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A D VA N C E D
N A N O M AT E R I A L S F O R
P O L L U TA N T S E N S I N G
A N D E N V I R O N M E N TA L
C ATA LY S I S
A D VA N C E D
N A N O M AT E R I A L S F O R
P O L L U TA N T S E N S I N G
A N D E N V I R O N M E N TA L
C ATA LY S I S

Edited by
QIDONG ZHAO
Elsevier
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The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom
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Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Jingjing Cao Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, P.R.
China
Yang Hou Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of
Ministry of Education, College of Chemical and Biological
Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, P.R. China
Xia Hu Guizhou University, Guiyang, P.R. China
Jun Ke School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering,
Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, P.R. China
Michael K.H. Leung Ability R&D Energy Research Centre,
School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong
Kong, Hong Kong, P.R. China
Xinyong Li Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, P.R. China
Anmin Liu State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of
Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of
Technology, Panjin, P.R. China
Baojun Liu Guizhou University, Guiyang, P.R. China
Pancras Ndokoye Science, Technology and Innovation Unit,
Directorate of Education Policy and Planning, Rwanda Ministry
of Education, Kigali, Rwanda
Xuefeng Ren School of Food and Environment, Dalian
University of Technology, Panjin, P.R. China
Dan Wang Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, P.R. China
Ping Wang State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry,
Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Changchun, P.R. China
Wei Xiong Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and
Environmental Engineering (Ministry of Education), School of
Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of
Technology, Dalian, P.R. China; Ability R&D Energy Research
Centre, School of Energy and Environment, City University of
Hong Kong, Hong Kong, P.R. China
Huixin Xu Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, P.R. China

ix
x LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

Muhammad Adnan Younis Key Laboratory of Biomass


Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of
Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University,
Hangzhou, P.R. China
Qidong Zhao Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, P.R.
China
Xiuming Zhao Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, P.R.
China
Qiang Zhou Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, P.R. China
PREFACE
Nanomaterials as building units have brought a unique
opportunity for advancing science and technology to create
updated products meeting the global demands of environmen-
tal remediation and sustainable development. The utilization of
nanomaterials in pollution detection and catalysis has been
growing rapidly over the past few decades. This book describes
current advances in the knowledge and perspectives of nano-
materials for environmental pollutant sensing, removal, and
renewable energy through catalytic strategies. It is intended for
engineers, researchers, and students engaged in the joint fields
of materials, chemistry, environmental science, and engineering
as well as nanotechnology.
Advanced Nanomaterials for Pollutant Sensing and
Environmental Catalysis focuses on recent insights and scien-
tific discoveries in the joint fields of environmental protection,
sensing, and renewable energy with nanotechnology. The chap-
ters in this book present examples of cutting-edge research in
three broad categories: (1) emerging applications of nanomater-
ials in sensing various pollutants, including metal ions and
organic molecules; (2) advances in research on pollution control
through catalysis methods enforced by nanotechnology; and (3)
energy conversion and water splitting based on nanomaterials
toward pollutant sensing and environmental catalysis.
Throughout, the authors highlight the timely progress with a
particular focus on the unique physicochemical properties of
nanomaterials and underlying mechanisms which promise their
enhanced performances. Topics covered include novel, hollow
micro or nanostructures with fantastic functions (Chapter 1:
Hollow Micro- and Nanomaterials: Synthesis and Applications),
nanosensors (Chapter 2: Noble Metal Based Nanosensors for
Environmental Detection and Chapter 3: Semiconductor
Nanocrystal Based Nanosensors and Metal Ions Sensing), elim-
ination of diverse pollutants (Chapters 4 7), energy storage
with lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries for powering the
sensing and catalysis processes (Chapter 8: Power Ready for
Driving Catalysis and Sensing: Nanomaterials Designed for
Renewable Energy Storage), and advanced nanocatalysts for
water splitting (Chapter 9: Colloidal Semiconductor Quantum
Dot Based Multicomponent Artificial System for Hydrogen
Photogeneration and Chapter 10: Nanocarbon-Based Hybrids as
Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution From

xi
xii PREFACE

Water Splitting). The diverse contents demonstrate the basics,


rapid developments and challenges in these scientific fields.
It features strong interdisciplinary backgrounds of chemical,
material, energy, and environmental science besides nanotech-
nology. The pollutants concerned include various air pollutants
and persistent organic pollutants beyond traditional water pol-
lutants. It also provides the readers a novel view on harvesting
renewable energy by water splitting through catalytic techni-
ques based on advanced nanomaterials. We hope the collective
information in the book will help engineers, academic research-
ers, and environmental protection officials and agencies to
protect and sustain our environment.
Finally, we would like to express our appreciation for the
support from people who helped in preparing and reviewing
the manuscript as well as the proposal. We especially thank our
families for their patience while we were working on the book.
We are also indebted to the literature whose authors have made
pioneering contributions toward the rapid progress in this field
of science and technology.
HOLLOW MICRO- AND
1
NANOMATERIALS: SYNTHESIS
AND APPLICATIONS
Baojun Liu and Xia Hu
Guizhou University, Guiyang, P.R. China

1.1 Introduction
Hollow micro and nanomaterials are a special class of func-
tional nanomaterials, defined as architectures with void space
surrounded by a shell [1,2]. Over the past two decades, the syn-
thesis of different hollow structures has become a hot research
topic and attracted tremendous research efforts.
Before 1998, most hollow materials were of spherical shape
and synthesized by using spray-drying or gas-blowing techniques
[3]. However, these methods only culminated in the simple
sol gel approaches for coating gold (Au) and (silver) Ag nano-
particles with silica [4,5] before 1998 with Caruso’s work on col-
loidal templating synthesis of hollow spheres [6]. The emerging
approaches enabled a more versatile synthesis paradigm for fab-
ricating hollow structures based on hard-templating ways.
Currently, various novel self-templated or template-free synthetic
approaches based on different mechanisms have been developed
such as galvanic replacement, controllable thermal transforma-
tion, ion exchange, and inside-out Ostwald ripening to tailor the
structural features of hollow nanostructures. Encouragingly, a
myriad of hollow nanostructures with hierarchical architectures,
polyhedral morphologies, multicompositions, and multishells
have been successfully constructed through rationally designed
strategies involving these mechanisms (Fig. 1.1).

1.1.1 Single-Shelled Hollow Structures


Owing to their facile preparation, single-shelled spheres
composed of numerous nanosized subunits are the most

Advanced Nanomaterials for Pollutant Sensing and Environmental Catalysis. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814796-2.00001-0
© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1
2 Chapter 1 HOLLOW MICRO- AND NANOMATERIALS: SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS

Figure 1.1 Schematic illustration showing various hollow structures: (A) hollow
spheres, boxes, and tubes; (B) multishelled hollow spheres, boxes, and tubes;
and (C) yolk-shell, cube-in-box, and wire-in-tube structures. Reprinted with
permission from X.J. Wang, J. Feng, Y.C. Bai, Q. Zhang, Y.D. Yin, Synthesis, properties, and
applications of hollow micro-/nanostructures. Chem. Rev. 116 (2016) 10983 11060.
Copyright 2016, American Chemical Society.

common form for hollow micro- and nanostructures. Since the


pioneering work by Caruso et al., on the fabrication of single-
shelled hollow spheres in 1998 [6], many methods have been
reported for the successful preparation of these kinds of hollow
structures. The size, thickness, and crystallinity of different shell
materials have been well-controlled by adjustments of the prep-
aration parameters. For example, Lou et al., have reported the
preparation of TiO2 hollow spheres constructed from small
nanocrystals via a hard-templating method [7]. The released
gases from the inner carbonaceous spheres could inhibit crys-
tallite growth in the TiO2 coating layer during the annealing
treatment [8]. One typical example of single-shelled, tubular-
like structures is the carbon nanotube (CNT), which has
attracted increasing research interest due to the unique func-
tional properties in electrical and thermal transfer [9 12].
Compared to simple spherical and tubular counterparts, great
challenges existed in the synthesis of single-shelled hollow
structures with well-defined nonspherical morphologies (such
as cube-like, prism-like, and bowl-like configurations) by tradi-
tional hard-templating methods, which was mainly due to the
lack of available templates and less controllable coating around
high-curvature surfaces [13]. With the development of self-
templated methods through miscellaneous mechanisms and
the emergence of metal organic compounds with variant struc-
tures, the creation of single-shelled polyhedral micro and
nanostructures has been expanded to a variety of species
[14,15]. For example, single-shelled cubic nanocages of Pt with
subnanometer thick walls could be prepared using Pd solid
nanocubes as the sacrificing templates [16]. In another case,
unusual deflated bowl-like polystyrene hollow particles can be
Chapter 1 HOLLOW MICRO- AND NANOMATERIALS: SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS 3

derived from normal single-shelled hollow particles through a


simple drying treatment [17].
Besides shape control, researchers tried to incorporate differ-
ent structural features into hollow micro- and nanostructures to
infuse new vitality into the utilization of these attractive archi-
tectures. Mesoporous channels penetrating the shell enable free
diffusion of guest molecules into the hollow interiors [18]. The
permeable shells with well-defined porosity could serve as use-
ful platforms in various applications such as biomedicine and
catalysis [19]. For instance, Zheng et al., reported the prepara-
tion of hollow mesoporous alumino silica spheres with ordered
pore arrangements as advanced nanoreactors for catalysis [20].
Yec and Zeng have described the self-assembly of nanobubbles
into a large single-shelled manganese silicate hollow sphere
[21]. Characterization by transmission electron microscopy
(TEM) indicated that the shell of these hierarchical hollow
spheres is composed of nanospheres with a diameter range of
7 9 nm.
Fabricating single-shelled hollow micro- and nanostructures
from 1D to 3D building blocks would benefit from the structural
advantages of primary nanoparticles. For example, Yao et al.,
reported the synthesis of single-shelled hollow spheres assem-
bled by Co3O4 nanosheets [22]. Morphological characterizations
reveal that the hierarchical shell is built up from numerous pri-
mary building blocks pointing toward the centers. Pang et al.,
described the assembly of metal organic frame (MOF) nano-
cubes into single-shelled hollow colloidosomes with tailorable
central space and shell thickness [23]. The monolayer of cubic
iron-based MOFs (Fe-soc-MOF) in the hollow microspheres
could be identified from both scanning electron microscopy
and TEM images.

