Poet lord byron biography and works

Lord Byron, c. 1810  ©Byron was the ideal of the Romantic poet, gaining notoriety for his scandalous private life and being described by one contemporary as 'mad, bad and dangerous to know'.

George Gordon Noel, sixth Baron Byron, was born on 22 January 1788 in London. His father died when he was three, with the result that he inherited his title from his great uncle in 1798.

Byron spent his early years in Aberdeen, and was educated at Harrow School and Cambridge University. In 1809, he left for a two-year tour of a number of Mediterranean countries. He returned to England in 1811, and in 1812 the first two cantos of 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage' were published. Byron became famous overnight.

In 1814, Byron's half-sister Augusta gave birth to a daughter, almost certainly Byron's. The following year Byron married Annabella Milbanke, with whom he had a daughter, his only legitimate child. The couple separated in 1816.

Facing mounting pressure as a result of his failed marriage, scandalous affairs and huge debts, Byron left England in April 1816 and never returned. He spent the summer of 1816 at Lake Geneva with Percy Bysshe Shelley, his wife Mary and Mary's half sister Claire Clairmont, with whom Byron had a daughter.

Byron travelled on to Italy, where he was to live for more than six years. In 1819, while staying in Venice, he began an affair with Teresa Guiccioli, the wife of an Italian nobleman. It was in this period that Byron wrote some of his most famous works, including 'Don Juan' (1819-1824).

In July 1823, Byron left Italy to join the Greek insurgents who were fighting a war of independence against the Ottoman Empire. On 19 April 1824 he died from fever at Missolonghi, in modern day Greece. His death was mourned throughout Britain. His body was brought back to England and buried at his ancestral home in Nottinghamshire.

Lord Byron: biography

Fig. 1 - Writing poetry.

Lord George Gordon Byron is widely considered to have been one of the major Romantic poets.

Byron was raised by his mother, Catherine Gordon of Gight, in London. His father was absent, having fled to France to escape creditors. Lord Byron was born with a clubbed foot, which he was self-conscious of throughout his life.

Byron's early education took place at Aberdeen Grammar School and Harrow School. He later attended Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took part in a number of pranks and broke the rules against pets by keeping a tame bear on a chain. He eventually graduated with a master's degree.

He married Ann Isabella Milbanke, known as Annabella. They had one daughter, Augusta Ada, who wrote the world's first algorithm for use on a machine and is known as the first computer programmer.

Lord Byron had an older half-sister, Augusta, from his father's first marriage. They were not raised together but became close when they met as young adults. It was widely speculated that he had an incestuous relationship with her, and private correspondence between Lord Byron and Lady Melbourne suggests that Byron may have fathered Augusta's third daughter, Elizabeth Medora Leigh.

Whilst staying with his friends Percy Bysshe Shelly and Mary Godwin (later Shelley), Byron had an affair with Mary's step-sister Claire Godwin, which resulted in the birth of Alba. When she was fifteen months old, Lord Byron took responsibility for her and renamed her Allegra. Sadly, she died of a fever aged five.

Byron was a figure of controversy during his lifetime due to both his scandalous private life and the po

(1788-1824)

Who Was Lord Byron?

Lord Byron was one of the leading figures of the Romantic Movement in early 19th century England. The notoriety of his sexual escapades is surpassed only by the beauty and brilliance of his writings. After leading an unconventional lifestyle and producing a massive amount of emotionally stirring literary works, Byron died at a young age in Greece pursuing romantic adventures of heroism.

Early Life & Early Poems

Born George Gordon Byron (he later added "Noel" to his name) on January 22, 1788, Lord Byron was the sixth Baron Byron of a rapidly fading aristocratic family. A clubfoot from birth left him self-conscious most of his life. As a boy, young George endured a father who abandoned him, a schizophrenic mother and a nurse who abused him. As a result he lacked discipline and a sense of moderation, traits he held on to his entire life.

In 1798, at age 10, George inherited the title of his great-uncle, William Byron, and was officially recognized as Lord Byron. Two years later, he attended Harrow School in London, where he experienced his first sexual encounters with males and females. In 1803, Byron fell deeply in love with his distant cousin, Mary Chaworth, and this unrequited passion found expression in several poems, including "Hills of Annesley" and "The Adieu."

From 1805 to 1808, Byron attended Trinity College intermittently, engaged in many sexual escapades and fell deep into debt. During this time, he found diversion from school and partying with boxing, horse riding and gambling. In June 1807, he formed an enduring friendship with John Cam Hobhouse and was initiated into liberal politics, joining the Cambridge Whig Club.

Poems

'English Bards and Scotch Reviewers'

After receiving a scathing review of his first volume of poetry, Hours of Idleness, in 1808, Byron retaliated with the satirical poem "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers." The poem attacked the l

English Romantic poet (1788–1824)

"Byron" and "George Byron" redirect here. For other uses, see Byron (disambiguation) and George Byron (disambiguation).

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, FRS (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was a British poet and peer. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest of British poets. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narratives Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage; many of his shorter lyrics in Hebrew Melodies also became popular.

Byron was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, before he travelled extensively in Europe. He lived for seven years in Italy, in Venice, Ravenna, and Pisa after he was forced to flee England due to threats of lynching. During his stay in Italy, he would frequently visit his friend and fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Later in life, Byron joined the Greek War of Independence to fight the Ottoman Empire, for which Greeks revere him as a folk hero. He died leading a campaign in 1824, at the age of 36, from a fever contracted after the first and second sieges of Missolonghi.

His one child conceived within marriage, Ada Lovelace, w