Byron's Poetical Works, Volume 1

by Lord Byron

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1864 ...according strings; And till those vital chords shall break, For none but these my breast shall wake Friendship, the power deprived of wings! Ye few! my soul, my life is yours, My memory and my hope; The Earl of Clare. Your worth a lasting love insures, Unfettered in its scope; From smooth deceit and terror sprung, With aspect fair and honeyed tongue', Let Adulation wait on kings; With joy elate, by snares beset, We, we, my friends, can ne'er forget "Friendship is Love without his wings!" Fictions and dreams inspire the bard Who rolls the epic song; Friendship and Truth be my reward--To me no bays belong; If laurelled Fame but dwells with lies, Me the enchantress ever flies, Whose heart and not whose fancy sings; Simple and young, I dare not feign; Mine be the rude yet heartfelt strain, "Friendship is Love without his wings!" THE PRAYER OF NATURE. WEITTEN DECEMBER 29, 1806. Father of Light! great God of Heaven! Hear'st thou the accents of despair? It is difficult to conjecture for what reason these stanzas, which surpass any thing that Byron had yet written, were not included in the publication of 1807. Written when the author was not nineteen years of age, "this remarkable poem shows," says Moore, "how early the struggle between natural piety and doubt began in his mind." Can guilt like man's be e'er forgiven? Can vice atone for crimes by prayer? Father of Light, on thee I call! Thou see'st my soul is dark within; Thou who canst mark the sparrow's fall, Avert from me the death of sin. No shrine I seek, to sects unknown; Oh point to me the path of truth! Thy dread omnipotence I own; Spare, yet-amend, the faults of youth. Let bigots rear a gloomy fane, Let superstition hail the pile, Let priests, to spread their sable r...

Genres: Poetry, Classics

ebook

First published March 4, 2008

About the author

George Gordon Byron (invariably known as Lord Byron), later Noel, 6th Baron Byron of Rochdale FRS was a British poet and a leading figure in Romanticism. Amongst Byron's best-known works are the brief poems She Walks in Beauty, When We Two Parted, and So, we'll go no more a roving, in addition to the narrative poems Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don Juan. He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential, both in the English-speaking world and beyond.

Byron's notabilty rests not only on his writings but also on his life, which featured upper-class living, numerous love affairs, debts, and separation. He was notably described by Lady Caroline Lamb as "mad, bad, and dangerous to know". Byron served as a regional leader of Italy's revolutionary organization, the Carbonari, in its struggle against Austria. He later travelled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died from a fever contracted while in Messolonghi in Greece.

Reviews

[Rain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This rocks. All the gloomy, bitchy brooding you could want. The diss track about the guy who looted the Parthenon for British Imperial interests, and the absolutely unhinged rant against waltzing, are just bonus delights.

And this is all from when he was a kid! Excellent footnotes too, even if amazon screws them up in the kindle version.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Byron's Poetical Works, Volume 1 by George Gordon Lord Byron – This was an Amazon freebie. I’ve been reading a few a day for a while, but Byron was prolific enough to keep me busy for a while! Happy Reading!

[E.J. Cullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lordie Lordie

[Judi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this on my e-reader that I only use when travelling and if there are real books available at my destination I read those, so it took me a long time. (Also did not travel for several years).

[Harsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite all the eulogies people heap on Byron's poems, I fail to see why they are so liked. Except for a few, the rest were very much boring.

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow is this guy cheesy. Thought I'd try some more poets but Byron is cloyingly rhyme-y and frou-frou. Gave up bc I couldn't stand anymore. The one shining moment was the hilarious poem titled "To a lady who presented to the author a lock of hair braided with his own, and appointed a night in December to meet him in the garden."