| 乔治·戈登·拜伦 | |||
| 拜伦勋爵 | |||
阅读拜伦 George Gordon Byron在诗海的作品!!! | |||
拜伦剑桥大学毕业。曾任上议院议员。学生时代即深受启蒙思想影响。1809-1811年游历西班牙、希腊、土耳其等国，受各国人民反侵略、反压迫斗争鼓舞，创作《恰尔德·哈罗德游记》。其代表作品有《恰尔德·哈罗德游记》《唐璜》等。在他的诗歌里塑造了一批“拜伦式英雄”。他们孤傲、狂热、浪漫，却充满了反抗精神。他们内心充满了孤独与苦闷，却又蔑视群小。恰尔德·哈罗德是拜伦诗歌中第一个“拜伦式英雄”。拜伦诗中最具有代表性、战斗性，也是最辉煌的作品是他的长诗《唐璜》，诗中描绘了西班牙贵族子弟唐璜的游历、恋爱及冒险等浪漫故事，揭露了社会中黑暗、丑恶、虚伪的一面，奏响了为自由、幸福和解放而斗争的战歌。拜伦不仅是一位伟大的诗人，还是一个为理想战斗一生的勇士；他积极而勇敢地投身革命，参加了希腊民族解放运动，并成为领导人之一。
从1809－1811，拜伦出国作东方的旅行，是为了要“看看人类，而不是只方书本上读到他们”，还为了扫除“一个岛民怀着狭隘的偏见守在家门的有害后果”。在旅途中，他开始写作《恰尔德。哈洛尔德游记》和其他诗篇，并在心中酝酿未来的东方故事诗。《恰尔德。哈洛尔德游记》的第一、二章在1812年2月问世，轰动了文坛，使拜伦一跃成为伦敦社交界的明星。然而这并没有使他和英国的贵族资产阶级妥协。他自早年就自到这个社会及其统治阶级的顽固、虚伪、邪恶及偏见，他的诗一直是对这一切的抗议。
1811－1816年，拜伦一直在生活在不断的感情旋涡中。在他到处受欢迎的社交生活中，逢场作戏的爱情俯拾即是，一个年青的贵族诗人的风流韵事自然更为人津津乐道。拜伦在1813年向一位安娜·密尔班克小姐求婚，于1815年1月和她结了婚。这是拜伦一生中所铸的最大的错误。拜伦夫人是一个见解褊狭的、深为其阶级的伪善所宥的人，完全不能理解拜伦的事业和观点。婚后一年，便带着初生一个多月的女儿回到自己家中，拒绝与拜伦同居，从而使流言纷起。以此为契机，英国统治阶级对它的叛逆者拜伦进行了最疯狂的报复，以图毁灭这个胆敢在政治上与它为敌的诗人。这时期的痛苦感受，也使他写出象《普罗米修斯》那样的诗，表示向他的压迫者反抗到底的决心。
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拜伦式英雄
开放分类： 文学、外国文学、术语
拜伦式英雄:在拜伦的《东方叙事诗》中，出现了一批侠骨柔肠的硬汉，他们有海盗、异教徒、被放逐者，这些大都是高傲、孤独、倔强的叛逆者，他们与罪恶社会势不两立，孤军奋战与命运抗争，追求自由，最后总是以失败告终。拜伦通过他们的斗争表现出对社会不妥协的反抗精神，同时反映出自己的忧郁、孤独和彷徨的苦闷。由于这些形象具有作者本人的思想性格特征，因此被称作“拜伦式英雄”。
"拜伦式英雄"是指十九世纪英国浪漫主义诗人拜伦作品中的一类人物形象。他们高傲倔强，既不满现实，要求奋起反抗，具有叛逆的性格；但同时又显得忧郁、孤独、悲观，脱离群众，我行我素，始终找不到正确的出路。例如，抒情长诗《恰尔德·哈洛尔德游记》中贵公子哈洛尔德，《东方叙事诗》之一《海盗》中的主人公康拉德，哲理剧《曼弗雷德》中的主人公曼弗雷德，等等。
这类人物的思想和性格具有矛盾性：一方面，他们热爱生活，追求幸福，有火热的激情，强烈的爱情，非凡的性格；敢于蔑视现在制度，与社会恶势力誓不两立，立志复仇，因此，他们是罪恶社会的反抗者和复仇者。另一方面，他们又傲世独立，行踪诡秘，好走极端，他们的思想基础是个人主义和自由主义，在斗争中单枪匹马，远离群众，而且也没有明确的目标，因而最后以失败而告终。
"拜伦式英雄"是个人与社会对立的产物，也是作者思想的特点和弱点的艺术反映。这类人物形象相继出现于拜伦笔下，这对于当时英国的封建秩序和资产阶级市侩社会进行的猛烈冲击，是具有进步意义的。但是他们的个人主义，无政府主义和悲观厌世情绪，又往往会给读者带来消极的作用。俄国的文艺批评家另林斯基和诗人普希金都曾指出"拜伦式英雄"的思想弱点及其危害性。
拜伦在1816年4月永远离开了英国，一个传记作者说他“被赶出了国土，钱带和心灵都破了产 ，他离去了，永不在回；但他离去后，却在若恩河的激流之旁找到新的灵感，在意大利的天空下写出了使他的名字永垂不朽的作品。”
1816年，拜伦居住在瑞士，在日内瓦结识了另一个流亡的诗人雪莱，对英国发动统治的憎恨和对诗歌的同好使他们结成了密友。
拜伦在旅居国外期间，陆续写成《恰尔德 哈洛尔德游记》（1816-1817）、故事诗《锡雍的囚徒》（1816）、悲剧《曼弗雷德》（1817）长诗《青铜世纪》（1923）等。巨著《唐璜》是拜伦最重要的一组诗，半庄半谐、夹叙夹议，有现实主义的内容，又有奇突、轻松而讽刺的笔凋。第一、二章匿名发表后，立即引起巨大的反响。英国维护资产阶级体面的报刊群起而攻之，指责它对宗教和道德进攻，是“对体面、善良感情和维护社会所必须的行为准则的讥讽”，“令每个正常的头脑厌恶”，等等。
但同时，它也受到高度的赞扬。作家瓦尔特·司各特说《唐璜》“象莎士比亚一样地包罗万象，他囊括了人生的每个题目，拨动了神圣的琴上的每一根弦，弹出最细小以至最强烈最震动心灵的调子。”诗人歌德说，“《唐璜》是彻底的天才的作品--愤世到了不顾一切的辛辣程度，温柔到了优美感情的最纤细动人的地步……”。《唐璜》写完第十六章，拜伦已准备献身于希腊的民族解放运动了。
这是诗人一生最后的、也是最光辉的一业。他既憎恨发动的“神圣同盟”对欧洲各民族的压迫，也憎恨土尔其对希腊的统治。1824年，拜伦忙于战备工作，不幸遇雨受寒，一病不起，4月19日逝世。他的死使希腊人民深感悲痛，全国志哀二十一天。
回顾他的一生，他的诗，他的精神，就足以使任何能感应的人相信：拜伦不但是一个伟大的诗人，而且是世界上总会需要的一种诗人，以嘲笑其较卑劣的，并鼓舞其较崇高的行动。
作品
拜伦一生为民主、自由、民族解放的理想而斗争，而且努力创作，他的作品具有重大的历史进步意义和艺术价值，他未完成的长篇诗体小说《堂璜》，是一部气势宏伟，意境开阔，见解高超，艺术卓越的叙事长诗，在英国以至欧洲的文学史上都是罕见的。
拜伦从学生时代开始写诗，第2部诗集《闲暇的时刻》（1807）出版后受到《爱丁堡评论》的攻击，诗人乃答之以《英国诗人和苏格兰评论家》（1809）一诗，初次显露了他卓越的才华和讽刺的锋芒。1812年发表的《恰尔德·哈罗尔德游记》（第1、2章）是他的成名作。1816年，拜伦因私生活受到上流社会的排斥，愤而移居意大利。在意大利，他写了《恰尔德·哈罗尔德游记》的第3、4两章（1816、1818年）。这部抒情叙事长诗和未完成的巨著《唐璜》是他最著名的代表作。
拜伦还写了一系列长篇叙事诗，如《异教徒》（1813）、《海盗》（1814）和7部诗剧，如《曼弗雷德》（1817）、《该隐》（1821），以及许多抒情诗和讽刺诗，如《审判的幻景》（1822）。
1823年初，希腊抗土斗争高涨，拜伦放下正在写作的《唐璜》，毅然前往希腊，参加希腊志士争取自由、独立的武装斗争，1824年4月19日死于希腊军中。他的诗歌在欧洲和中国都有很大的影响。
1.The publication in 1812 of the first two cantos of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, brought Byron fame.拜伦早期代表作是长篇叙事诗《恰尔德.哈罗德游记》第一，第二章（1812）。
2. In Geneva, he wrote the third canto of Childe Harold and the narrative poem The Prisoner of Chillon.在日内瓦，拜伦写下了《哈罗德游记》第三章及叙事诗《齐伦的囚犯》。
3. he produced the verse drama Manfred, the first two cantos of Don Juan.他创作了诗剧《曼弗雷德》，《唐璜》的前两章。
4. Don Juan is Byron’s masterpiece, a great comic epic of the early 19th century.他的代表作《唐璜》是19世纪初期的著名讽刺史诗。
5. Byron invests in Juan the moral positives like courage, generosity and frankness, are virtues neglected by the modern society.拜伦在唐璜身上开发出勇敢,慷慨,诚恳直白等优点。