1.1.2 Multishelled Hierarchical Hollow Structures


Hollow structures with multilevel interiors are those hollow
materials with multiple shells, chambers, or channels [24].
Multishelled hollow micro- and nanostructures, also known as
Matryoshkas-like hollow nanostructures, are the most fre-
quently studied type of complex hollow structures. Compared
with single-shelled hollow materials, the synthesis and manipu-
lation of multishelled hollow structures are much more chal-
lenging. It appears that the most straightforward method for the
creation of hollow structures with multiple shells is the hard-
templating strategy based on reduplicative coating and a subse-
quent etching process. However, sophisticated synthetic
4 Chapter 1 HOLLOW MICRO- AND NANOMATERIALS: SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS

procedures bring great difficulties in actual implementation,


such as potential agglomeration of nanoparticles and unifor-
mity issues. Also, additional sacrificial layers are needed as bar-
riers between the shells of target materials [25,26]. With the
development of synthetic methods, researchers have simplified
the preparation steps by exploring new formation concepts or
optimizing synthetic routes.
Lou et al., prepared a typical double-shelled SnO2 hollow
nanospheres through a multistep coating and etching process
[27]. During the successive coating of target SnO2 material,
barrier layers are not needed due to the structural heterogene-
ity of different shells. Yolk shelled or rattle-type structures are
another important class of complex hollow structures. Qiao
et al., experimentally obtained yolk shelled SiO2 spheres with
a hierarchical porous structure [28]. Due to the chemical dis-
similarity between the yolk and shell, barrier layers are not
involved in this case. In recent years, modified formation
mechanisms can avoid tedious coating steps for multishelled
hollow nanostructures. Wang et al., reported the synthesis of
multishelled Co3O4 hollow spheres using carbonaceous micro-
spheres as templates [29]. The shell of hollow spheres can be
conveniently controlled from 2 to 4 by adjusting synthetic
parameters. Aside from hollow spheres with multiple shells,
modern synthetic methodologies enable the syntheses of mul-
tishelled hollow structures with tailorable morphologies. For
example, the tube in-tube nanostructures of various mixed
metal oxides could be obtained from 1D electrospun precursor
polymers [24].
The design and synthesis of hollow materials with multiple
channels or chambers are very intriguing as these structures
could mimic the architecture in nature. Unfortunately, due to
the complicated microstructures of defined channel configura-
tion, successful achievement of these artificial micro and
nanostructures are still rare. The major difficulty lies in the pre-
cise control of the number of inner channels or chambers. By
great endeavors to the task, several investigators have achieved
encouraging results on these unique structures by employing
combined methods. Li et al., have synthesized lotus root-like
multichannel carbon (LRC) nanofibers through an electrospin-
ning method with a subsequent annealing process [30]. The
microemulsion formed by PS in polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solution
plays a critical role in controlling the channel number and
size in the LRC nanofibers. When the weight ratio of PS to
PAN is tuned in a proper range, LRC nanofibers with tunable
multichannels could be obtained. Xu et al., developed a
Chapter 1 HOLLOW MICRO- AND NANOMATERIALS: SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS 5

“magnetic-guiding” strategy to generate segmented tubes of


cobalt chalcogenides [31]. Due to the strong magnetic dipolar
interactions between cobalt nanoparticles, a chain-like wire was
formed as the precursor. Subject to a sulfidation reaction, the
obtained Co3S4 hollow nanocrystals preserved the chain-like
morphology to form a segmented nanotube.

1.1.3 Hollow Materials with Open Structures


Hollow particles with open structures such as those with
large through-holes or hollow polyhedra with frame-like open
architectures are a special class of complex hollow micro and
nanostructures. These open structures could facilitate fast load-
ing and release of foreign species as well as alter the density of
low-coordination atoms on the surface [32]. Various template
methods have been developed including sacrificial templates
[33,34], galvanic replacement, and preferential etching [35 37]
for synthesis of these special hollow structures. For instance,
Guan et al., reported an MOF composite-assisted strategy to
obtain single-holed cobalt/N-doped carbon hollow particles
[33]. Throughout the combustion of the inner template, the
released gaseous species help open holes on the surface of hol-
low spherical particles.
Different structured facets or edges of polyhedra particles
usually possess varying densities of defects with different sur-
face energy. Through selective etching, unstable facets or edges
might be preferentially cut off to generate frame-like, open
structures. Han et al., successfully obtained Ni Co Prussian-
blue-analog (PBA) nanocages with unusual interiors by a facile
chemical etching route [37]. During the process, active corners
with more defects are dissolved first. The sustaining etching
proceeds along the body diagonal direction of the cubes, result-
ing in cage-like Ni Co PBA hollow nanoparticles with pyramid-
like walls. Kuo and Huang reported that different faces could be
exposed with truncated rhombic dodecahedral Cu2O nano-
frames through the sustaining particle growth and etching pro-
cess [38]. Their experimental observations indicate that the
nanoframe possessed different facets under altered reaction
durations. Xia et al., reported the selectively etching preparation
of Rh cubic nanoframes [39], where Rh atoms only accumulated
on the corners and edges of the Pd cube to form Pd@Rh cor-
e frame concave nanoparticles. With removing the Pd core,
they got an open frame-like structure.
Besides the above achievements, atomic-level engineering in
hierarchical frame-like open nanostructures has proved to be
6 Chapter 1 HOLLOW MICRO- AND NANOMATERIALS: SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS

an effective strategy to further increase the atomic utilization


[40]. For example, fivefold twinned PtCu hierarchical nano-
frames have been synthesized by a one-pot solution method
[41]. High-angle annular dark-field scanning TEM (HAADF-
STEM) and TEM images confirm that the framelike products
featured dense nanothorns protruding from edges. The length
of nanothorns can be controlled by modifying the amount of
ethanolamine input to the reactor.
Similar to hollow structures with intact surface, these open
structures could also behave as containers to incorporate for-
eign mass. For example, Neretina et al., synthesized Wulff-
shaped nanostructures which were confined within nanoframes
in a solution growth mode on substrate-based templates [42].
Wulff-shaped Pt nanoparticles can be incorporated into Wulff-
shaped or cube-shaped Ag nanoframes after sequential coating
and selective etching processes. Promisingly, such versatile
preparation routes can be generalized and adopted for obtain-
ing different hybrid nanomaterials confined in nanoframes with
tailored chemical compositions and diverse morphologies.

1.1.4 Hollow-Structured Hybrid Materials


Apart from tailoring morphological structures, compositional
adjustment is an important research topic for the establishment
and application of hollow micro- and nanostructures [43]. The
integration of various chemical species into a desirable hollow-
structured particle could effectively enrich the functional prop-
erties of a single component for more applications. A variety of
hollow-structured hybrid materials between chemical species of
the same category or different categories have been realized as
functional materials with inspiring results.
For instance, two distinct metals could be integrated into
one hollow configuration in various forms (such as core shell,
core frame, dendritic, and heterostructured structures) [44].
Gonzalez et al., reported the preparation of polymetallic hollow
nanoparticles with controlled composition via a strategy of
simultaneous or sequential galvanic replacement and the nano-
scale Kirkendall growth at room temperature [36]. Hybrid hol-
low micro- and nanostructures between chemical species of the
same category have also attracted much research interest due
to their diverse functionality. Yolk shelled and multishelled
structures are two common forms of such hybrid hollow struc-
tures [2,45]. Benefitting from the synthetic versatility, hollow
nanoboxes with tailorable chemical compositions in different
shells could be obtained.
Chapter 1 HOLLOW MICRO- AND NANOMATERIALS: SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS 7

Beyond these studies, chemical species of different catego-


ries can also be integrated into a single hollow structured
micro- and nanoparticles. Reports on inorganic compounds
such as metal oxides, hydroxides, and chalcogenides are emerg-
ing more and more, and can be mixed with each other as direct
nanoreactors utilized in catalysis, drug delivery, or as precursors
for producing more complex structures [19,46,47]. For instance,
encapsulating metallic nanocrystals within a protective shell
could benefit sustainable catalysis at higher temperatures.
Impressively, Chen et al., reported the synthesis of these kinds
of hybrid hollow spheres by employing the Stöber method [48].
It is well-known that carbon-based materials in various
forms can be applied as conductive additives (such as CNTs,
graphene) or protective layers (such as amorphous carbon) for
various electrode materials with high-specific capacity/capaci-
tance in secondary batteries and supercapacitors [49 51].
Comprehensive investigations have been conducted for devel-
oping carbon-based hybrid hollow structures. Some instances
are introduced briefly here. Wang et al., employed CNTs as the
support to synthesize hollow Fe2O3 nanohorns to further obtain
hierarchical nanotubes for constructing electrodes in lithium-
ion batteries (LIBs) [52]. Apart from direct coating with carbon
mass, the utilization of MOFs helps realize the in situ genera-
tion of carbon species with A higher degree of graphenic order
around ultrafine nanoparticles composed of metal-based
species. In a typical reported work, hollow ball-in-ball nanos-
tructures of NiO/Ni/graphene were achieved through a MOF-
engaged method [53]. The obtained composite nanoparticle
stably exhibits the same hierarchical structure as its Ni-MOFs
precursor throughout the annealing treatment.

