Although several lines are connected via enjambment, most of Byron’s thoughts are complete. “Darkness” relies heavily upon self-enclosed lines in order to portray the speaker’s vision in a narrative style. Rather, he creates an unbroken succession with few pauses aside from punctuation. Byron also, somewhat unusually, chooses not to break the poem into stanzas. The only rhyme of the poem occurs at lines 41 and 42, when Byron writes, “Gorging himself in gloom no love was left /All earth was but one thought, - and that was death.” Although this line occurs in the middle of the poem, its concentration on death allows this rhyme to make sense. Rather, Byron wrote the poem mostly in blank verse. Despite this common Romantic format, however, the poem does not contain the rhymed lines that one might expect. “Darkness” is composed of eighty-two lines measured in iambic pentameter. Although the poem follows the plotline of the speaker’s nightmare, the language also becomes lyrical and emotional as he stresses his fears. Lord Byron’s lengthy poem “Darkness” is a narrative poem structured around a dream sequence and premonition. Virginia Lucas Poetry Scrapbook Main Menu About This Project The Poems Research Essays Formal Description of Lord Byron's 'Darkness' 1 T15:41:01-08:00 Maddie Gallo 86ac431d4863c66ec6a48e01cbdcf2b42d53c7b7 10593 5 plain T11:20:55-08:00 Maddie Gallo 86ac431d4863c66ec6a48e01cbdcf2b42d53c7b7

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Dream sonnet iambic pentameter