6. the poet’s true intention is, by making use of Juan’s adventures, to present a panoramic view of different types of society.诗人的创作意旨在于通过唐璜的游历来体现不同的社会情形。
7. Byron’s satire on the English society in the later part of the poem can be compared with Pope’s; and his satire is much less personal than that of Pope’s, for Byron is here attacking not a personal enemy but the whole hypocritical society.拜伦在诗的末尾对英国社会的讽刺与蒲柏相媲美，有过之而无不及，因为拜伦讽刺的不是个人恩怨，而是整个社会的虚伪。
8. As a leading Romanticist, Byron’s chief contribution is his creation of the “Byronic hero,” a proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin. Such a hero appears first in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, and then further developed in later works such as the Oriented Tales, Manfred, and Dan Juan in different guises.作为浪漫主义的代表诗人，拜伦的主要贡献在于他创造了“拜伦式英雄”，高傲，神秘，反叛却带有贵族血统。这种拜伦式英雄出现在《哈罗德游记》，《东方故事集》，《曼弗雷德》及《唐璜》等多部作品中。
9. Actually Byron has enriched European poetry with an abundance of ideas, images, artistic forms and innovations.拜伦以丰富的思想，想象力，艺术形式和创新欧洲的诗歌得到了发展
拜伦年谱*
1788年
1月22日，乔治·戈登·诺艾尔·拜伦（George Gordon Noel Byron)出生于伦敦霍尔斯街。
父亲家族为英国贵族世家，但父亲约翰·拜伦却是败家浪子。他因苏格兰少女凯瑟林·戈登（拜伦的母亲）有一笔丰厚的遗产而和她结婚，把她的遗产耗尽后，又弃她而浪迹欧陆。拜伦的母亲受此刺激，神经很不正常。生拜伦后，常常迁怒于他，对他苛责凌辱。而拜伦又自幼跛足。这些，就是渐渐形成了拜伦性格中的敏感、自尊、好强、孤傲、暴烈、反抗、悲观、阴郁等特点。
1789年 一岁
随母亲迁往苏格兰东海岸阿伯丁城居住。
是年法国大革命爆发，延续到1794年。这场革命打破了欧洲的封建统治秩序，推动了欧洲各国的革命运动，也使欧洲的思想文化借受到巨大的震动和深远的影响。拜伦终生都是法国大革命伟大理想的继承者和捍卫者。
1791年 三岁
夏天，父亲约翰·拜伦死于法国比利时边境。
1792年 四岁
11月，在阿伯丁入小学。
1796年 八岁
以上几年，都在阿伯丁继续读小学。
是年曾患猩红热，濒危，愈后，由母亲带往苏格兰高地勒钦伊盖峰附近乡间疗养。喜爱当地自然景色。
1798年 十岁
5月，由于伯祖父威廉·拜伦（第五代拜伦男爵）去世，承袭爵位，成为第六代拜伦男爵，并得到纽斯台德寺院（在诺丁汉郡）和罗岱尔（在兰开夏郡）两处产业。
秋后，移居诺丁汉。
作者： 小fly猴 封 2007-2-23 03:42
1799年 十一岁
在杜尔维奇，进入格伦尼博士的学校读书。爱读历史和诗歌。
是年拿破仑发动政变，自任法国第一执政。
1800年 十二岁
开始作诗。第一首诗是献给表姐玛格丽特·帕克的，已失传。
1801年 十三岁
到伦敦郊外的贵族子弟学校哈罗学校读书。
1802年 十四岁
现存拜伦诗歌中最早的一首《悼玛格丽特表姐》作于是年。
1803年 十五岁
夏天，回纽斯台德。对玛丽·按·查沃思产生爱情。
第一次会见异母姐奥古斯塔。
1804年 十六岁
和母亲同住在骚思维尔。
是年拿破仑称帝。
1805年 十七岁
夏天，毕业于哈罗学校。
10月，入剑桥大学读书。在大学期间，深受法国启蒙思想家卢梭、伏尔泰等人的思想影响，阅读了大量历史、哲学著作和启蒙运动时期的文学作品。同时，努力学习骑马、射击、拳术、游泳等。
从这时起，每年可领取五百镑生活费用。沾染了贵族子弟豪华放荡、纵情声色的习气。但是，官能的享乐只是暂时麻痹却不能从根本上消除他内心的苦闷、忧郁、怀疑、失望和孤独感。与一般执跨子弟不同的是他对这种放荡生活一方面濡染较深，另一方面又能持比较清醒的批判态度。（参看《我愿做无忧无虑的小孩》和《恰尔德·哈罗德游记》）
1806年 十八岁
夏天，到骚思维尔，一直住到1807年夏。
在女友伊丽莎白·皮戈特的鼓励下努力作诗。
1807年 十九岁
6月，第一本诗集《闲散的时光》出版。
1808年 二十岁
1月，英国文坛权威杂志《爱丁堡评论》载文抨击《闲散的时光》，拜伦于2月底谈到此文。
7月，得到文学士学位，毕业于剑桥大学。
9月，回纽斯台德。
是年英国同拿破仑法国之间的战争开始。
1809年 二十一岁
年初，移居伦敦。
3月13日，因已成年，在上议院（贵族院）获得世袭的议员席位，出席议院会议。
3月16日，著名讽刺诗《英格兰诗人和苏格兰评论家》出版。在这首诗里，拜伦不仅猛烈反击了《爱丁堡评论》对他的讥嘲，还尖锐批判了当时称霸英国诗坛的湖畔派浪漫诗人，并大胆揭露了支持各种反动势力的英国统治当局。拜伦以这首讽刺诗而在英国诗坛初露锋芒，获得声誉。
6月26日，离开英国，去东方（南欧和西亚）游历。在此后的半年内，先乘船到葡萄牙里斯本；再骑马到西班牙南部的塞维利亚和加的斯，经撒丁岛、西西里岛、马耳他岛到阿尔巴尼亚，会晤了那里的统治者阿里·帕夏；12月25日抵达希腊名城雅典。
拜伦此次出国远游，饱览了各地的自然景色，观察了各国的社会生活和政治制度，接触了各阶层的人们。他亲眼看见了给法国侵略者以沉重力击的西班牙游击队，看见了在土耳其铁骑蹂躏下正在聚集力量准备发动解放斗争的希腊人民，这次旅行也激发了他对南欧各民族文化的强烈兴趣。这些，都对他的思想和创作产生了重大影响，在阿尔巴尼亚开始写《恰尔德·哈罗德游记》第1章。
1810年 二十二岁
1月和2月，在雅典。
3月，离雅典，到小亚细亚。
5月3日，用一个小时泅渡了达达尼尔海峡，从欧洲游到了亚洲，为生平得意事。
5月14日，到君士坦丁堡。
7月，离君士坦丁堡，再到雅典。
此后，曾到伯罗奔尼撒半岛的帕特雷居住，患热病，几濒于危。
是年作《恰尔德·哈罗德游记》第2章。作讽刺诗《贺拉斯的启示》。
1811年 二十三岁
1月，住在雅典卡普申寺院。
6月13日，从马耳他岛起程回国。7月17日，返抵英国。
8月1日，母亲病逝。
从10月起，陆续作《赛沙组诗》。
1812年 二十四岁
1811-1812年，英国爆发了工人破坏机器的“卢德运动”。1812年春，英国国会制定“编制机法案”，规定凡破化机器者一律处死。2月27日，拜伦第一次以议员身份在上议院发表演说，为破坏机器的卢德派工人辩护，尖锐抨击政府当局的血腥镇压政策。随后又在报纸上发表《“编制机法案”编制者颂》一诗。
2月29日，《恰尔德·哈罗德游记》第1~2章出版。这两章实际上是作者1809-1811年漫游葡萄牙、西班牙、阿尔巴尼亚·希腊等地的诗体游记。其中歌颂了南欧人民反抗侵略压迫、争取自由解放的斗争。出版后，立即震动了英国文坛，并赢得全欧洲的声誉。1812年内重版五次。
3月10日，他说：“早晨我一觉醒来，发现自己已经成名，成了诗坛上的拿破仑。”
4月21日，第二次在国会上发表演说，猛烈抨击了英国政府对爱尔兰的压迫和奴役政策。
拜伦在国会的两次演说，以及他的那些矛头指向反动当局的诗篇，使他和英国统治集团之间开始结下不解的仇恨。
是年出版讽刺诗《密涅瓦的诅咒》。
1813年 二十五岁
4月，《华尔兹》出版。
5月，《异教徒》出版。两年内重版十四次。
12月，《阿比多斯的新娘》出版。两年内重版十次。作《海盗》。
1814年 二十六岁
1月2日，《海盗》出版。据说当天卖出一万四千册。一年之内重版七次。
由于拜伦的坚持，在《海盗》中附印了《致一位哭泣的淑女》一诗。这首诗是直接抨击当时的摄政王乔治的。拜伦因此遭到伦敦贵族社会和御用文人的围攻。
4月9日，闻拿破仑退位，作《拿破仑颂》。
4月19日，闻波旁天朝复辟，在日记中写到：“我真不愿再写日记了。波旁复辟了！什么哲学，去它的吧……”
5月，作《莱拉》。