1.2 Some Common Features of Hollow


Micro- and Nanostructures
Compared with solid counterparts, hollow structures espe-
cially those with permeable and porous shells exhibit many
unique features such as high-surface area, low density, and
high-loading capacity. Thus they show great potential in a wide
range of fields such as sensing, chemical catalysis, rechargeable
batteries, and supercapacitors [49 59].
Structural parameters of the multishelled hollow structures
including the shape, shell number, size, and thickness as well as
the intershell spacing and so forth, endow them some special
physical or chemical properties, thus, making enormous influence
8 Chapter 1 HOLLOW MICRO- AND NANOMATERIALS: SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS

on their performance in practical applications. As a result, geo-


metric manipulation of multishelled hollow structures is of
great importance and will be discussed in detail next.

1.2.1 Shell Number


Shell number is one of the most important features for multi-
shelled hollow structures, which distinguishes them from their
single or double-shelled counterparts and results in some unique
chemical and physical properties. Considerable efforts have been
devoted to control the shell number of multishelled hollow struc-
tures via various techniques. The shell number of multishelled
hollow metal oxide spheres is related to the concentration and
penetration depth of metal ions within the carbonaceous tem-
plates and can be well adjusted by changing the concentration of
the metal salt solution during the adsorption process [56]. And,
then, proceeding with an in-depth study, other parameters such
as the solvent type and compositions and immersion period also
have a remarkable effect on the final shell number of the result-
ing multishelled hollow structures. For example, in the case of
TiO2 hollow spheres, the shell number could be adjusted from 1
to 3 by regulating the immersion period of Ti coordination ions
with carbonaceous templates from 6, 8, to 24 h [59].

1.2.2 Shell Size, Thickness, and Intershell Spacing


Besides the shell number, size (diameter of the shell), and
thickness, the intershell spacing also plays an important role in
determining the interior structure and have a significant effect
on their performances in practical applications [29,60]. With the
sequential templating approach, the size of the outer shell is
mainly determined by that of templates adopted and could be
well-tuned to some extent, while the sizes of inner shells are
related to the forming conditions. For hollow SnO2 micro-
spheres, such special structures with a closed double-shell in
the exterior could be produced by simply alkali-treating carbo-
naceous microspheres and, thus, increasing the absorbed quan-
tity of Sn ions in their outer segment [61]. As a result, an
additional shell was formed by this alkali treatment compared
with those without it.

1.2.3 Morphology
Until now, multishelled hollow structures are mostly spheri-
cal in morphology [62 66]. Well-defined, nonspherical,
Chapter 1 HOLLOW MICRO- AND NANOMATERIALS: SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS 9

multishelled hollow structures have been rarely reported due to


the difficulty of forming uniform shells with high-curvature sur-
faces. However, there are some successful examples for con-
structing nonspherical, multishelled, hollow structures by
adopting novel precursors. Wang et al., report a facile “pump-
kin-carving” strategy for the preparation of multishelled, hollow,
single-crystal CoSn(OH)6 nanoboxes [67]. Perovskite-type CoSn
(OH)6 nanocubes were used as precursors and gradually dis-
solved in a concentrated alkaline solution by coordinating an
excess amount of OH2 to form soluble [Co(OH)4]22 and [Sn
(OH)6]22 at room temperature. An insoluble boundary layer of
Co(III) species from the oxidation of [Co(OH)4]22 in air can be
readily formed on the surface of CoSn(OH)6 crystals, thereby
reducing the alkaline etching. With continuous evacuation of
the core materials across the shell, hollow CoSn(OH)6 nano-
boxes were eventually formed. More impressively, CoSn(OH)6
hollow architectures with multishelled nanoboxes can be pro-
duced by repeating the deposition of CoSn(OH)6 layers onto
pregrown CoSn(OH)6 particles (e.g., nanocubes or nanoboxes)
and successive alkaline etching.

1.3 Fabrication Methodology of Hollow


Structures
In this section, we present a comprehensive overview of syn-
thetic strategies for hollow structures according to their forma-
tion mechanisms including well-established hard-templating
and soft-templating methods as well as newly emerging self-
templated approaches. Apart from these template-based syn-
theses, template-free methods are also reviewed.

1.3.1 Hard-Templating Methods


The hard templating method for the synthesis of hollow
structures is very straightforward [1]. Briefly, hard templates
with specific shapes were synthesized first, followed by coating
the outer surface with a layer of the desired material. The core
materials were then selectively removed to obtain the hollow
structure. To achieve successful coating on the surface of the
template, a surface modification step that can change the sur-
face functionality such as surface charge or polarity is usually
applied. A number of methods, such as sol gel processes or
hydrothermal reactions, could be used to deposit the shell
materials on the template surface. The selective removal of the
10 Chapter 1 HOLLOW MICRO- AND NANOMATERIALS: SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS

hard template could be achieved through chemical etching,


thermal treatment or calcination, or simply by being dissolved
in particular solvents. The choice of template removal method
is mainly determined by the composition of hard templates. In
some cases, posttreatment such as reduction or calcination is
required to improve certain properties of the resulting shells. In
the following sections, we will introduce several typical hard
templates on the basis of their different compositions, followed
by detailed discussions on the control over the morphology of
the hollow structures.
Preparation of hollow structures by templating against hard
particles is conceptually straightforward. In general, it involves
the 4 major steps: (1) preparation of hard templates; (2) functio-
nalization/modification of the template surface to achieve
favorable surface properties; (3) coating the templates with
designed materials or their precursors by various approaches,
possibly with posttreatment to form compact shells; and (4)
selective removal of the templates to obtain hollow structures.
The most commonly employed hard templates include nearly
monodispersed silica particles and polymer latex colloids.
These templates are advantageous for several reasons including
their narrow size distribution, ready availability in relatively
large amounts, availability in a wide range of sizes from com-
mercial sources, and simplicity of their synthesis using well-
known formulations. Other colloidal systems such as carbon
nanospheres and nanoparticles of metals and metal oxides have
also been used as templates for the preparation of hollow
structures.

1.3.1.1 Polymer-Based Hard Templates


Templating against polymer nanoparticles to synthesize hol-
low micro and nanostructures might be the most popular
method mainly due to the relative ease in selectively removing
the templates. The commonly used polymers include polysty-
rene (PS) and its derivatives, formaldehyde resin, and poly
(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA).
Polystyrene templates. The first report on the fabrication of
hollow nanostructures was in 1998 [2] when Caruso et al., pre-
pared hollow inorganic silica and inorganic-polymer hybrid
spheres through the electrostatic layer-by-layer (LBL) self-
assembly of silica nanoparticles and polymer multilayers on
colloidal templates. Polystyrene latex particles with a diameter
of 640 nm were used as templates. Three-layer cationic poly-
(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) film was
Chapter 1 HOLLOW MICRO- AND NANOMATERIALS: SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS 11

then deposited onto the negatively charged PS particles. The


positively charged surface could be utilized for the adsorption
of SiO2 particles with B25 nm in diameter. Through an addi-
tional calcination or tetrahydrofuran (THF) dissolution process,
PS templates could be removed, forming hollow silica (HS) or
inorganic polymer hybrid spheres. The shell thickness of the
hollow spheres could be adjusted from tens to hundreds of nan-
ometers by simply tuning the number of SiO2-PDADMAC layer
deposition cycles. A similar strategy could be applied to differ-
ent colloidal cores, such as weakly cross-linked, melamine-
formaldehyde (MF) particles. The MF core could be removed by
exposing the coated particles to either acidic solutions
(pH , 1.6) or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO).
Formaldehyde resin templates. Because weakly cross-linked MF
colloidal particles can decompose in aqueous media with a pH
value below 1.6, they have been widely used as hard templates
for the synthesis of hollow structures. For instance, Donath
et al., reported the synthesis of hollow polymer shells by tem-
plating against MF colloidal particles through the LBL assembly
of polyelectrolytes [68]. Microsized hollow polyelectrolyte shells
of poly(sodium-p-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) and poly(allylamine
hydrochloride) (PAH) with thicknesses ranging from five to tens
of nanometers, were prepared through this method in which
polyelectrolytes (negatively charged PSS and positively charged
PAH) from dilute aqueous solutions were first deposited onto
the surface of monodispersed MF particles through electrostatic
forces. After each adsorption step, the polyelectrolyte in solu-
tion was removed by repeated centrifugation and washing.
Upon exposure to 100 mM HCl, the MF cores decomposed,
forming hollow polyelectrolyte shells. The shell thickness could
be easily controlled by adjusting the number of the deposited
polyelectrolyte layers.
Similarly, monodisperse polyelectrolyte-supported asymmetric
lipid-bilayer vesicles were prepared by Katagiri et al. [69]. The only
difference from the assembly process is that PDADMAC was used
as the cationic polyelectrolyte instead of PAH. When DNA was
used as the ionic species, DNA/PAH multilayer microcapsules
were synthesized by templating against colloidal MF particles [70].
Other polymer templates. Some other polymers have also been
used as templates. For example, Tu et al., reported the synthe-
sis of hollow spheres consisting of alternating titania and
graphene nanosheets by templating against PMMA beads via
a LBL adsorption technique [71]. PMMA beads were first suc-
cessively modified with positively charged polyethylenimine
12 Chapter 1 HOLLOW MICRO- AND NANOMATERIALS: SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS

(PEI), negatively charged Ti0.91O2 nanosheets, another layer of


PEI, and then a negatively charged graphene oxide (GO) sus-
pension. This process was repeated several times to ensure
enough titania and graphene loading. After microwave irradia-
tion in an argon (Ar) atmosphere in the presence of carbon
powder, GO was reduced to graphene. The PEI moiety was
removed and the PMMA spheres as sacrificial templates were
decomposed into exhaust gas. The remaining trifle PMMA resi-
due can be completely removed with THF. Su et al., prepared
the polypyrrole hollow nanospheres by in situ polymerization
of pyrrole monomer on the PMMA surface and acetone wash-
ing that can remove the PMMA core [72].

