ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Structure of “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage" The poem was written in Spenserian verse or the Spenserian Stanza, a verse style named for Edmund Spenser’s use of it in the Faerie Queen.

Detailed explanation-2: -A poem in Spenserian stanzas by Lord Byron (1788-1824), Cantos I and II appeared in 1812, Canto III in 1816 and Canto IV in 1818. When the first two cantos were first published they sold out swiftly.

Detailed explanation-3: -“Childe” is a title from medieval times, designating a young noble who is not yet knighted. Disillusioned with his aimless life devoted to pursuing pleasure, Childe Harold seeks distraction by going on a solitary pilgrimage to foreign lands.

Detailed explanation-4: -Canto 2 shows Childe Harold’s first change of heart when he travels through Albania into Greece, meeting a great many people of various nationalities and religions. He finds the Albanians to be barbaric by his standards but in some ways nobler than the more civilized people he has encountered thus far.