9月，与安·伊莎贝拉·米尔班克订婚。
是年冬至次年春，作《希伯来歌曲》。
是年欧洲各国反法联军攻陷巴黎，拿破仑被流放于厄尔巴岛。
1815年 二十七岁
1月2日，与安·伊莎贝拉·米尔班克结婚。
3月，在伦敦居住。
4月，与司各特结交，甚为相得。
7月，作《围攻科林斯》。
9月，作《巴里西娜》。
上述在1813-1815年间所写的《异教徒》、《阿比多斯的新娘》、《海盗》、《莱拉》、《围攻科林斯》、《巴里西娜》等六首叙事诗，总称为《东方故事诗》。
这几首诗的主人公都是所谓“拜伦式的英雄”——热情的、意志坚强的、高傲的、英勇不屈的、然后又是孤独的、阴郁的、个人主义的、与社会对立的反抗者和叛逆者。《东方故事诗》即反映了拜伦的决不调和妥协的反抗精神，也反映了拜伦在欧洲革命低潮时期的彷徨、苦闷、怀疑和失望。
12月10日，女儿奥古斯塔·艾达出世。
是年拿破仑重返巴黎，建立“百日王朝”，复于滑铁卢战役中大败，被流放于圣赫勒拉岛（以前称“圣海伦娜”）。
俄、普、奥等国政府结成所谓的“神圣同盟”，力图在欧洲维护封建统治秩序，扑灭各国的革命和民族独立运动。在此后的数年中，拜伦致力于反对“神圣同盟”的斗争，成为欧洲各国进步势力反动“神圣同盟”的思想领袖。
1816年 二十八岁
1月15日，米尔班克离伦敦返回母亲家。2月，提出与拜伦分居。
3月11日，拜伦同意分居。
英国贵族社会、教会、反动派人以拜伦妻子出走为口实，再次对拜伦大肆围剿，规模之大、声势之猛，远超过1814年那一次。
3月至7月，以这次昏变为题材，陆续作《家室篇》诸诗。《家室篇》于1816年在伦敦出版，到1817年竟出到第二十三版。
4月25日，拜伦永远离开英国。
先到比利时，凭吊了滑铁卢战场。溯莱茵河至瑞士，5月25日抵日内瓦，在莱蒙湖畔住了四个多月。在这里结识了雪莱夫妇，时相过从。雪莱的无神论和乐观主义对拜伦的思想和创作产生了有益的影响。
6月，完成了《恰尔德·哈罗德游记》第3章。这一章实际上是作者1816年旅居比利时和瑞士的见闻和感受。他在这一章中抨论了欧洲发生过的一些重大历史事件，反映了1815年拿破仑覆败以后欧洲历史新阶段的面貌。
6-9月，作《锡壅的囚徒》、《梦》、《黑暗》、《普罗米修斯》诸诗。
8月，雪莱夫妇离日内瓦。
9月，游阿尔卑斯山。开始创作诗剧《曼弗瑞德》。
10月，离瑞士到意大利，先到米兰。
11月，到威尼斯。在此后的三年中，基本上住在这里，直到1819年末迁往拉文纳。
当时意大利北部是在奥地利帝国统治下。意大利人民受着本国封建阶级和奥地利独裁政权的双重压迫，对压迫者怀着极大的仇恨。正如拜伦所说：“全国就像上了子弹的抢，许多手指头都在动，想扳动抢机。”拜伦到威尼斯后不久，就和谋求意大利独立的秘密革命组织“烧碳党”发生接触。后来，这种联系日益增强，拜伦积极参加了在伦巴第区开展的意大利民族解放运动，并因此受到警察的跟踪。
1817年 二十九岁
1月12日，与珍妮·克莱尔蒙特所生的女儿阿列格拉出世。
2月，《曼弗瑞德》脱稿。
4月-5月，经过费拉、佛罗伦萨，游罗马。作《塔克的哀歌》。重写《曼弗瑞德》第3幕。
6月，由罗马返威尼斯。
7月，完成《恰尔德·哈罗德游记》第4章。在这一章中，表现了对意大利民族解放斗争和人民命运的关怀。
10月，作叙事诗《别波》。
11月，卖掉纽斯台德寺院。
1818年 三十岁
7月，作《威尼斯颂》
8月，雪莱来威尼斯想见。
9月，完成《堂·璜》第1章。
秋冬之间，雪莱作《朱利安与马达洛》一诗，实际上是对拜伦的悲观主义，蔑视群众、与群众相对立的情绪提出善意的批评和规劝。从拜伦尔后的作品和实际行动来看，他似乎在某种程度上接受了雪莱的批评。
11月，完成长诗《马泽巴》。
1819年 三十一岁
1月，完成《堂·璜》第2章。
4月，结识了特瑞萨·归齐奥利伯爵夫人，并和她相爱。后来特瑞萨与丈夫离居，与拜伦同居。
特瑞萨和她的父亲都是烧碳党人，她的哥哥彼得罗·甘巴是该党重要领导人之一。通过甘巴，拜伦进一步卷入了烧碳党的革命活动。
5月下旬，到拉文纳。
8月，到博洛尼亚。和当地秘密革命组织接触，并捐款资助他们购买武器。
9月，返威尼斯。
10月，托马斯·穆尔来威尼斯想见。
11月，完成《堂·璜》第3章（其中包括著名的政治抒情诗《哀希腊》）。
12月，作《堂·璜》第4章。
12月下旬，由威尼斯移居拉文纳，与特瑞萨和甘巴同住。
1820年 三十二岁
是年在拉文纳，积极参与烧碳党人反抗奥地利统治的革命活动，为党人草拟革命传单、宣言等文件。奥地利当局视他为眼中钉，检查他的信件，禁止他的作品出版发行，派警察对他盯梢，甚至雇了刺客准备暗杀他。拜伦并不畏惧，每天照常骑马外出。
3月，作《但丁的预言》。
4月-7月，作历史剧《马里诺·法利埃罗》，描写十四世纪威尼斯总督法利埃罗企图推翻贵族寡头暴政而终归失败的事迹。剧中通过主人公如下一段独自阐述了暴力革命的正义性：“用什么方法呢？目的崇高，任何方法都是合理的。人流出几滴血又算什么？这算不得人血，暴君流的血不是人血。暴君就像吃人的摩洛（要儿童作献的神。屡见于《旧约》），喝我们的血，他们把多少人送进了坟墓，到头来自己也被送进坟墓。”剧中还描写了四个忠心耿耿为争取人民权利而斗争的平民领袖。这个剧本中出现的人物形象，已远非《东方故事诗》那些个人主义、孤独绝望的反抗者所能比拟的。
7月，烧碳党人在那不勒斯发动起义。接着，西西里也爆发起义。但是，却遭到反动统治者的镇压。许多意大利爱国志士都被投入监狱，或流放，或处死。
10月-11月，完成《堂·璜》第5章。
1821年 三十三岁
春天，意大利西北部有几个城市爆发了革命起义。
拜伦同甘巴和烧碳党其他领导一起，为在艾米利亚-罗马地区举行革命起义筹划和各项准备。起义者把拜伦视为他们中的领导者之一。
拜伦1月11日日记：“当整个民族的命运处在危险之中，即使我个人的事情进展顺利。我也感觉不到多少欢乐。如果有可能大大改善人民的处境（尤其是这些被压迫的意大利人），我决不计较个人的得失。”
但是，拜伦对烧碳党人脱离群众的斗争方式深感忧虑。1月24日日记：“如果他们当真发动起义，我很怀疑：他们动员起来的总人数能不能达到一千。根本问题在于：民众没有卷入斗争。是限于中上层。……要是有农民支持他们多好！”（农民二字，拜伦当时加了着重号）
2月18日日记：“今天我没有得到我党同志的消息。但这几天里，我住宅下面两层已经堆满了他们的枪支、子弹、火药和其他东西。我猜想，他们大概要把我这里当作他们储藏军火的密窑。到不得已的时候，只好把我牺牲了。但这一点并不十分重要，只要意大利人真的能得到解放。这实在是一个伟大的目标——差不多就是政治上的一种诗。只要想想——一个自由的意大利！”
2月24日日记：“我所能付出的一切——金钱、其他财产、甚至生命——我却可以付出，为了他们的解放。”
5月，作历史剧《萨达纳巴勒斯》
7月，作历史剧《福斯卡利父子》
8月6日，雪莱来拉文纳相见。
7-9月，作诗剧《该隐》。此剧同基督教《圣经》大唱反调。大胆指出上帝（耶和华）是一个凶残邪恶的暴君，是世间一切罪恶和不幸的总根子。剧中赞美反抗上帝的该隐，赞美同上帝分庭抗礼的“恶魔”卢息弗，谴责在上帝面前恭顺服从的奴性，表现了反抗到底，决不妥协的叛逆精神。此剧受到歌德、雪莱、司各特和托马斯·穆尔等人的热烈称赞。雪莱说，此剧表明拜伦是“弥尔顿以后无敌的大诗人”。但英国贵族社会和教会则为之哗然，群起挞伐之，谥拜伦为“恶魔”，大法官艾尔登也亲自出马，诋毁此剧。
9月，作讽刺诗《爱尔兰的万家生佛》，猛烈抨击当时的英王乔治四世。
10月，作诗剧《天与地》，非难基督教教义，职责教会和教士。
作讽刺长诗《审判的幻景》。揭露英国的反动统治者，特别是指斥死去不久的英王乔治三世的种种罪恶，说他是自由的头号敌人，并狠狠鞭挞给这个无道昏君溜须拍马的御用文人骚塞。这首诗被认为是讽刺诗中的典范。
由于烧碳党所组织的革命起义以失败告终，甘巴一家被当地公安局勒令出境。10月末，拜伦离拉文纳，移居比萨。到比萨后，他们自然受到警察、暗探的盯梢。
在比萨与雪莱来往。
11月，作诗剧《变形的畸形儿》。
是年拿破仑死于圣海伦娜岛（今称圣赫勒拉岛）。
1822年 三十四岁
1月，作悲剧《沃纳》。
2月，作《堂·璜》第6-8章。
4月20日，女儿阿列格拉死。
5月，偕同甘巴一家移居里窝娜。
夏天，与雪莱一起，邀请在英国受到迫害的李·亨特前来意大利，共同筹办文学期刊《自由人》。
7月8日，雪莱溺死于斯塔西亚湾。
8月16日，火葬雪莱。
8月，作《堂·璜》第9-11章。
9月，因甘巴一家又遭当地政府驱逐，拜伦偕同他们移居热那亚。
10月，《自由人》创刊号在伦敦出版。由于刊登了拜伦的《审判的幻景》，该刊出版人受到法庭审讯，被判罚金。
11月，欧洲各国反动统治者在意大利维罗纳召开“科里同盟”会议，商讨镇压西班牙等国的革命活动的对策。12月，拜伦开始写长诗《青铜时代》，以维罗那会议为题材，用讽刺笔法描绘了俄皇亚历山大一世、法王路易十六、英国统帅威灵顿等人的肖像，猛烈抨击“神圣同盟”的反动政策，赞美反抗奴役、挣拖锁链的西班牙等国人民。