1.3.1.2 Silica-Based Hard Templates


Silica is one of the most widely used hard templates because
of its unique features, including low cost, high uniformity,
widely tunable size, and so on. In this section, we will summa-
rize the synthesis of hollow structures using different types of
silica as the hard templates, including sol gel-derived silica,
mesoporous silica (MS), and silica shell.
Solid silica templates. Typically, colloidal silica particles are
obtained through a classical “Stöber method” in which monodis-
persed silica spheres with sizes ranging from 50 nm to 2 μm can
be prepared by hydrolyzing alkylsilicates in a water alcohol
mixture in the presence of ammonia solution [73]. In 2002
Hyeon et al., reported the fabrication of hollow palladium (Pd)
spheres by using silica spheres as the template [74]. Uniform sil-
ica spheres were synthesized using the Stöber method. The silica
surface was functionalized with modified polystyrene (MPS) by
refluxing silica particles with HS(CH2)3-Si(OCH3)3 in toluene. The
palladium precursor, palladium acetylacetonate (Pd(acac)2), was
then adsorbed onto the surfaces. The sample was heated at
250 C for 3 h to get metallic Pd. The template was finally
removed by using 10 M HF as the etchant, leading to the forma-
tion of hollow Pd spheres.
Mesoporous silica templates. In contrast to colloidal silica
obtained from the sol gel process, MS(pore size in the range of
2 50 nm) is another type of material with a high-surface area
[75]. By utilizing its porous structure, many hollow spheres or
shells could be synthesized. Caruso et al., synthesized nanopor-
ous (pore size ,2 nm) polyelectrolyte spheres by sequentially
coating the polyelectrolyte on sacrificial MS spheres [76]. First,
oppositely charged polyelectrolytes poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and
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extent, for Pope’s Rape of the Lock. So far as can be ascertained,
Byron has no reference either to the author or to his poem; and
since La Secchia Rapita preserves consistently the grand style,
applying it to trivial subjects, it has little in common with Byron’s
273
satires.
With Il Ricciardetto, by Forteguerri (1675–1735), Byron was
better acquainted. Indeed Foscolo, without giving proof for his
conclusion, suggested that it might have offered some ideas to the
English writer. The Italian poem, completed about 1715, after having
been composed, according to tradition, at the rate of a canto a day,
contains thirty cantos in ottava rima. It is an avowed burlesque, in
which heroes of Carolingian romance are degraded to buffoons,
Rinaldo becoming a cook and Ricciardetto a barber. In it, as Foffano
says, “the marvellous becomes absurd, the sublime, grotesque, and
the heroic, ridiculous.” Forteguerri’s design, however, was not
directly satiric, and he was seldom a destructive critic. His mission
was solely to divert his readers. Byron refers to Lord Glenbervie’s
rendering of the first canto of Il Ricciardetto (1822) as most
274
amusing, but he seems to have had no great interest in the
original.
A point has now been reached where it is practicable to frame
some generalizations as to the extent and nature of Byron’s
indebtedness to the Italians. For his subject-matter, he owed them
something. The Catharine II episode in Don Juan may have been
suggested by Il Poema Tartaro; an occasional unimportant incident
or situation may have been taken or modified from the work of Casti
or Pulci. On the whole, however, Byron’s material was either original
or drawn from other sources than the Italians. Even though Byron
and Casti so frequently satirize the same institutions and theories, it
is improbable that this is more than coincidence, the result of the
natural opposition which similar abuses aroused in men so alike in
temperament and intellect.
In his manner, however, Byron was profoundly affected, so much
so that his own statement about Beppo—“The style is not English, it
275
is Italian”— is in exact accordance with the impression which
Beppo, as well as Don Juan, makes on the reader. He learned, in
part from Casti, and later from Berni and Pulci, the use of the
burlesque method; he adopted their discursive style, with its
opportunities for digression and self-assertion, and made it a
channel for voicing his own beliefs as well as for speaking out
against his enemies. Accepting the hint offered by their tendency to
colloquial speech, he lowered the tone of his diction and addressed
himself often directly to his readers. Moreover, he acquired the habit
of shifting suddenly from seriousness to absurdity, from the pathetic
to the grotesque, in the compass of a single stanza. His wrath, at
first untempered, was now softened by a new attitude of skepticism
which turned him more to irony and mockery than to violent rage.
In utilizing the octave for his own satires, he gave it a freedom
of which it had never before been made capable in English; and, by
a clever employment of double and triple rhymes, and by the
constant use of run-on lines and stanzas, he adjusted the measure
to the conversational flow of his verse.
At a time, then, when his youthful narrowness was developing
into the maturity that comes only from experience, and when,
therefore, he was most susceptible to broadening influences, Byron,
fortunately for his satire, was brought into contact with the Italian
spirit. The result was that Don Juan joined many of the most
powerful features of English Bards with the lighter elements of Berni
and Casti.
The beauty of Byron’s satire at its finest in Don Juan and The
Vision of Judgment, lies in the welding of the direct and indirect
methods, in the interweaving of invective with burlesque, in such a
way that the poems seem to link the spirit of Juvenal with the spirit
of Pulci. The consequence is a variety of tone, a widening of scope,
and a considerable increase in effectiveness. Byron’s general attacks
are relieved from the charge of futility; his vindictiveness is mitigated
by humor and a touch of the ridiculous; and his aggressiveness,
though it does not disappear, is sometimes changed to a cynical
tolerance.
CHAPTER VIII
“DON JUAN”

With the exception of The Ring and the Book, Don Juan,
containing approximately 16,000 lines, is probably the longest
original poem in English since the Faerie Queene; moreover, if we
exclude the Canterbury Tales, no other work in verse in our literature
attempts an actual “criticism of life” on so broad a scale. It is Byron’s
deliberate and exhaustive characterization of his age, the book in
which he divulges his opinions with the least reticence and the most
finality. With all their occasional brilliance and power, his earlier
satires had been essentially imitative and could be judged by pre-
existing standards. Later, in composing Beppo, Byron discovered that
he had found a kind of verse capable of free and varied treatment
and therefore especially suited to his improvising and discursive
genius; accordingly, in Don Juan, which is a longer and more
elaborate Beppo, he produced a masterpiece which, besides being
an adequate revelation of his complex personality, is unique in
276
English, anomalous in its manner and method.
Because it reflects nearly every side of Byron’s variable
individuality, Don Juan, though satirical in main intent, combines
satire with many other elements. It is tragic, sensuous, humorous,
melancholy, cynical, realistic, and exalted, with words for nearly
every emotion and temper. It contains a romantic story, full of
sentiment and tenderness; it rises into passages of lyric and
descriptive beauty, evidently heart-felt; yet these serious and
imaginative details are imbedded in a sub-stratum of satire.
Furthermore, its range in substance and style is very great; it
discusses matters in politics, in society, in literature, and in religion;
it shifts in a stanza from grave to gay, from the commonplace to the
sublime. It is a poem of freedom; free in thought and free in speech,
unrestricted by the ordinary laws of metre. “The soul of such writing
is its license,” wrote Byron to Murray in 1819.
The plot of Don Juan, dealing, like the picaresque romances of
Le Sage and Smollett, with a series of adventures in the life of a
wandering hero, and interrupted constantly by the comments of the
author, has little real unity. Considered as a satire, however, the
poem becomes unified through the personality behind the stanzas. It
is a colossal monument of egotism; wherever we read, we meet the
inevitable “I.” The poet’s interest in the progress of his characters is
so obviously subordinated to his desire for gossiping with his readers
that the plot seems, at times, to be almost forgotten. Thus Don Juan
is as subjective as Byron’s correspondence; indeed ideas were often
transferred directly from his letters to his verses. There are lines in
the poem which restate, sometimes in the same phraseology, the
confessions and the criticisms recorded by Lady Blessington in her
Conversations with Lord Byron. Autobiographical references are very
277
common, sometimes merely casual, sometimes used as a text for
278
satire. The powerful personality of the writer, expressed thus in
his work, furnishes it with a unity which is lacking in the plot.
It is probable that Byron himself had only a vague conception of
the structure and limits of his poem. His conflicting assertions,
usually half-jocular, concerning his plan or scheme are proof that he
cared little about adhering to a closely knit form. He is most to be
trusted when he says:

“Note or text,
279
I never know the word which will come next.”

or when he confesses to Murray: “You ask me for the plan of Donny


Juan: I have no plan—I had no plan; but I had or have
280
materials.” The inconsistent statements in the body of the poem
are, of course, merely quizzical: thus in the first canto Byron says
decidedly,

“My poem’s epic, and is meant to be


281
Divided in twelve books”;

when the twelfth canto is reached, he has an apology ready:

“I thought, at setting off, about two dozen


Cantos would do; but at Apollo’s pleading,
If that my Pegasus should not be foundered,
282
I hope to canter gently through a hundred.”

