A Poet's Best Friend

This fall, in poetry class with Mrs. Lewis, I got the chance to read "How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix" by Robert Browning.  The poem is about the 3 horses, and their riders traveling to the city of Aix to deliver good news from Ghent.  The main character in the poem, who is also the narrator, survives a long, rigorous trip with his horse to the city of Aix after many long days and nights of traveling.  The horse and his owner demonstrate a real friendship.  They stick together throughout the long, hard trip.  The horse, Roland, remains the only standing horse, along with the narrator being the only standing rider at the end of the trip.  Roland and the narrator did it together!  When posed with the idea to read Lord George Gordon Byron's poem "Inscription On the Monument of a Newfoundland Dog," I was very interested.  After reading many works of Lord George Gordon Byron's work in Mr. Green's British Romantic English class last winter, I fell in love with Byron's poems and writing styles within. I also knew right away, that this poem may have a sensitive, emotional display between the dog and it's owner (Byron), much like the relationship between Roland and the narrator in Browning's poem.  Lord Byron had written this poem after his Newfoundland dog, Boatswain, died of rabies.  Byron dedicated this poem to him, and it is inscribed on Boatswain's monument.  This shows the close, special relationship that Boatswain and Byron had.  In the poem, Byron wrote phrases such as "foremost to defend," and "in life the firmest friend," which both show that Boatswain was there to protect Byron and had a special place in his heart as a friend.   Byron reportedly nursed his Newfoundland, aware of the fact he could become infected but did anyway. This emotion is very similar to Browning's poem.  Although the horse did not die like the dog, the owners and their pets still experienced that emotion and special relationship they share.  At the end of Browning's poem when Roland and his owner finally reach Aix, he praises and helps Roland out by nursing him back to a healthy, safe state.  "Then I cast loose my buff coat, each holster let fall, Shook off both my jack-boots, let go belt and all, Stood up in the stirrup, leaned, patted his ear, Called my Roland his pet-name, my horse without peer." The narrator sincerely cares about his horse, much like Byron cared for his dog.  

        Inscription on the Monument of a Newfoundland Dog. Photograph.

Dufour, Steve. "Epitaph to a Dog." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 14 Apr. 2011. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epitaph_to_a_Dog>.

Lord Byron. Photograph.