Lord Byron

Lord Byron, George Gordon

Lord Byron, George Gordon, is revered as one of the best romantic poets of all time. Not only did Byron write poetry, but he also wrote many famous satires that struck the imagination of many of his readers throughout Europe. Byron had many experiences and trials in his life that sculpted his poetry and other writings.

Byron was born in London on January 22, 1788 in a caul, which is a membranous sack, which was removed and caused no harm to Byron. There was, however; one physical illness that caused Byron problems for the rest of his life. Byron was born with clubfoot, which is a withering of a calf muscle causing a deformity in his right foot (Raphael 11). Byron was extremely sensitive about his clubfoot for most of his life and his mother sent him to many quacks to try to correct the problem so that her son could lead a normal life.

A big inspiration for many of Byron's early love poems was his cousin Mary Duff who he was deeply in love with and who also served as a symbol of unattainable love. Yet, at the same time, one of Byron's servant girls, May Gray, also helped shape much of Byron's works. May Gray was the first to introduce Byron to many intimate things in life, and one of the few to give much attention to the lame yet handsome Byron.

When Byron was ten years old, his uncle, "the wicked" Lord Byron, was killed in the siege of Calvi. Byron left with his mother and May Gray to inherit the estate of his uncle, Newstead Abbey, on the edge of Sherwood Forest. Byron got to the estate to find out that it had been stripped of most of its belongings because his uncle had owed much money to creditors in the area. It was so bad that the furniture inside the place and even the roof had been taken as the creditors stripped anything of value from the estate that Byron's uncle had not first stripped.

While there, Byron got to know John Hanson who was, at the time, Mrs. Byron's attorney. In 1799, Hanson saved Byron from Newstead and the tortures of the people trying to cure his disease. He took Byron to London and once there showed him to a doctor who prescribed a special brace for Byron so that he could walk as normally as possible. Hanson also had Byron sent to a school in Dulwich to receive some proper education which he hadn't received while at Newstead.

In 1801, Byron was sent to school at Harrow. While there Byron developed a different passion than the one that he had for his servant girl May Gray. It was here he felt love for his first cousin Margaret Parker. Byron saw a very different type of beauty in Parker that he had never seen in Gray. Parker was a very dainty and beautiful girl, and was also a major influence in many of Byron's love poems. It was also recorded that while at Harrow, Byron attained many personal relationships with his male friends as well which lead many to believe that Byron may have been a homosexual, but through his writings and lifestyles it is apparent that Byron had a deep passion for female relationships.

Byron later went to Trinity College and developed a friendship with John Cam Hobhouse. Hobhouse was the first person to really spark an interest in Byron of liberal Whiggism. Byron began to travel to many places with Hobhouse which would later inspire many of the stories and satires written by Byron. On one of these trips, Byron started one of his most famous poems, an autobiographical poem which he called "Childe Harold" which he worked on continually through many of his travels.

Byron published his first poem, "Hours of Idleness" in June of 1807. He also traveled to Malta with Hobhouse that year. While in Malta, Byron fell deeply in love with the beautiful Mrs. Constance Spencer Smith. Byron was so adamant about her that he almost fought a duel on her behalf.

In 1811, Byron got word that his mother was ill and started traveling back home to be with her. On August 1, 1811 Byron's mother died at her home in Newstead before Byron could reach her. This put Byron into a deep state of mourning for his mother and was also a factor in the poems written after her death.

March 1812 was an important month for Byron. His first poem, "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" was published by John Murray. This poem shook up the entire town upon its release and provided them with a much greater imagination with all of its beautiful descriptions of foreign lands.

Several other women influenced Byron. He became involved with Lady Caroline Lamb, Lady Oxford, Lady Frances Webster, and his half sister Augusta Leigh. This caused a sense of huge guilt and exultation upon Byron which was reflected in his Oriental tales that he wrote during this time in his life. (Life of Byron 2)

In September of 1814, Byron proposed to Anna Isabella Milbanke. The day before the two were to be wed, Hobhouse arrived dressed as a woman to play the part of Annabella, as she was called, in a mock ceremony. This ceremony proved to be a much happier celebration than the actual marriage ceremony itself. After the marriage, Byron and his new wife settled in the city