1823年 三十五岁
2月，作长诗《岛》。
坐《堂·璜》最后几章。
意大利烧碳党失败后，拜伦的注意力转向希腊的民族解放斗争。他要求加入伦敦成立的“英国支援希腊独立委员会”。并向该委员会表示：他愿意直接参与希腊的独立战争。是年5月，该委员会同意了拜伦的意见。于是，他决定亲赴希腊战场，并决定把他变卖罗岱尔庄园所得款项和稿费积蓄都拿出来支援希腊的独立事业。
7月中旬，偕同甘巴等人，雇英国大船“赫拉克勒斯号”，带炮四门，其他军械若干，马五匹，药品若干，西班牙币五万元，从意大利海岸出发，前往希腊。起程前，收到歌德来信，向他表示祝贺和钦佩。
8月3日，抵达希腊凯法利尼亚岛。拜伦的到来使希腊军民群情振奋、声势愈盛。
上书希腊独立政府，陈述意见。
为军队的整顿、训练和作战进行各项准备工作。
12月28日，离凯法利尼亚岛，前往迈索隆吉翁。途中与土耳其军队遭遇，几乎被俘。又因遇到风暴，在德拉戈梅斯特里停留了三天。
《堂·璜》第9-11章，第12-14章先后于是年出版。
1824年 三十六岁
1月5日，抵迈索隆吉翁，受到万人空巷的盛大欢迎。
1月22日，作最后一首诗《这天我满三十六岁》。
后来，他被希腊独立政府任命为希腊独立军一个方面军的总司令。
在迈索隆吉翁的三个多月时间里，调节他们之间的分歧，并进行了反土耳其间谍的斗争。在军事上，致力于独立军的组织建设，统一军队指挥，整顿部队纪律，雇请外国军官训练士兵，招募来自各苏里士兵，自费支付其军饷，主持军械的修配和存储工作，建立海军，在经济上，致力于筹措战费，购置军火和各种军需品，并捐献自己的财产，作为独立军的医药和军需费用。每天和士兵同吃一样的伙食，和士兵一道参加军事训练。
准备带领一支部队攻打勒庞托港。因军中一部分士兵发生骚乱而未果。
由于希腊独立运动的领导之间发生了纠纷，决定召开一次全希腊会议来协商解决。
在此期间，拜伦因操劳过度而患病。病愈未久，于4月9日出行遇雨。同行的甘巴劝他回去。当天即因受寒而病倒。第二天病情转重，一再昏迷。迁延至4月18日，他自知不起，说：“不幸的人们！不幸的希腊！为了她，我付出了我的时间，我的财产，我的健康，现在，又加上我的性命。此外，我还能做什么呢？”夜间，他在昏迷中呓语：“前进——前进——要勇敢！”4月19日，拜伦去世。
希腊的独立政府宣布拜伦之死为国葬，全国哀悼三天。
举行殡礼时，希腊士兵列队肃立街头，一队牧师跟着灵柩高唱赞歌。灵柩上置宝剑一柄，盔甲一套，桂冠一顶。诗人生前的坐骑也跟在其后。
6月29日，灵柩运抵伦敦。
英国政府和教会拒绝把拜伦的遗骨安葬于威斯敏斯特教堂（英国知名人士国葬地点）。
7月12日，举行葬礼，16日，安葬于纽斯台德附近的赫克诺尔。墓碑上的铭文是按照拜伦异母姊奥古斯塔的意见起草的，铭文说：“他在1824年4月19日死于希腊西部的迈索隆吉翁，当时他正在英勇奋斗，企图为希腊夺回她往日的自由和光荣。”
《堂·璜》第15章-16章和诗剧《天与地》均于是年出版。
拜伦名言
无论如何，总不能敲已过去了的时钟
逆境是通往真理的唯一通道
His daughter Ada Lovelace, notable in her own right, collaborated with Charles Babbage on the analytical engine, a predecessor to modern computers.
Byron's names changed throughout his life. He was christened George Gordon Byron in London. "Gordon" was a baptismal name, not a surname, honouring his maternal grandfather. In order to claim his wife's estate in Scotland, Byron's father took the additional surname Gordon, becoming John Byron Gordon, and was occasionally styled John Byron Gordon of Gight. Byron himself used this surname for a time, and was registered at school in Aberdeen as George Byron Gordon. At the age of 10, he inherited the English Barony of Byron, becoming Lord Byron, and eventually dropped the double surname (though after this point his surname was hidden by his peerage in any event). When his mother-in-law died, her will required that he change his surname to Noel in order to inherit half her estate, and so he obtained a Royal Warrant allowing him to "take and use the surname of Noel only". Very unusually, the Royal Warrant also allowed him to "subscribe the said surname of Noel before all titles of honour", and from that point he signed himself "Noel Byron" (the usual signature of a peer being merely the peerage, in this case simply "Byron"). He was also sometimes referred to as Lord Noel Byron, as if "Noel" were part of his title, and likewise his wife was sometimes called Lady Noel Byron. Lady Byron eventually succeeded to the Barony of Wentworth, becoming Lady Wentworth; her surname before marriage had been "Milbanke".
Children
Lord Byron had one legitimate child with Anne Isabella Noel Byron, Lady Byron; later Lady Wentworth:
The Hon. Ada Augusta Byron (10 December 1815-29 November 1852); later Countess of Lovelace
He also had one illegitimate child with Claire Clairmont, stepsister of Mary Shelley and stepdaughter of Political Justice and Caleb Williams writer, William Godwin:
Clara Allegra Noel-Byron (12 January 1817-20 April 1822).
Allegra is not entitled to the style "The Hon." as is usually given to the daughter of barons since she is illegitimate.
Early life
Catherine Gordon, Byron's mother
