Symbolism Of Darkness By Lord Byron

“I had a dream, which was not at all a dream.” Byron writes these iconic and rather dramatic words at the beginning of the poem to symbolize the darkness that he has seen in society. In the poem, “Darkness”, Byron uses the dog to symbolize the individual thought without bias of social prejudices ability to think without corruption while his reference to humans is that their choices, decisions, and thoughts are a collective that is both prejudice and biased. Byron portrays the opening scene as dark and anarchic, where homes and other structures are burned to the ground, as humans stand watching without accountability. The humans in this poem are portrayed rather differently; they are more animalistic, and are following a herd mentality. Their …show more content…
This is relevant due to the fact that the humans are barely touched on after the last of them dies off. The way the poem is structured reminds us of how the world was created; however, the order of how everything dies off is in the opposite direction of how they were created. Since the human race is so insignificant and selfish they are the first to die off, then the rest of the animals, the environment, and finally the entire earth fades into the universe. One can observe how the human race is insignificant by the fact that Byron portrays the human race dying off in a very demeaning way. “Which was a mockery; then they lifted up their eyes as it grew lighter, and beheld Each other’s aspects-saw, shriek’d and died-Even of their mutual hideousness they died” (Bryon 64-67). One can understand that Byron is depicting the human races end as hideous and insignificant, unlike the rest of the world end, which is drawn out and important. Rather than the animals dying off first, the humans do, the dog shows his real significance in this moment. Unlike the other animals, the dog stays by his master 's body, and fights off any predators that are trying to consume the master. The dog shows nobility and self-sacrifice for his master, which speaks volumes of how loyal this dog actually is; the dog in contrast to the humans is not animalistic and does not follow the pact mentality. …show more content…
The dog symbolizes many things in the poem, such as hope, light, loyalty, and being free from corruption. The reason the humans are depicted so poorly is due to the fact that they are collectively making choices that are biased toward the group. The dog steps out of his own pact to follow and protect the human, which is used to symbolize the individual thought that is missing from the humans’ mentality in the poem. The idea comes from the fact that society is corrupting people’s minds and most importantly, their individual thoughts; laying standards of absolving accountability and creating the animalistic environment within society. Which is why Byron depicts the humans in such a demeaning manor due to the fact that society is corrupting their thoughts; highlighting the dog as the only hope for something to be free from bias of social prejudice. This is why the dog is the most vital part of the poem. That out of the darkness there can still be light. That no matter how society 's prejudices are affecting the human race there is hope that our flaws can change, that we can be free to have our own individual thoughts once more. One can think that the poem is named “Darkness” due to the fact that Byron is depicting the corruption and bias of social prejudices as the darkness, which we are running