As it lengthened Don Juan developed more and more into a verse


diary, bound, from the looseness of its design, to remain
uncompleted at Byron’s death.
But whatever may have actuated Byron in beginning Don Juan
and however uncertain he may have been at first about its ultimate
purpose, it soon grew to be primarily satirical. He himself perceived
this in describing it to Murray in 1818 as “meant to be a little quietly
283
facetious upon everything” and in characterizing it in 1822 as “a
284
Satire on abuses of the present states of society.” Despite the
intermingling of other elements, the poem is exactly what Byron
285
called it—an “Epic Satire.” His remark “I was born for opposition”
indicates how much at variance with his age he felt himself to be;
and his inclination to pick flaws in existing institutions and to indulge
in destructive criticism of his time had become so strong that any
poem which expressed fully his attitude towards life was bound to be
satirical. Just as the cosmopolitan outlook of the poem is due partly
to Byron’s long-continued residence in a foreign country, so its varied
moods, its diverse methods, and its wide range of subject matter are
to be attributed, to a large extent, to the fact that the composition of
Don Juan extended over several years during a period when he was
286
growing intellectually and responding eagerly to new ideas. The
work is a fair representation of Byron’s theories and beliefs during
the period of his maturity, when he was developing into an
enlightened advocate of progressive and liberal doctrines. It is an
attack on political inertia and retrogression, on social conventionality,
on cant and sham and intolerance. The intermittent, erratic, and
somewhat imitative radicalism of a few of his earlier poems has
changed into a persistent hostility to all the reactionary conservation
of the time. Don Juan is satiric, then, in that it is a protest against all
that hampers individual freedom and retards national independence.
The pervasive satiric spirit of Don Juan has varied
manifestations. In a few passages there are examples of rancor and
spite, of direct personal denunciation and furious invective, that
recall the satire of English Bards. The attacks on Castlereagh and
Southey, on Brougham and Lady Byron are in deadly earnest, with
hardly a touch of mockery. At the same time Byron relies mainly on
the more playful and less savage method which he had learned from
the Italians and used in Beppo. He himself expressed this alteration
in mood by saying,

“Methinks the older that one grows,


287
Inclines us more to laugh than scold.”

It is noticeable, too, that in Don Juan petulant fury is much less


conspicuous than philosophic satire. Byron is assailing institutions
and theories as well as men and women. To some extent the poem
is a medium for satisfying a quarrel or a prejudice; but to a far
greater degree it is a summary of testimony hostile to the
reactionary early nineteenth century. The poet still prefers, in many
cases, to make specific persons responsible for intolerable systems;
but he is gradually forsaking petty aims and rising to a far nobler
position as a critic of his age.
The satire in Don Juan is still more remarkable when we
consider the field which it surveys. Byron is no longer dealing with
local topics, but with subjects of momentous interest to all humanity.
He is assailing, not a small coterie of editors or an immodest dance,
but a bigoted and absolute government, a hypocritical society, and, a
false idealism, wherever they exist. More than this, he so succeeds
in uniting his satire, through the force of his personality, with the
eternal elements of realism and romance, that the combination,
complex and intricate though it is, seems to represent an undivided
purpose.
Perhaps the loftiest note in Byron’s protest is struck in dealing
with the political situation of his day. Despite his noble birth and his
aristocratic tastes, he had become, partly through temperamental
inclination, partly through association with Moore and Hunt, a fairly
consistent republican, though he took care to make it clear, as Nichol
points out, that he was “for the people, not of them.” Impatient of
restraint on his own actions, he extended his belief in personal
liberty until it included the advocacy of any democratic movement. It
is to his credit, moreover, that he was no mere closet theorist; in
Italy he espoused the cause of freedom in a practical way by
abetting and joining the revolutionary Carbonari; and he died
enrolled in the ranks of the liberators of Greece. In Don Juan he
declares himself resolutely opposed to tyranny in any form, asserting
his hatred of despotism in memorable lines:

“I will teach, if possible, the stones


To rise against earth’s tyrants. Never let it
288
Be said that we still truckle unto thrones.”
Such doctrine was, of course, not new in Byron’s poetry. He had
already spoken eloquently and mournfully of the loss of Greek
289
independence ; he had prophesied the downfall of monarchs and
290
the triumph of democracy ; and he had inserted in Childe Harold
that vigorous apostrophe to liberty:

“Yet, Freedom, yet thy banner, torn but flying,


291
Streams like the thunder-storm against the wind.”

In Don Juan, however, Byron is less rhetorical and more direct. In


expressing his

“Plain sworn downright detestation


292
Of every despotism in every nation,”

he does not hesitate to condemn all absolute monarchs; moreover


he displays a sincere faith in the ultimate success of popular
government:

“I think I hear a little bird, who sings


293
The people by and by will be the stronger.”

Such lines as these show a maturity and an earnestness that mark


the evolution of Byron’s satiric spirit from the hasty petulance of
English Bards to the humanitarian breadth of his thoughtful
manhood. Like “Young Azim” in Moore’s Veiled Prophet of Khorassan,
he is eager to march and command under the banner on which is
emblazoned “Freedom to the World.”
It is characteristic of Byron’s later satire that he applied his
theory of liberty to the current problems of British politics by
assailing the obnoxious domestic measures instituted by the Tory
ministry of Lord Liverpool, by condemning the English foreign policy
of acquiescence in the legitimist doctrines of Metternich and the
continental powers, and by attacking the characters of the ministers
whom he considered responsible for England’s position at home and
abroad. The England of the time of Don Juan was the country which
Shelley so graphically pictured in his Sonnet: England in 1819:—

“An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying king, ...


Rulers who neither see, nor feel, nor know,
But leech-like to their fainting country cling,
Till they drop, blind in blood, without a blow, ...
A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field.”

It was a nation exhausted by war, burdened with debt, and


seething with discontent. The Luddite outbreaks, the “Manchester
Massacre,” which so excited the wrath of Shelley, and the “Cato
Street Conspiracy” showed the temper of the poor and disaffected
classes. Unfortunately the cabinet saw the solution of these
difficulties not in reform but in repression, and preferred to put down
the uprisings by force rather than to remove their causes. For these
conditions Byron blamed Castlereagh, the Foreign Secretary.
Byron had never met Castlereagh and had never suffered a
personal injury from him; his rage, therefore, was directed solely at
the statesman, not at the man. The Secretary had long been
294
detestable to Irish Whigs like Moore and English radicals like
295
Shelley ; it remained for Byron to track him through life with
venomous hatred and to pursue him beyond the grave with scathing
epigrams. For anything comparable aimed at a man in high position
we must go back to Marvell’s satires on Charles II and the Duke of
York or to the contemporary satire in 1762 on Lord Bute. Byron’s
Castlereagh has no virtues; the portrait, like Gifford’s sketch of Peter
Pindar, is all in dark colors. The satire is vehement and personal,
without malice and without pity.
Byron also attacked Wellington, but in manner ironic and
scornful, as a leader who had lost all claim to the gratitude of the
people by allying himself with their oppressors. For George, who as
Regent and King, had done nothing to redeem himself with his
subjects, Byron had little but contempt. In satirizing these men,
however, Byron was perhaps less effective than Moore, over whose
imitations of Castlereagh’s orations and “best-wigged Prince in
Christendom,” people smiled when Byron’s tirades seemed too
vicious.
Through the method commonly called dramatic, or indirect,
Byron assailed English politicians in his portrayal of Lord Henry
Amundeville, the statesman who is “always a patriot—and
sometimes a placeman,” and who is representative of the
unemotional, just, yet altogether selfish British minister. The type is
drawn with considerable skill and with much less rancor than would
have been possible with Byron ten years before. Indeed the satire
resembles Dryden’s in that it admits of a wide application and is not
limited to the individual described.
Nothing in Byron’s political creed redounds more to his credit
than his persistent opposition to all war except that carried on in the
“defence of freedom, country, or of laws.” Neglecting the pride and
pomp of war, he depicted the Siege of Ismail with ghastly realism,
laying emphasis on the blood and carnage of the battle and
condemning especially mercenary soldiers, “those butchers in large
business.” Though this attitude towards warfare was not original
296
with him, Byron spoke out with a firmness and pertinacity that
marked him as far ahead of his age.
Though Byron, in Don Juan, was almost entirely a destructive
critic of the political situation in England and in Europe, his ideas
were exceedingly influential. In spite of the fact that he had no
definite remedy to offer for intolerable conditions, his daring
championship of oppressed peoples affected European thought, not
only during his lifetime, but also for years after his death. He was
revered in Greece as more than mortal; he was an inspiration for
Mazzini and Cavour; he seemed to Lamartine an apostle of liberty. It
is probably to his insistence on the rights of the people and to his
sweeping indictment of autocratic rule that he owes the greatest
part of his international recognition.
Byron’s iconoclastic tendencies showed themselves also in his
attack on English society, in which he aimed to expose the
selfishness, stupidity, and affectation of the small class that
represented the aristocratic circle of the nation. In dealing with this
subject he knew of what he was speaking, for he had been a
member and a close observer of “that Microcosm on stilts yclept the
Great World.” His picture of this upper class is humorous and ironic,
but seldom vehement. In a series of vivid and often brilliant
character sketches he delineates the personages that Juan,
Ambassador of Russia, meets in London, touching cleverly on their
defects and vices, and unveiling the sensuality, jealousy, and deceit
which their outward decorum covers. Though the figures are types
rather than individuals, they were in many cases suggested by men
and women whom Byron knew. Possibly the most effective satire
occurs in the description of the gathering at Lady Adeline’s country-
seat, Norman Abbey, where some thirty-three guests, “the Brahmins
297
of the Ton,” meet at a fashionable house party.
For these social parasites and office seekers Byron felt nothing
but contempt. His advice to Juan moving among them is:

“Be hypocritical, be cautious, be


298
Not what you seem, but always what you see.”

He describes their life as dull and uninteresting, a gay masquerade


which palls when all its delights have been tried. Its prudery
conceals scandal, treachery, and lust; its great vices are hypocrisy
299
and cant—“cant political, cant religious, cant moral.” Indeed the
satire of Don Juan, from Canto XI to the point where the poem is
broken off, is an attack on pretence and sham, and a vindication of
the free and natural man. Byron’s motive may have been, in part,
the desire for revenge on the circle which had cast him out; but
certainly he was disgusted with the narrowness and conventionality
of his London life, and his newly acquired jesting manner found in it
a suitable object for satire.
While Byron’s liberalism and democracy were doing effective
service in pointing out flaws in existing political and social systems,
he was still maintaining, not without many inconsistencies, his old
conservative doctrines in literature, and doggedly insisting on the
virtue of his literary commandments:

“Thou shalt believe in Milton, Dryden, Pope;


300
Thou shalt not set up Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey.”

While he was being hailed as a leader of the romantic school of


poetry, he was still defending the principles of Pope, praising the
work of Crabbe, Rogers, and Campbell, and disapproving of the
verses of the members of the Lake School. He dedicated Don Juan,
in a mocking and condescending fashion, to Southey, and described
him in the sketch of the bard “paid to satirise or flatter” who sang to
301
Haidée and Juan the beautiful lyric, The Isles of Greece. He
ridiculed The Waggoner and Peter Bell, treating Wordsworth with an
hostility which is almost inexplicable in view of Byron’s indebtedness
in Childe Harold, III and IV to the older poet’s feeling for nature.
Only in minor respects had Byron’s position changed; he was more
appreciative of Scott and less vindictive towards Jeffrey; and he had
found at least one new literary enemy in the poetaster, William
Sotheby. In general there was little for him to add to what he had
already said in English Bards. His otherwise progressive spirit had
not extended into the field of literary criticism.
It is not at all surprising that a large portion of Don Juan should
be devoted to two subjects in which Byron had always been deeply
interested—woman and love. Nor is it at all remarkable, in view of
his singularly complex and variable nature, that the poem should
contain not only the exquisite idyll of Haidée but also line after line
of cynical satire on her sex. Though Byron’s opinion of women was
usually not complimentary, sentiment, and even sentimentality of a
certain sort, had a powerful attraction for him. If many of his love
affairs were followed and even accompanied by cynicism, it was
because the passion in such cases was sensual, and in reaction, he
went to the other extreme. The influence of the Guiccioli, however,
manifest in his descriptions of Haidée and Aurora Raby, was
beneficial to Byron’s character, and his ideas of love were somewhat
altered through his relations with her. At the same time the
conventional assertions of woman’s inconstancy and treachery so
common in his earlier work recur frequently in Don Juan.
Love, according to Byron’s philosophy, can exist only when it is
free and untrammelled. The poet’s too numerous amours and the
general laxity of Italian morals had joined in exciting in him a
prejudice against English puritanism; while his own unfortunate
marital experience had convinced him that “Love and Marriage rarely
302
can combine.” The remembrance of his married life and his
observation in the land of his adoption were both instrumental in
forming his conclusion:

“There’s doubtless something in domestic doings,


303
Which forms, in fact, true love’s antithesis.”

When marriage, then, is so unalluring, the logical refuge is an


honest friendship with a married lady, “of all connections the most
304
steady.” When Byron does speak of women with apparent
respect, it is always well to search for irony behind. If he says,
evidently with emotion:
“All who have loved, or love, will still allow
Life has nought like it. God is love, they say,
305
And love’s a god,”

he qualifies his ecstacy elsewhere by asserting that Love is “the very


306 307
God of evil.” Although he protests that he loves the sex, he
308 309 310
must add that they are deceitful, hypocritical, and fickle.
Nothing in the first two cantos of Don Juan was more offensive
to Hobhouse and the “Utican Senate” to which Murray submitted
them than the poorly disguised portrayal of Lady Byron in the
character of Donna Inez. Though Byron explicitly disavowed all
intention of satirising his wife directly, no one familiar with the facts
could possibly have doubted that this lady “whose favorite science
was the mathematical,” who opened her husband’s trunks and
letters, and tried to prove her loving lord mad, and who acted under
all circumstances like “Morality’s prim personification” was intended
to represent the former Miss Milbanke and present Lady Byron.
Doubtless there is something artificial and affected in much of
Byron’s cynical comment on women and love; but if we are inclined
to distrust this man of many amours who delights in flaunting his
past before the eyes of his shocked compatriots, we must remember
that there is probably no conscious insincerity in his words. Byron
frequently deludes not only his readers but himself, and his satire on
women, when it is not a kind of bravado, is merely part of his
worldly philosophy.
The philosophical conceptions on which Don Juan rests are, in
their general trend, not uncommonly satirical; that is, they are
destructive rather than constructive, skeptical rather than idealistic,
founded on doubt rather than on faith. It is the object of the poem
to overturn tottering institutions, to upset traditions, and to unveil
illusions. Byron’s attitude is that so often taken by a thorough man
of the world who has tasted pleasure to the point of satiety, and who
has arrived at early middle age with his enthusiasms weakened and
his faith sunk in pessimism. This accounts for much of the realism in
the poem. Sometimes the poet, in the effort to portray things as
they are, merely transcribes the prose narratives of others into
311
verse, just as Shakspere borrowed passages from North’s
Plutarch for Julius Cæsar. More often he undertakes to detect and
reveal the incongruity between actuality and pretence, and to
expose weakness and folly under its mask of sham. The realism of
this sort closely resembles the more modern work of Zola, attributing
as it does even good actions to low motives and degrading
deliberately the better impulses of mankind. In Byron’s case it seems
to be the result partly of a wish to avoid carrying sentiment and
romance to excess, partly of a distorted or partial view of life.
Whatever romance there is in Don Juan—and the amount is not
inconsiderable—is invariably followed by a drop into bathos or
312
absurdity. The deservedly famous “Ave Maria,” with its exquisite
sentiment and melody, is closed by a stanza harsh and grating,
which calls the reader with a shock back to a lower level. This
juxtaposition of tenderness and mockery, tending by contrast to
accentuate both moods, is highly characteristic of the spirit of the
poem. Juan’s lament for Donna Julia is interrupted by sea-
313
sickness, and his rhetorical address on London, “Freedom’s
chosen station,” is broken off by “Damn your eyes! your money or
314
your life.” Byron never overdoes the emotional element in Don
Juan; he draws us back continually to the commonplace, and
315
sometimes to the mean and vulgar.
Byron’s materialistic and skeptical habit of mind is often put into
phraseology that recalls the “Que sais-je?” of Montaigne. Rhetorical
disquisitions on the vanity of human knowledge and of worldly
316
achievement had appeared in Childe Harold ; in Don Juan the
poet dismisses the great problems of existence with a jest:
“What is soul, or mind, their birth and growth,
317
Is more than I know—the deuce take them both.”

In the words of the British soldier, Johnson, to Juan, we have,


perhaps, a summary of the position which Byron himself had
reached:

“There are still many rainbows in your sky,


But mine have vanished. All, when Life is new,
Commence with feelings warm and prospects high;
But Time strips our illusions of their hue,
And one by one in turn, some grand mistake
318
Casts off its bright skin yearly like the snake.”

