Don Juan · Chapter
Fragment on the Back of the MS. of Canto I explained
A brief, drunken meditation on the desire to escape the burdens of past and future, written in a state of intoxication.
What happens
A brief, drunken meditation on the desire to escape the burdens of past and future, written in a state of intoxication.
Themes in this chapter
Mortality and Transience
The speaker wishes to be 'so much clay' to escape the pains of feeling and the weight of time.
Illusion and Reality
The drunken state blurs perception ('I seem to stand upon the ceiling'), questioning the stability of reality.
Key passages
“I would to Heaven that I were so much clay, As I am blood, bone, marrow, passion, feeling— Because at least the past were passed away, And for the future—(but I write this reeling, Having got drunk exceedingly to-day, So that I seem to stand upon the ceiling) I say—the future is a serious matter— And so—for God’s sake—hock and soda-water!”
The speaker wishes to be lifeless clay instead of a living, feeling person, so that the past would be truly gone and the future wouldn't matter. However, he is so drunk that his perception is distorted, and he concludes that the future is serious—so he calls for a hangover remedy.
This fragment captures the poet's cynical, self-mocking tone and the theme of escapism through intoxication.