The mountain Lochnagar is the subject of one of Byron's poems, in which he reminsces about his childhoodByron was born in London, the son of Captain John "Mad Jack" Byron and his second wife, the former Catherine Gordon, heiress of Gight in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. His paternal grandparents were Vice-Admiral John "Foulweather Jack" Byron and Sophia Trevanion. At the age of 10, George inherited the title and estates of his great-uncle, the "wicked" Lord Byron. His mother proudly took him to England. (John Byron had circumnavigated the globe and was the younger brother of the 5th Baron Byron, known as "the Wicked Lord".) From birth, Byron suffered from talipes of the right foot, causing a limp, which resulted in lifelong misery for him, aggravated by the suspicion that with proper care it might have been cured. He was christened George Gordon at St Marylebone Parish Church, after his maternal grandfather, George Gordon of Gight, a descendant of King James I. This grandfather committed suicide in 1779. Byron's mother Catherine had to sell her land and title to pay her father's debts. John Byron may have married Catherine for her money and, after squandering it, deserted her. Catherine moved back to Scotland shortly afterwards, where she raised her son in Aberdeen. On 21 May 1798, the death of his great-uncle made him the 6th Baron Byron, inheriting Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire, England. Byron only lived there infrequently as the Abbey was rented to Lord Grey de Ruthyn among others during Byron's adolescence. In August 1799 Byron entered the school of a Dr Glennie, an Aberdonian, in Dulwich.
He received his early formal education at Aberdeen Grammar School. In 1801 he was sent to Harrow, where he remained until 1805. He represented Harrow during the very first Eton v Harrow cricket match at Lord's in 1805; a match that has been played every year since. After school he went on to Trinity College, Cambridge. While not at school or college, he lived, in some antagonism, with his mother at Burgage Manor in Southwell, Nottinghamshire. While there, he cultivated friendships with Elizabeth Pigot and her brother, John, with whom he staged two plays for the delight of the community. During this time, with the help of Elizabeth Pigot, who copied many of his rough drafts, he was encouraged to write his first volumes of poetry. "Fugitive Pieces" was the first, printed by Ridge of Newark, which contained poems written when Byron was only fourteen. However, it was promptly recalled and burned on the advice of his friend, the Reverend Thomas Becher, on account of its more amorous verses, particularly the poem "To Mary". "Pieces on Various Occasions", a "miraculously chaste" revision according to Byron, was published after this. "Hours of Idleness", which collected many of the previous poems, along with more recent compositions, was the culminating book. The savage criticism this received—anonymously, but now known to be the work of Henry Peter Brougham—in the Edinburgh Review prompted his first major satire, "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers". While at Trinity, he met and shortly fell deeply in love with a fifteen year old choirboy by the name of John Edleston. About his "protégé" he wrote, "He has been my almost constant associate since October, 1805, when I entered Trinity College. His voice first attracted my attention, his countenance fixed it, and his manners attached me to him for ever." Later, upon learning of his friend's death, he wrote, "I have heard of a death the other day that shocked me more than any, of one whom I loved more than any, of one whom I loved more than I ever loved a living thing, and one who, I believe, loved me to the last." In his memory Byron composed Thyrza, a series of elegies, in which he changed the pronouns from masculine to feminine so as not to offend sensibilities.
