Beppo

Synopsis

Beppo: A Venetian Story is a long poem by Lord Byron, written in Venice in 1817. Beppo marks Byron's first attempt at writing using the Italian ottava rima metre, which emphasized satiric digression. It is the precursor to Byron's most famous and generally considered most successful poem, Don Juan. The poem contains 760 verses, divided into 95 stanzas. The work was composed in Venice between September and October 1817 and first published on 28 February 1818. The work, initially comprising 95 stanzas and expanded to 99 in a subsequent edition, the 4th, was issued on 4 May 1818. The fifth edition was the first to name Lord Byron as the author. The work went through seven editions in 1818 alone. In the fourth edition, four verses were added to the text. It is a satirical narrative poem that centers on Laura, a resident of Venice, who mistakenly assumes her sailor husband, Giussepe, known as Beppo, died at sea. She subsequently establishes a romantic relationship with a Count. During a Carnival celebration, however, her husband Beppo reveals himself wearing a turban after he had been taken prisoner by pirates. They ultimately achieve a reconciliation. The work satirizes English morality and its hypocritical stand on infidelity, criticizes British society and customs, and switches to an ottava rima format that allows for a conversational tone.

Text license: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Details

Type

Book

Release date

January 1, 1817

Created by

Lord Byron