Essay Questions

Does this poem encourage or discourage endeavors to enter a war on behalf of one's neighbors?

At first glance, the poem seems to be exhorting the reader to engage in chivalrous battle. The poem opens with these lines: "When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home, / Let him combat for that of his neighbours." Byron goes on to say that doing good for others is chivalrous and praiseworthy, and if you survive the war, you will receive recognition for your efforts; he encourages people to "battle for freedom wherever you can" in light of these reasons.

On a closer reading, however, there appears to be irony written into almost every line of this poem. The first two lines seem in favor of interventional war, but then come lines 3-4: "Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome, / And get knock'd on the head for his labours." This anticlimactic scenario paints the chivalrous warrior as almost imbecilic, dreaming of glory while getting bopped on the head like a field mouse. The irony comes with greater frequency in the second stanza, where Byron notes that doing good to others is "always as nobly requited," which is clearly not the case. The poem closes with the lines "Then battle for freedom wherever you can, / And, if not shot or hang'd, you'll get knighted." These lines complete the anticlimax by providing better reasons not to go to war than to do so. In all, the poem is still slightly ambiguous, but it certainly seems to provide a more earnest argument for self-preservation than it does for sacrifice.

What is ironic about this poem in the context of Lord Byron's life?

This poem seems to be making a subtle argument against engaging in war, especially volunteering to fight in a war that shouldn't concern you. Ironically, Lord Byron himself died of disease while leading a campaign for the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Turks. He volunteered to do exactly what he advised against, and he died in the process, giving those final two lines of the poem a significant amount of gravitas.