Travels to the East
From 1809 to 1811, Byron went on the Grand Tour then customary for a young nobleman. The Napoleonic Wars forced him to avoid most of Europe, and he instead turned to the Mediterranean. Correspondence among his circle of Cambridge friends also makes clear that a key motive was the hope of homosexual experience. He travelled from England over Spain to Albania and spent time there and in Athens. While in Athens he had a torrid love affair with Nicolò Giraud, a boy of fifteen or sixteen who taught him Italian. In gratitude for the boy's love Byron sent him to school at a monastery in Malta and bequeathed him seven thousand pounds sterling—almost double what he was later to spend refitting the Greek fleet. For most of the trip, he had a travelling companion in his friend John Cam Hobhouse. On this tour, the first two cantos of his epic poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage were written, though some of the more risqué passages, such as those touching on pederasty, were suppressed before publication.
Beginning of poetic career
As previously mentioned, some early verses which he had published in 1806 were suppressed. He followed those in 1807 with Hours of Idleness, which the Edinburgh Review, a Whig periodical, savagely attacked. In reply, Byron sent forth English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809), which created considerable stir and shortly went through five editions. While some authors resented being satirized in its first edition, over time in subsequent editions it became a mark of prestige to be the target of Byron's pen.
After his return from his travels, the first two cantos of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage were published in 1812, and were received with acclaim. In his own words, "I awoke one morning and found myself famous." He followed up his success with the poem's last two cantos, as well as four equally celebrated Oriental Tales, The Giaour, The Bride of Abydos, The Corsair, and Lara, which established the Byronic hero. About the same time began his intimacy with his future biographer, Thomas Moore.
Political career
Byron eventually took his seat in the House of Lords in 1811, shortly after his return from the Levant, and made his first speech there on 27 February 1812. A strong advocate of social reform, he received particular praise as one of the few Parliamentary defenders of the Luddites. He was opposed to the established religion. These experiences inspired Byron to write political poems such as "Song for the Luddites" (1816) and "The Landlords' Interest" (1823). Examples of poems where he attacked his political opponents include "Wellington: The Best of the Cut-Throats" (1819) and "The Intellectual Eunuch Castlereagh" (1818). Note: "The Landlords' Interest" will not be found in any Byron anthology; it is Canto XIV of "The Age Of Bronze" (1823).
Affairs and scandals
Byron's house in Southwell, NottinghamshireUltimately he was to live abroad to escape the censure of British society, where men could be forgiven for sexual misbehaviour only up to a point, one which Byron far surpassed.
In an early scandal, Byron embarked in 1812 on a well-publicised affair with Lady Caroline Lamb. Byron eventually broke off the relationship, and Lady Caroline never entirely recovered, pursuing him even after he tired of her. She was emotionally disturbed and lost so much weight that Byron cruelly commented to her mother-in-law, his friend Lady Melbourne, that he was "haunted by a skeleton." She began to call on him at home, sometimes dressed in disguise, at a time when such an act could ruin both of them socially. One day, during such a visit, she wrote on a book at his desk, "Remember me!" As a retort, Byron wrote a poem beginning: "Remember thee!" and ending "Thou false to him, thou fiend to me."
As a child, Byron had seen little of his half-sister Augusta Leigh; in adulthood, he formed a close relationship with her that has widely been interpreted as incestuous. Augusta had been separated from her husband since 1811 when she gave birth on 15 April 1814 to a daughter, Elizabeth Medora Leigh. The extent of Byron's joy over the birth has been construed as evidence that he was Medora's father, a theory reinforced by the many passionate poems he wrote to Augusta.
Eventually Byron began to court Lady Caroline's cousin Anne Isabella Milbanke ("Annabella"), who refused his first proposal of marriage but later accepted. They married at Seaham Hall, County Durham, on 2 January 1815. The marriage proved unhappy. He treated her poorly and showed disappointment at the birth of a daughter (Augusta Ada), rather than a son. On 16 January 1816, Lady Byron left him, taking Ada with her. On 21 April, Byron signed the Deed of Separation. Rumours of marital violence, adultery with actresses, incest with Augusta, and sodomy were circulated, assisted by a jealous Lady Caroline. In a letter, Augusta quoted him as saying: "Even to have such a thing said is utter destruction & ruin to a man from which he can never recover."
After this break-up of his domestic life, Byron again left England, as it turned out, for ever. He passed through Belgium and up the Rhine; with his personal physician, John William Polidori he settled at the Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva, Switzerland, in the summer of 1816. There he became friends with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Shelley's wife-to-be Mary Godwin. He was also joined by Mary's stepsister, Claire Clairmont, with whom he had had an affair in London. Byron initially refused to have anything to do with Claire, and would only agree to remain in her presence with the Shelleys, who eventually persuaded Byron to accept and provide for Allegra, the child she bore him in January 1817.
At the Villa Diodati, kept indoors by the "incessant rain" of "that wet, ungenial summer", over three days in June the five turned to reading fantastical stories, including "Fantasmagoriana" (in the French edition), and then devising their own tales. Mary Shelley produced what would become Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus and Polidori was inspired by a fragmentary story of Byron's to produce The Vampyre, the progenitor of the romantic vampire genre. Byron's story fragment was published as a postscript to Mazeppa; he also wrote the third canto of Childe Harold. Byron wintered in Venice, but in 1817 he journeyed to Rome; returning to Venice he wrote the fourth canto of Childe Harold. About the same time he sold Newstead and published Manfred, Cain, and The Deformed Transformed. The first five cantos of Don Juan were written between 1818 and 1820, during which period he made the acquaintance of the Countess Guiccioli, who soon separated from her husband. It was about this time that he received a visit from Moore, to whom he confided his autobiography, which Moore, in the exercise of the discretion left to him, burned in 1824.
Byron and the Armenians
In 1816 Byron visited Saint Lazarus Island in Venice where he acquainted himself with Armenian culture through the Mekhitarist Order. He learned the Armenian language from Fr. H. Avgerian and attended many seminars about language and history. He wrote "English grammar and the Armenian" in 1817, and "Armenian grammar and the English" (1819) in which he quoted samples from classical and modern Armenian. He participated in the compilation of "English Armenian dictionary" (1821) and wrote the preface where he explained the relationship of the Armenians with and the oppression of the Turkish "pashas" and the Persian satraps, and their struggle of liberation. His two main translations are the "Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians", several chapters of Khorenatsi's "Armenian History" and sections of Lambronatsi's "Orations". When in Polis he discovered discrepancies in the Armenian vs the English version of the Bible and translated some passages that were either missing or deficient in the English version. His fascination was so great that he even considered a replacement of Cain story of the Bible with that of the legend of Armenian patriarch Haik. He may be credited with the birth of Armenology and its propagation. His profound lyricism and ideological courage has inspired many Armenian poets, the likes of Fr. Ghevond Alishan, Smbat Shahaziz, Hovhannes Tumanyan, Ruben Vorberian and others.