As a corollary to this recognition of the futility of human endeavor,


the doctrine of mutability, so common in Shelley’s poetry, appears
319
frequently in Don Juan, ringing in the note of sadness which
Byron would have us believe was his underlying mood. Curiously
enough, though he cynically classed together “rum and true religion”
320
as calming to the spirit, he was chary of assailing Christian
theology or orthodox creeds. He preserved a kind of respect for the
Church; and even Dr. Kennedy was obliged to admit that on religious
questions Byron was a courteous and fair, as well as an acute,
antagonist. Perhaps the half-faith which led him to say once “The
trouble is I do believe” may account for the fact that, at a time when
William Hone and other satirists were making the Church of England
a target for their wit, Don Juan contained no reference to that
institution.
Byron, then, refused to accept any of the creeds and idealisms
of his day. His own position, however, was marked by doubt and
vacillation, and he took no positive attitude towards any of the great
problems of existence. Experience led him to nothing but uncertainty
and indecision, with the result that he became content to destroy,
since he was unable to construct.
This is no place for discussing the fundamental morality or
immorality of Don Juan. The British public of Byron’s day, basing
their judgment largely upon the voluptuousness of certain love
scenes and upon some coarse phrases scattered here and there
through the poem, charged him with “brutally outraging all the best
feeling of humanity.” There can be no doubt that Byron did ignore
the ordinary standards of conduct among average people; though he
321
asserted “My object is Morality,” no one knew better than he that
he was constantly running counter to the conventional code of
behavior. Nor can any one doubt, after a study of his letters to
Murray and Moore, that he felt a sardonic glee in acting as an agent
of disillusion and pretending to be a very dangerous fellow. This
spirit led him to employ profanity in Don Juan until his friend
322
Hobhouse protested: “Don’t swear again—the third ‘damn.’” By
assailing many things that his time held sacred, by calling love
323
“selfish in its beginning as its end,” and maintaining that the
324
desire for money is “the only sort of pleasure that requites,”
Byron drew upon himself the charge of immorality. The poem,
however, does not attempt to justify debauchery or to defend vicious
practices; Byron is attacking not virtue, but false sentiment, false
idealism, and false faith. His satiric spirit is engaged in analyzing and
exposing the strange contradictions and contrasts in human life, in
tearing down what is sham and pretence and fraud. Judged from
this standpoint, Don Juan is profoundly moral.
Fortunately, in this poem the design of which was to exploit the
doctrine of personal freedom, Byron had discovered a medium
through which he could make his individuality effective, in which he
could speak in the first person, leave off his story when he chose,
digress and comment on current events, and voice his every mood
and whim. The colloquial tone of the poem strikes the reader at
once. He censures himself in a jocular way for letting the tale slip
forever through his fingers, and confesses with mock humility,
325
“If I have any fault, it is digression.”
The habit of calling himself back to the narrative becomes almost as
much of an idiosyncrasy as Mr. Kipling’s “But that is another
326
story.” Obviously Byron’s words are really no more than half-
apologetic; he knew perfectly well what he was doing and why he
was doing it. Without insisting too much on the value of a
mathematical estimate it is still safe to say that Don Juan is fully
half-concerned with that sort of gossipy chat with which Byron’s
327
visitors at Venice or Pisa were entertained, and as the poem
lengthened, his tendency was to neglect the plot more and more.
Indeed the justification for treating Don Juan as a satire lies mainly
in these side-remarks in which Byron discloses his thoughts and
opinions with so little reserve. The digressions in the poem are used
principally for two purposes: to satirize directly people, institutions,
or theories; to gossip about the writer himself. In either case we
may imagine Byron as a monologist, telling us what he has done and
what he is going to do, what he has seen and heard, what he thinks
on current topics, and illustrating points here and there by a short
anecdote or a compact maxim. In such a series of observations,
extending as they do over a number of years and written as they
were under rapidly shifting conditions, it is uncritical to demand
unity. We might as well expect to find a model drama in a diary. The
important fact is that we have in these digressions a continuous
exposition of Byron’s satire during the most important years of his
life.
The peculiar features of the octave stanza, with its opportunity
for double and triple rhymes and the loose structure of its sestette,
made it more suited to Byron’s genius than the more compact and
less flexible heroic couplet. At the same time the concluding couplet
of the octave offered him a chance for brief and epigrammatic
expression. In general it may be said that no metrical form lends
itself more readily to the colloquial style which Byron preferred than
does the octave.
In utilizing this stanza, Byron, accepting the methods of Pulci
and Casti, allowed himself the utmost liberties in rhyming and verse-
structure. We have already seen that in several youthful poems, and,
indeed, in some later ephemeral verses, he had shown a fondness
for remarkable rhymes. By the date of Beppo he had broken away
entirely from the rigidity of the Popean theory of poetry, and had
confessed that he enjoyed a freer style of writing:

“I—take for rhyme, to hook my rambling verse on,


The first that Walker’s lexicon unravels,
And when I can’t find that, I put a worse on,
328
Not caring as I ought for critics’ cavils.”

In Don Juan this employment of uncommon rhymes had become a


genuine art. Byron once declared to Trelawney that Swift was the
greatest master of rhyming in English; but Byron is as superior to
Swift as the latter is to Barham and Browning in this respect. Indeed
Byron’s only rival is Butler, and there are many who would maintain,
on good grounds, that Byron as a master of rhyming is greater than
the author of Hudibras. When we consider the length of Don Juan,
the constant demand for double and triple rhymes, and the fact that
Byron seldom repeated himself, we cannot help marvelling at the
linguistic cleverness which enabled him to discover such unheard-of
combinations of syllables and words. Some of the most extraordinary
329
have become almost classic, e.g.:—

“But—Oh! ye lords of ladies intellectual,


330
Inform us truly, have they not hen-pecked you all?”
“Since in a way that’s rather of the oddest, he
331
Became divested of his native modesty.”

Naturally in securing such a variety of rhymes he was forced to draw


from many sources. Foreign languages proved a rich field, and he
obtained from them some striking examples of words similar in
sound, sometimes rhyming them with words from the same
language, sometimes fitting them to English words and phrases.
Some typical specimens are worthy of quotation:
332
Latin—in medias res, please, ease.
333
Greek—critic is, poietikes.
334
French—seat, tête-à-tête, bete.
335
Italian—plenty, twenty, “mi vien in mente.”
336
Spanish—Lopé, copy.
337
Russian—Strokenoff, Chokenoff, poke enough.
Byron also resorts to the uses of proper names, borrowed from
many tongues:
338
Dante’s—Cervantes.
339
Hovel is—Mephistophelis.
340
Tyrian—Presbyterian.
341
Avail us—Sardanapalus.
342
Pukes in—Euxine.
It may be added, too, that he was seldom over-accurate or
careful in making his rhymes exact. In one instance he rhymes
343
certainty—philosophy—progeny. Most stanzas have either double
or triple rhymes, but there are occasional stanzas in which all the
344
rhymes are single.
In Don Juan run-on lines are the rule rather than the exception.
Certain stanzas are really sentences in which the thought moves
straight on, disregarding entirely the ordinary restrictions of
345
versification. In more than one case the idea is even carried from
346
one stanza to another without a pause. In one extraordinary
instance a word is broken at the end of a line and finished at the
347
beginning of the next, following the example set by the Anti-
Jacobin in Rogero’s song in The Rovers. Like a public speaker, Byron
at times neglects coherence in order to keep the thread of his
discourse or to digress momentarily without losing grip on his
audience.
Much of the humor of Don Juan is due to the varied employment
of many forms of verbal wit: puns, plays upon words, and odd
repetitions and turns of expression. The puns are not always
commendable for their brilliance, though they serve often to
burlesque a serious subject. In at least one stanza Byron uses a
348
foreign language in punning. In general it is noticeable that puns
349
become more common in the later cantos of the poem. There
are also many curious turns of expression, comparable only to some
350
of the quips of Hood and Praed. Frequently, they are exceedingly
clever in the suddenness with which they shift the thought and give
the reader an unexpected surprise, e.g.:

“Lambo presented, and one instant more


351
Had stopped this canto and Don Juan’s breath.”
Repetitions of words or sounds often convey the effect of a pun,
e.g.:

“They either missed, or they were never missed,


352
And added greatly to the missing list.”

The witty line,


353
“But Tom’s no more—and so no more of Tom,”
is an excellent example of Byron’s verbal artistry.
It should be added here, also, that Byron displayed a singular
capacity for coining maxims and compressing much worldly wisdom
into a compact form. Some of his sayings have so far passed into
common speech that they are almost platitudes, e.g.:
354
“There is no sterner moralist than pleasure.”
As has been pointed out, this kind of sententious utterance in the
form of a proverb or an epigram was very common with the Italian
burlesque writers, especially with Pulci.
Something of the universality of Don Juan, of its appeal, not only
to particular countries and peoples, but also to the world at large,
355
may be indicated by the number of translations of it which exist.
It appeared in French in 1827, in Spanish in 1829, in Swedish in
1838, in German in 1839, in Russian in 1846, in Roumanian in 1847,
in Italian in 1853, in Danish in 1854, in Polish in 1863, and in Servian
in 1888. Since these first versions appeared, other and more
satisfactory ones have been published in most of the countries
named. It was chiefly through Don Juan that Byron became, what
Saintsbury calls him, “the sole master of young Russia, young Italy,
young Spain, in poetry.” In these days when Byron’s defence of the
rights of the people is less necessary, when his opposition to
despotism would find few tyrants to oppose, and when his
condemnation of war has developed into a widespread movement
for universal peace, the powerful impetus which his satire gave to
the progress of democracy is likely to be overlooked. His attitude of
defiance furnished an illustrious example to struggling nations, and
356
gave them hope of better things.
Within this limited space it has been possible to touch only upon
one or two phases of the many which this poem, perhaps the
greatest in English since Paradise Lost, presents to the reader.
Byron’s satire, in assuming a wider scope and a greater breadth of
view, in growing out of the insular into the cosmopolitan, has also
blended itself with romance and realism, with the lyric, the
descriptive, and the epic types of poetry until it has created a new
literary form and method suitable only to a great genius. His satiric
spirit, in assailing not only individuals, but also institutions, systems,
and theories of life, in concerning itself less with literary grudges and
personal quarrels than with momentous questions of society, in
progressing steadily from the specific to the universal, has
undergone a striking evolution. The tone of his satire has become
less formal and dignified, and more colloquial, while a more frequent
use of irony, burlesque, and verbal wit makes the poem easier and
more varied. Byron joins mockery with invective, raillery with
contempt, so that Don Juan, in retaining certain qualities of the old
Popean satire, seems to have tempered and qualified the acrimony
of English Bards. The inevitable result of this development was to
make Don Juan a reflection of Byron’s personality such as no other
of his works had been. Don Juan is Byron; and in this fact lies the
explanation of its strength and weakness.
CHAPTER IX
“THE VISION OF JUDGMENT”

