Lord Byron

Lord Byron and his Poetry

By Leslie Hernandez

George Gordon Noel Byron, more commonly known as Lord Byron, was one of the most prolific poets of the Romanticism era. He is credited for popularizing the Romantic hero archetype, all while being a Romantic paradox himself. Although he was exiled from England in 1816, Byron captured the imagination of Europe, making him the most fashionable poet of his century.

Unlike many of the poets of his time, Lord Byron was inspired by his passionate attachments with both men and women. His poetic journey began when inspiration struck in 1800, as he developed feelings of passion towards his cousin Margaret Parker. Not long after, Byron was similarly inspired by another distant cousin, Mary Chaworth of Annesley Hall. According to Thomas Medwin, a fellow English poet and translator, all of Byron’s “fables about the celestial nature of women” originated from “the perfection” his imagination created in Mary Chaworth. Although he felt a strong attachment to women, Byron also expressed his affection towards his male counterparts on a few occasions. During what he considered “the most romantic period of [his] life,” Byron found himself experiencing a “violent, though pure, love and passion” for John Edleston, a choir boy he met during his years at Trinity College, Cambridge. Through the conglomeration of his romantic attraction towards both sexes, Byron created some of his most popular poems with clear love-filled inspirations, including She Walks In Beauty, And Thou art Dead, as Young and Fair, and Love and Death. These poems, while representing different aspects of romance, all agree in the sense of admiration and subtle longing from the poetic voice. 

Byron’s poetry, besides being an ode to his passionate and love-filled trysts, was also satirical and contained eroticism early on. Not limited to his romanticism, Byron continued to experiment with different facets of his poetic writings, employing personas that blended his authentic identity with fictional elements, revealing and concealing aspects of himself simultaneously. Over time, his travels, and the people he met during such travels, also began to greatly influence his writing, shifting him away from his previously romantic dogmas.

During his life, Byron was accredited with popularizing one of the most famous archetypes of the modern day, the Romantic hero. Created as a response to the French Revolution, the Romantic hero is a literary typification that rejects established norms and conventions and is, in turn,  rejected by society, often resulting in defiance, melancholy, and secret guilt. It is believed that he molded this character after his own disposition, as these characteristics can be found within his poetic personifications of himself. Much like his archetype, Byron was a leader of the era’s poetic revolution. However, although devoted to ideals, he remained grounded in reality, making him a Romantic paradox. Despite his beliefs as a deist and freethinker, Byron carried the lingering Calvinist notion of original sin from his youth. Still, as a peer of the realm, he passionately advocated for liberty in both his literary works and actions, generously contributing his wealth, time, and ultimately his life to the cause of Greek independence.

 While Lord Byron drew inspiration from several different mediums within him and around him, his works remain ever so cohesive. Through his free-thinking, unobstructed passion, and unconventional self-expression, Byron inspired numerous others from his era and beyond, speaking directly to their souls through his writings and eccentric personality.