Byron in Italy and Greece
Further information: Greek War of Independence
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, painted by Thomas Phillips in 1813In 1821–22 he finished cantos 6–12 of Don Juan at Pisa, and in the same year he joined with Leigh Hunt and Percy Bysshe Shelley in starting a short-lived newspaper, The Liberal, in the first number of which appeared The Vision of Judgment. His last Italian home was Genoa, where he was still accompanied by the Countess Guiccioli, and where he met Charles John Gardiner, 1st Earl of Blessington and Marguerite, Countess of Blessington and provided the material for her work "Conversations with Lord Byron", an important text in the reception of Byron in the period immediately after his death.
Byron lived in Genoa until 1823 when—growing bored with his life there and with the Countess—he accepted overtures for his support from representatives of the movement for Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire. On July 16, Byron left Genoa on the Hercules, arriving at Kefalonia in the Ionian Islands on August 4. He spent £4000 of his own money to refit the Greek fleet, then sailed for Messolonghi in western Greece, arriving on December 29 to join Alexandros Mavrokordatos, a Greek politician with military power.
Mavrokordatos and Byron planned to attack the Turkish-held fortress of Lepanto, at the mouth of the Gulf of Corinth. Byron employed a fire-master to prepare artillery and took part of the rebel army under his own command and pay, despite his lack of military experience, but before the expedition could sail, on 15 February 1824, he fell ill, and the usual remedy of bleeding weakened him further. He made a partial recovery, but in early April he caught a violent cold which the bleeding — insisted on by his doctors — aggravated. The cold became a violent fever, and he died on April 19.
Post mortem
Lord Byron on his deathbed as depicted by Joseph-Denis Odevaere c.1826 Oil on canvas, 166 × 234.5 cm Groeninge Museum, Bruges. Note the sheet covering his misshapen right foot.The Greeks mourned Lord Byron deeply, and he became a hero. The national poet of Greece, Dionysios Solomos wrote a poem about his unexpected loss, named To the Death of Lord Byron (Εις το Θάνατο του Λόρδου Μπάιρον). Βύρων (Vyron), the Greek form of "Byron", continues in popularity as a masculine name in Greece, and a suburb of Athens is called Vyronas in his honour. His body was embalmed and his heart buried under a tree in Messolonghi. His remains were sent to England for burial in Westminster Abbey, but the Abbey refused. He is buried at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Hucknall, Nottingham. At her request, Ada, the child he never knew, was buried next to him. In later years, the Abbey allowed a duplicate of a marble slab given by the King of Greece, which is laid directly above Byron's grave. In 1969, 145 years after Byron's death, a memorial to him was finally placed in Westminster Abbey.
Upon his death, the barony passed to a cousin, George Anson Byron (1789–1868), a career military officer and Byron's polar opposite in temperament and lifestyle.
Poetic works
Byron wrote prolifically. In 1833 his publisher, John Murray, released the complete works in 17 duodecimo volumes, including a life by Thomas Moore. His magnum opus, Don Juan, a poem spanning 17 cantos, ranks as one of the most important long poems published in England since Milton's Paradise Lost. Don Juan, Byron's masterpiece, often called the epic of its time, has roots deep in literary tradition and, although regarded by early Victorians as somewhat shocking, equally involves itself with its own contemporary world at all levels—social, political, literary and ideological.
Lord Byron (1803), as painted by Marie Louise Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun.The Byronic hero pervades much of Byron's work. Scholars have traced the literary history of the Byronic hero from Milton, and many authors and artists of the Romantic movement show Byron's influence -- during the 19th century and beyond. The Byronic hero presents an idealised but flawed character whose attributes include :
having great talent
exhibiting great passion
having a distaste for society and social institutions
expressing a lack of respect for rank and privilege
thwarted in love by social constraint or death
rebelling
suffering exile
hiding an unsavoury past
arrogance, overconfidence or lack of foresight
ultimately, acting in a self-destructive manner
Although Byron falls chronologically into the period most commonly associated with Romantic poetry, much of his work looks back to the satiric tradition of Pope and Dryden. In Canto III of Don Juan, he expresses his detestation for poets such as Wordsworth and Coleridge. The most striking thing about Byron’s poetry is its strength and masculinity. Trenchantly witty, he used unflowery and colloquial language in many poems, such as Written after Swimming from Sestos to Abydos. His talent for drama was expressed in the vibrantly galloping rhythms of The Destruction of Sennacherib. However, poems such as When We Two Parted and So We’ll Go No More A-Roving express strong feelings in simple and touching language. He made little use of imagery and did not aspire to write of things beyond this world; the Victorian critic John Ruskin wrote of him that he spoke only of what he had seen and known; and spoke without exaggeration, without mystery, without enmity, and without mercy.
His attitude towards writing poetry is summed up well in a letter to Thomas Moore on July 5th 1821:
I can never get people to understand that poetry is the expression of excited passion, and that there is no such thing as a life of passion any more than a continuous earthquake, or an eternal fever. Besides, who would ever shave themselves in such a state?
Lord Byron and the Parthenon marbles
Further information: Elgin Marbles
Byron was a bitter opponent of Lord Elgin's removal of the Parthenon marbles from Greece, and "reacted with fury" when Elgin's agent gave him a tour of the Parthenon in which he saw the missing friezes and metopes. He penned a poem, "The curse of Minerva", to denounce Elgin's actions:
[...]
I saw successive tyrannies expire.
'Scaped from the ravage of the Turk and Goth,
Thy country sends a spoiler worse than both.
Survey this vacant, violated fane;
Recount the relics torn that yet remain
[...]
The insulted wall sustains his hated name.
For Elgin's fame thus grateful Pallas pleads,
Below, his name—above, behold his deeds!
Character
Lord Byron, by all accounts, had a very particularly magnetic personality—one may say astonishingly so. He obtained a reputation as being unconventional, eccentric, flamboyant and controversial. He was given to extremes of temper. Byron had a great fondness for animals, most famously for a Newfoundland dog named Boatswain; when Boatswain contracted rabies, Byron reportedly nursed him without any fear of becoming bitten and infected. Boatswain lies buried at Newstead Abbey and has a monument larger than his master's. The inscription, Byron's "Epitaph to a Dog", has become one of his best-known works, reading in part:
Near this Spot
are deposited the Remains of one
who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferosity,
and all the Virtues of Man without his Vices.
This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery
if inscribed over human Ashes,
is but a just tribute to the Memory of
BOATSWAIN, a DOG,
who was born in Newfoundland May 1803,
and died at Newstead Nov.r 18th, 1808.
Byron also kept a bear while he was a student at Trinity College, Cambridge (reputedly out of resentment of Trinity rules forbidding pet dogs—he later suggested that the bear apply for a college fellowship). At other times in his life, Byron kept a fox, monkeys, a parrot, cats, an eagle, a crow, a crocodile, a falcon, peacocks, guinea hens, an Egyptian crane, a badger, geese, and a heron.
Lasting influence
Lord Byron as portrayed by Jonny Lee Miller in a 2003 BBC dramaThe re-founding of the Byron Society in 1971 reflects the fascination that many people have for Byron and his work. This society has become very active, publishing a learned annual journal. Today some 36 International Byron Societies function throughout the world, and an International Conference takes place annually. Hardly a year passes without a new book about the poet appearing. In the last 20 years two new feature films about him have screened, and a television play has been broadcast.
Byron exercised a marked influence on Continental literature and art, and his reputation as poet is higher in many European countries than in Britain or America, although not as high as in his time.
