорно,

Был сотворён не для меня!

Зачем же скрыты тенью чёрной

Приметы рокового дня?

Мне прежде снился сон прекрасный,

Виденье дивной красоты …

Действительность! Ты речью властной

Разогнала мои мечты.

Кто был мой друг – в краю далёком,

Кого любил – тех нет со мной.

Уныло в сердце одиноком,

Когда надежд исчезнет рой!

Порой над чашами веселья

Забудусь я на краткий срок …

Но что мгновенный бред похмелья!

Я сердцем, сердцем одинок!

Перевод В.Я. Брюсова

1^st Compere: As A. Lunacharsky said, “During all his life Byron was an object of severe hatred and passionate admiration. He remained the object of that adoration thanks to his talent and inexhaustible spiritual energy”.

We’ve talked quite a lot about George Gordon Byron. It’s very pleasant to see that you know something about him. I think that all of you enjoyed the party. Thank you. Good-bye, everyone.