To sit on rocks, to muse o'er flood and fell,
To slowly trace the forest's shady scene,
Where things that own not man's dominion dwell,
And mortal foot hath ne'er or rarely been;
To climb the trackless mountain all unseen,
With the wild flock that never needs a fold;
Alone o'er steeps and foaming falls to lean;
This is not solitude, 'tis but to hold
Converse with Nature's charms,
and view her stores unrolled.
George Gordon (Lord Byron)
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| Byron's Rock, overlooking the runway of Kefalonia Airport (Lakithra, Kefalonia) |
❝ If I am a poet, I owe it to the air of Greece ❞This is the literal translation of the Greek inscription on the plaque at Byron's Rock in Lakithra, Kefalonia.
Lord Byron lived a period of his life on the island of Kefalonia and it is believed that he wrote several verses of Prelude and Don Juan sitting on this rock, gazing out to the open sea.
The gaze, nowadays, though interrupted by the airport runway, remains inspiring.
I cannot confirm the account regarding the specific works because Byron's arrival in Kefalonia came later than the publication of the bulk of the above poems.
Kefalonia was his last stay in Greece before setting off for Messolonghi to join the Greek Liberation Forces. He died there in 1824.
In any case, it is easy to envision which of his popular quotes was inspired by this view, regardless of chronological correctness:
❝ In solitude, where we are least alone. ❞
(the commemorative stamp image is "borrowed" from Google images and appears on several Byron bio sites)
how deep is that?
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