Presence and absence in Byron's 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦

Abstract

Byron's poetry and drama are key texts in the study of relationships between English and Italian cultural matters. I want to focus on what I consider to be the most crucial of these texts, though it has received scant critical attention so far, The Prophecy of Dante, in order to reconsider accepted views of this particular facet of Anglo-Italian literary relations. In a letter to John Murray, his publisher, Byron stated that the Prophecy of Dante is 'the best thing I ever wrote, if it be not unintelligible.' I hope to highlight some of the ways in which this poem can be seen as Byron's 'best thing' at the time. I am also interested in putting forward some observations on the current discussion on 'presentism,' to see to what extent it is possible to project, or not to project, the values of one's own time onto one's criticism of a text from a previous age.