Euthanasie auf deutsch

CANTO VII Canto VII, one of the shortest in Don Juan, is primarily an introduction to Canto VIII, in which Byron describes the Battle of Ismail. In the first seven stanzas Byron defends himself against those critics of Don Juan who accuse the poet of "A tendency to under-rate and scoff / At human power and virtue . . ." (St. 3). In holding up the nothingness of life he only does what writers likeSolomon, Dante, Swift, and others have done. He laughs at all things, for all things are merely a show. He will now tell his readers about the siege of Ismail. Ismail is a Turkish fortress at the mouth of the Danube, defensible against attack by land but not by water. The Russians arrive by water, set up their artillery on an islet in the Danube and begin firing on the city. When theircannonading does not bring about the surrender of the city, the commander of the Russian flotilla decides to withdraw. At this point a courier arrives with the news that Marshal Suvaroff (Suwarrow) has been put in command of the Russian troops. The arrival of Marshal Suvaroff raises the spirits of the discouraged Russians. He immediately begins preparations for a fresh assault. He even teaches the rawrecruits how to use the bayonet. He is everywhere, "Surveying, drilling, ordering, jesting, pondering" (St. 55). In the midst of his preparations, some Cossack soldiers bring before him a group dressed in Turkish clothing. They are Don Juan, Johnson, a eunuch, and two women. Suvaroff knows Johnson by reputation and commands him to report to his old regiment Juan is to serve with the marshal, and thewomen are sent to the baggage wagons. Meanwhile the work of preparation for an attack the following day goes on. Analysis The general background of Canto VII is one of the several wars waged between Russia and Turkey. During this war Catherine the Great was czarina of Russia. The immediate background is the siege and capture of a Turkish stronghold on the Danube, now part of Rumania, by one ofCatherine's generals, Aleksandr Vasilievich Suvorov, in 1790. The details of the siege of Ismail Byron found in a French work, An Essay on the Ancient and Modern History of New Russia, by the Marquis Gabriel de Castelnau, as he acknowledged in the Preface to Cantos VI, VII, and VIII, which were published as one volume. The war ended with the defeat of the Turks by Russia. The freshness of a new subjectin Don Juan and Byron's strong feelings about war make Cantos VII and VIII two of the most absorbing and liveliest books in the poem. The most interesting character in Canto VII is, of course, General Suvorov, or Suwarrow, as Byron calls him, the Russian general whose chief achievements were his part in defeating the French Revolutionary armies in 1799 in northern Italy. Byron shows goodnarrative technique in introducing him dramatically in Stanza 43 just when the Russians, who had bungled the attack on Ismail, are about to retreat. The sixty-year-old general by word and example restores the sagging morale of the Russian troops. While Byron seems to admire the spirit and efficiency of Suvorov, he by no means idealizes him. He is "the greatest Chief / That ever peopled Hell with heroesslain, / Or plunged a province or a realm in grief" (St. 68). Suvorov is a professional soldier who cares little for human lives or women's tears. His business is leading armies, winning victories, and gaining glory. It makes little difference to him who the enemy is or whose blood is shed. Freedom means nothing to him. Byron brings Don Juan back into the story in a similarly dramatic way in themiddle of the canto on the day before Suwarrow is to make his attack on Ismail. With him are Johnson, a eunuch, and two women. Byron does not bother telling the reader how Johnson and Don Juan got together again, nor how the party of five escaped from the harem. Nor does he identify the three companions of Juan and Johnson. The eunuch, however, is probably Baba, and one of the

women may be...