Byron’s Vision of Judgment, printed in the first number of The


Liberal, October 15, 1820, was the climax of his long quarrel with
Southey, the complicated details of which have been related at
357
length by Mr. Prothero in his edition of the Letters and Journals.
Byron’s hostility to Southey was due apparently to several causes,
some personal, some political, and some literary. He believed that
Southey had spread malicious reports about the alleged immorality
of his life in Switzerland with Jane Clermont, Mary Godwin, and
Shelley; he considered the laureate to be an apostate from liberalism
and a truckler to aristocracy; and he had no patience with his views
on poetry and his lack of respect for Pope. The two men were, in
fact, fundamentally incompatible in temperament and opinions,
Southey being firmly convinced that Byron was a dissipated and
dangerous debauchee, while Byron thought Southey a dull, servile,
and somewhat hypocritical scribbler.
Since The Vision of Judgment was Byron’s only attempt at
genuine travesty, it may be well to differentiate between the travesty
and other kindred forms of satire, all of which are commonly
grouped under the generic heading, burlesque. Broadly speaking, a
burlesque is any literary production in which there is an absurd
incongruity in the adjustment of style to subject matter or subject
matter to style, humor being excited by a continual contrast between
what is high and what is low, what is exalted and what is
358
commonplace. The peculiar effect of burlesque is ordinarily
dependent upon its comparison with some form of literature of a
more serious nature. Of the subdivisions of burlesque, the parody
aims particularly at the humorous imitation of the style and manner
of another work, the original characters and incidents being
displaced by incidents of a more trifling sort. The parody has been a
popular variety of satire, and examples of it may be discovered in
359
the productions of any sophisticated or critical age. The travesty,
in the narrow sense of the term, is a humorous imitation of another
work, the subject matter remaining substantially the same, being
made ridiculous, however, by a grotesque treatment and a less
imaginative style. A serious theme is thus deliberately degraded and
debased. The commonest subjects of travesty have been derived, as
one might expect, from mythology or from the great epic poems. Its
popularity, except in certain limited periods, has never equalled that
360
of the parody.
Considered simply as a travesty, Byron’s Vision is remarkable in
two respects: first, in that it burlesques a contemporary poem, while
most other travesties ridicule works of antiquity, or at least of
established repute; second, in that it has an intrinsic merit of its own
far surpassing that of the poem which suggested it. Thus the general
dictum that a travesty is valuable chiefly through the contrast which
it presents to some nobler masterpiece is contradicted by Byron’s
satire, which is in itself an artistic triumph.
Southey’s Vision of Judgment, of which Byron’s Vision is a
travesty, was written in the author’s function as poet-laureate shortly
after the death of George III. on January 29, 1820. Certainly in
361
many ways it lent itself readily to burlesque. It was composed in
the unrhymed dactyllic hexameter, a measure in which Southey was
even less successful than Harvey and Sidney had been. It was full of
adulation of a king, who, however much he may have been
distinguished for domestic virtues, was surely, in his public activities,
no suitable subject for encomium. It was dedicated, moreover, to
George IV. in language which seems to us to-day the grossest
362
flattery. The poem itself, divided into twelve sections, deals with
the appearance of the old King at the gate of heaven, his judgment
and beatification by the angels, and his meeting with the shades of
illustrious dead—English worthies, mighty figures of the Georgian
age, and members of his own family.
Many special features of Southey’s poem were disagreeable to
Byron. It was a vindication and a eulogy of the existing system of
government in England, George III, whom Byron despised, being
described as an ideal sovereign. Southey had made a contemptuous
reference to what he was pleased to call the watchwords of Faction,
“Freedom, Invaded Rights, Corruption, and War, and Oppression,” a
summary which must have been distasteful to a man who had been
raising his voice in resistance to political tyranny. Southey had also
carefully omitted Dryden and Pope from the list of great writers
whom George III met in heaven. On the whole Southey’s poem was
pervaded by a tone of arrogance and self-satisfaction which was
exceedingly offensive to Byron.
Byron had begun his travesty on May 7, 1821, and had sent it to
363
Murray from Ravenna on October 4th. Unconscious of the fact
that this satire was in Murray’s hands, Southey meanwhile had
published his Letter to the Courier, January 5, 1822, vindictively
personal, and containing one unlucky paragraph: “One word of
advice to Lord Byron before I conclude. When he attacks me again,
let it be in rhyme. For one who has so little command of himself, it
will be a great advantage that his temper should be obliged to keep
tune.” When this Letter came to Byron’s notice, his anger boiled
over; he sent Southey a challenge, which through the discretion of
364
Kinnaird, was never delivered ; and he decided immediately to
publish his Vision, which he had almost determined to suppress.
Murray, however, delayed the proof, and on July 3, 1822, Byron,
irritated by this tardiness and enthusiastic over his newly planned
365
periodical, The Liberal, sent a letter by John Hunt, the proprietor
of the magazine, requesting Murray to turn the satire over to Hunt.
In the first number of The Liberal, then, the Vision was given the
most conspicuous position, printed, however, without the preface,
which Murray, either ignorantly or unfairly, had withheld from Hunt.
A vigorous letter from Byron recovered the preface, which was
366
inserted in a second edition of the periodical. The consequences
of publication somewhat justified Murray’s apprehensions. John Hunt
was prosecuted by the Constitutional Association, and on July 19,
1824, only three days after Byron’s body had been buried in the
church of Hucknall Torkard, was convicted, fined one hundred
pounds, and compelled to enter into securities for five years. In
fairness to Byron, it must be added that he had offered to come to
England in order to stand trial in Hunt’s stead, and had desisted only
367
when he found that such procedure would not be allowed.
In his Vision, Byron had at least four objects for his satire. He
wished to ridicule Southey’s poem by burlesquing many of its absurd
elements; he aimed to proceed more directly against Southey by
exposing the weak points in his character and career; he desired to
present a true picture of George III, in contrast to Southey’s
idealized portrait; and he intended to make a general indictment of
all illiberal government and particularly of the policy then being
pursued by the English Tory party. He seized instinctively upon the
weaknesses of the panegyric, and while preserving the general plan
and retaining many of the characters, freely mocked at its cant and
smug conceit. Through a style purposely grotesque and colloquial,
he turned Southey’s pompous rhetoric into absurdity; by touches of
realism and caricature he made the solemn angels and demons
laughable; while, occasionally rising to a loftier tone suggestive of
the spirit of Don Juan, he reasserted his love of liberty and hatred of
despotism.
In executing his project, Byron deliberately neglected a large
part of Southey’s Vision and confined himself almost exclusively to
the scene at the trial of the King. He began actually with the
situation represented in Section IV of Southey’s poem, omitting all
the preliminary matter, and ended with Southey’s Section V, avoiding
entirely the meeting of George with the English worthies. So far as
subject matter is concerned, Byron travestied only two of the twelve
divisions of the earlier work. He concentrated his attention on the
judgment of the King, and then deserted formal travesty in order to
introduce his attack on Southey.
It was part of Byron’s scheme that angels and demons, serious
characters in Southey’s poem, should be made the objects of mirth.
By a dexterous application of realism, he changed the New
Jerusalem of Southey into a very earthly place, where angels now
and then sing out of tune and hoarse, and where six angels and
twelve saints act as a business-like Board of Clerks. These creatures
of the spiritual realm are very substantial beings, not at all immune
from mortal infirmities and passions. Saint Peter is a dull somnolent
personage who grumbles over the leniency of heaven’s Master
towards earth’s kings, and sweats through his apostolic skin at the
appalling sight of Lucifer and demons pursuing the body of George
to the very doors of heaven. Satan salutes Michael,

“as might an old Castilian


Poor noble meet a mushroom rich civilian,”

and the archangel, in turn, greets the fallen Lucifer superciliously as


“my good old friend.” It is probable that in this practice of treating
with ridicule those beings who are commonly spoken of with
reverence, Byron is imitating Pulci, whose angels and devils are also,
in their attributes, more human than divine.
Byron’s trial scene, in which Lucifer and Michael dispute for the
possession of George III, is an admirable travesty of Southey’s
representation of the same episode. The glorified monarch of
Southey’s Vision meets in Byron’s satire with scant courtesy from
Lucifer, who acts as attorney for the prosecution. Lucifer admits the
king’s “tame virtues” and grants that he was a “tool from first to
last”; but he charges him with having “ever warr’d with Freedom and
the free,” with having stained his career with “national and individual
woes,” with having resisted Catholic emancipation, and with having
lost a continent to his country. Wilkes and Junius, the two
shamefaced accusers of Southey’s Vision, now act in a different
manner. Wilkes scornfully extends his forgiveness to the king, and
Junius, while reiterating the truth of his original accusations, refuses
to be enlisted as an incriminating witness. This section of the satire
is splendidly managed. The whole assault on the king tends to show
him as more misguided than criminal. The lines,

“A better farmer ne’er brush’d dew from lawn,


A worse king never left a realm undone!”

create a kind of sympathy for George in that they portray him as a


man placed in a position for which he was manifestly unfitted.
Southey’s name is mentioned only once before the 35th stanza
of Byron’s poem, but from that point until the conclusion the work
deals entirely with him. These stanzas constitute what is probably
Byron’s happiest effort at personal satire. For once he did not act in
haste, but carefully matured his project, studied its execution, and
permitted his first impulsive anger to moderate into scorn. With due
attention to craftsmanship, he surveyed and annihilated his enemy,
laughing at him contemptuously and making every stroke tell. It
should be observed too that he chose a method largely indirect and
dramatic. He did not, as in English Bards, merely apply offensive
epithets; rather he placed Southey in a ridiculous situation and made
him the sport of other characters. The satire, is, therefore,
exceedingly effective since it allows the victim no chance for a
368
reply. By turning the laugh on Southey, Byron closed the
controversy by attaining what is probably the most desirable result
of purely personal satire—the making an opponent seem not hateful
but absurd.
Byron’s poem, however, was something more than a chapter in
the satisfaction of a private quarrel. It is also a liberal polemic,
assailing not only the whole system of constituted authority in

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