Transcript Lord Byron George Gordon

Lord Byron George Gordon
By: Vanessa Soares
Tammy Ura
Background Information
• He was born on January 22, 1788 to Captain
John Byron and Catherine Gordon in Aberdeen,
Scotland.
• He was born with a club foot, which
embarrassed him a lot and made him shy
throughout his life.
• When he was ten years old he inherited his
great-uncle’s title and property; This was when
he started getting into the social scene of
London.
Background Information
• Because of his club foot he always tried to excel
in everything he did. Throughout his life he
eventually became a masterful swimmer, horse
rider, boxer, cricket player, and fencer.
• After graduating from Cambridge University in
his early adult years he started traveling the
world.
• While traveling around Europe and Asia Minor,
he worked his adventures into Poetry.
Poetry Influences
• One of his famous works written in 1807 was Hours of
Idleness, which was composed of a collection of poems.
• This was his first collection of poetry, but it received very
bad reviews from his peers.
• One of the more famous ones in the entire thing was
called The First Kiss of Love.
• “ Away with your fictions of flimsy romance,
Those tissues of falsehood which folly have wove!
Give me the mild beam of the soul-breathing glance,
Or the rapture which dwells on the first kiss of love.”
Poetry Influences
• After joining the House of Lord, he traveled more of
Europe and Asia Minor, including Spain, Malta, Albania,
Greece, and Aegean.
• During this time period was when he wrote his longest
piece of poetry, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.
• This piece of work is what brought him his real poetic
success in 1812.
• He published the poem on his return to England, from
traveling.
• After this poem was published he became an overnight
success, he felt as if it had happened overnight.
• “I awoke one morning and found myself famous”
Poetry Influences
• After his success with his poetry his book he published
The Corsair, which sold 10,000 copies on its first day of
publication
• After The Corsair was published many rumors arose
about his scandalous affairs with other men and women.
• He exiled himself and fled to Geneva in Italy; he was
only 28 at the time.
• During his stay in Italy he continued to travel and write
many poems and different works.
Poetry Influences
• While in Rome he wrote Lament en Tasso, which was
inspired by a man who was put in jail for being in love
with the Duke Alfonso the Second’s sister.
• He also wrote a couple satires called Mazeppa and Don
Juan.
• During the end of his stay in Italy he realized his passion
for drama.
• He wrote many drama’s that were held in high respect by
his peers.
• Some of them include: The Two Foscari, Sardanapalaus,
Cain, and one unfinished work called Heaven and Earth.
Poetry Influences
• After a very creative period of writing, Byron had come to
realize that he had accomplished many things
throughout his life.
• Soon after his 36th birthday, Byron contracted and died of
a fever.
• His flamboyant personality made him an esteemed figure
in England and his support for the Greeks to gain
independence made him a hero in Greece.
• He was one of the most important and notorious poets of
the Romantic Era.
Quotes
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“What is the worst of woes that wait on age? What stamps the wrinkle
deeper on the brow? To view each love one blotted from life's page,
And be alone on earth as I am now.” (Childe Harold)
“I am bound to furnish my antagonists with arguments, but not with
comprehension.” (Don Juan)
“But Words are things; and a small drop of ink,
falling like dew, upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps
millions, think.” (Lord Byron, George Gordon)
“Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.” (Lord Byron,
George Gordon)
“No action of Lord Byron’s life scarce a line he has written, but was
influenced about his personal defect.” (Mary Shelley)
Augusta Ada
Byron (His first
daughter)
Lord Byron, George
Gordon
Annabella Millbanke
Byron (Were married
for a year then
divorced)
The Tomb of George Gordon 6th
Lord Byron English Poet
Original Manuscript of Canto 7 of
Don Juan
The stone marking where Byron is
buried at St Mary Magdelene
Church in Hucknall,
Nottinghamshire