A complete picture of Byron's character has only been possible in recent years with the freeing up of the archive of Murray, Byron's original publishers, who had formerly withheld compromising letters and instructed at least one major biographer (Leslie A. Marchand) to censor details of his bisexuality.
Fictional depictions
Byron is the main character of the film Byron by the Greek film maker Nikos Koundouros.
Byron's spirit is one of the title characters of the "Ghosts of Albion" books by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden, published by Del Rey in 2005 and 2006.
Byron is an immortal still alive in modern times in the hit television show Highlander: The Series in the 5th season episode "The Modern Prometheus", living as a decadent rock star.
John Crowley's novel Lord Byron's Novel: The Evening Land At Night (2005) involves the rediscovery of a lost manuscript by Lord Byron, as does Frederic Prokosch's The Missolonghi Manuscript (1968).
Tom Holland, in his 1995 novel The Vampyre, romantically describes how Lord Byron became a vampire during his first visit to Greece—a fictional transformation that explains much of his subsequent behaviour towards family and friends, and finds support in quotes from Byron poems and the diaries of John Cam Hobhouse. It is written as though Byron is retelling part of his life to his great great great great granddaughter. He describes traveling in Greece, Italy, Switzerland, meeting Percy Bysshe Shelley, Shelley's death and many other events in life around that time. The Byron as vampire character returns in the 1996 sequel Supping with Panthers.
Byron appears as a character in Tim Powers' The Stress of Her Regard (1989) and Walter Jon Williams' novella Wall, Stone Craft (1994), and also in Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2004).
Byron and Percy & Mary Shelley are portrayed in the Roger Corman's final film Frankenstein Unbound where the time traveler Dr. Buchanan (played by John Hurt) meets them as well as Victor von Frankenstein (played by Raul Julia).
The Black Drama by Manly Wade Wellman (Weird Tales, 1938; Fearful Rock and Other Precarious Locales, 2001) involves the rediscovery and production of a lost play by Byron (from which Polidori's The Vampyre was plagiarised) by a man who purports to be a descendant of the poet.
Tom Stoppard's play Arcadia revolves around a modern researcher's attempts to find out what made Byron leave the country.
Television portrayals include a major 2003 BBC drama on Byron's life, and minor appearances in Highlander: The Series (as well as the Shelleys), Blackadder the Third, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, and episode 60 ("The Darkling") of Star Trek: Voyager.
He makes an appearance in the alternative history novel The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. In a Britain powered by the massive, steam-driven, mechanical computers invented by Charles Babbage, he is leader of the "Industrial Radical Party", eventually becoming Prime Minister.
The events featuring the Shelley's and Lord Byron's relationship at the house beside Lake Geneva in 1816 have been fictionalized in film, at least three times.
A 1986 British production, Gothic, directed by Ken Russell, and starring Gabriel Byrne as Byron.
A 1988 Spanish production, Rowing with the Wind (Remando al viento), starring Hugh Grant as Byron.
A 1988 U.S.A. production Haunted Summer. Adapted by Lewis John Carlino from the speculative novel by Anne Edwards, staring Philip Anglim as Lord Byron.
The writer and novelist, Benjamin Markovits, is in the process of producing a fictional trilogy about the life of Byron. Imposture (2007) looked at the poet via his friend and doctor, John Polidori. A Quiet Adjustment, which came out in January 2008, is an account of Byron's marriage more sympathetic to his wife, Annabella, than many of its predecessors. He is currently writing the third instalment.
Musical settings of, or music inspired by, poems by Byron
Hector Berlioz—Harold en Italie (1834) Symphony in four movements for viola and orchestra
Giuseppe Verdi—Il corsaro (1848) Opera in three acts
Giuseppe Verdi—I due Foscari (1844) Opera in three acts
Robert Schumann—Overture and incidental music to Manfred (1849)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky—Manfred Symphony in B minor, Op.58 (1885)
Hugo Wolf—"Vier Gedichte nach Heine, Shakespeare und Lord Byron" (1896) for voice and piano: 3. Sonne der Schlummerlosen 4. Keine gleicht von allen Schönen
Pietro Mascagni, "Parisina" (1916) Opera in four acts
Germaine Tailleferre—"Two Poems of Lord Byron"(1934) 1. Sometimes in moments... 2. 'Tis Done I heard it in my dreams... for Voice and Piano (Tailleferre's only setting of English language texts)
Arnold Schoenberg—"Ode to Napoleon" (1942) for reciter, string quartet and piano
Arion Quinn—"She Walks in Beauty" (mid-70s)
Solefald—"When the Moon is on the Wave" (1997)
Kris Delmhorst—"We'll Go No More A-Roving" (2006)
Ariella Uliano—"So We'll Go No More A'Roving" (2004)
Cockfighter (band)—"Destruction" (2005)
Leonard Cohen—"No More A-Roving" (2004)
Cradle Of Filth—"The Byronic Man" with HIMs Ville Valo as Lord Byron (2006)
Warren Zevon—"Lord Byron's Luggage" (2002)
Bibliography
Wikisource has original works written by or about:
George Gordon, Lord Byron
Major works
Hours of Idleness (1806)
English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809)
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1818)
The Giaour (1813)
The Bride of Abydos (1813)
The Corsair (1814)
Lara (1814)
Hebrew Melodies (1815)
The Siege of Corinth (poem) (1816)
Parisina (1816)
The Prisoner of Chillon (1816) (text on Wikisource)
The Dream (1816)
Prometheus (1816)
Darkness (1816)
Manfred (1817) (text on Wikisource)
The Lament of Tasso (1817)
Beppo (1818)
Mazeppa (1819)
The Prophecy of Dante (1819)
Marino Faliero (1820)
Sardanapalus (1821)
The Two Foscari (1821)
Cain (1821)
The Vision of Judgement (1821)
Heaven and Earth (1821)
Werner (1822)
The Deformed Transformed (1822)
The Age of Bronze (1823)
The Island (1823)
Don Juan (1819–1824; incomplete on Byron's death in 1824)
Minor works
So, we'll go no more a roving (text on Wikisource)
The First Kiss of Love (1806) (text on Wikisource)
Thoughts Suggested by a College Examination (1806) (text on Wikisource)
To a Beautiful Quaker (1807) (text on Wikisource)
The Cornelian (1807) (text on Wikisource}
Lines Addressed to a Young Lady (1807) (text on Wikisource)
Lachin y Garr (1807) (text on Wikisource)
Epitaph to a Dog (1808) (text on Wikisource)
She Walks in Beauty (1814) (text on Wikisource)
When We Two Parted (text on Wikisource)
Love's Last Adieu
See also
Lord Byron (chronology)
Bridge of Sighs
Asteroid 3306 Byron
Henry Edward Yelverton, 19th Baron Grey de Ruthyn
References
This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.
^ "Bibliotheca Cornubiensis: A Catalogue..."
^ Jerome McGann, ‘Byron, George Gordon Noel, sixth Baron Byron (1788–1824)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2007
^ Crompton, Louis: Byron And Greek Love (1985), pp123–128
^ Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage Cantos I and II, uncensored. The International Byron Society. Retrieved on?.
^ Lord Byron's Lovers: Lady Caroline Lamb
^ Lord Byron's Lovers: Lady Caroline Lamb
^ Neurotic Poets - Lord Byron
^ List of Byron's works. Retrieved on?.
^ Don Juan, Canto III, XCIII-XCIV.
^ Atwood, Roger (2006). Stealing History: Tomb Raiders, Smugglers, And the Looting of the Ancient World, p. 136. ISBN 0312324073.
^ A Collection Of Poems By George Gordon Byron
^ The Byron Society. Retrieved on?.
^ The Guardian, November 9, 2002.