Lord Byron

by Lord Byron, Jane Stabler (Editor)

This authoritative edition brings together the complete collection of Byron's poetry and prose - all the major poems, complemented by important letters, journals, and conversations - to give the essence of his work and thinking.
Byron is regarded today as the ultimate Romantic, whose name has entered the language to describe a man of brooding passion. Although his private life shocked his contemporaries his poetry was immensely popular and influential, especially in Europe. This comprehensive edition includes the complete texts of his two poetic masterpieces Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don Juan, as well as the dramatic poems Manfred and Cain. There are many other shorter poems and part of the satire English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. In addition there is a selection from Byron's inimitable letters, extracts from his journals and conversations, as well as more formal writings.

Genres: Poetry, Classics

106 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1997

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

[heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

My days are in the yellow leaf
The flowers and fruits of love are gone —
The worm, the canker and the grief
Are mine alone.


I love me a pensive, heartbroken Byron. I wish this book featured more of his short poems but a bulk of it (more than half) are lines from Childe Harold and Don Juan, which I didn't enjoy.

Accompanying notes are short and sufficient however.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truthfully, I'm not super impressed with Byron's poetry. He has several really good ones here and there, and the rest of it is just... eh. I mean, for my personal taste, it's just not what I am looking for in poetry. I can recognize his genius in a general way, but most of the poetry in this collection was not my cup of tea.

Still, there were several poems that I really loved! Byron definitely has a way with words, and there is a powerful emotional pull to almost everything he writes.

[Ellis Spicer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got interested in Byron's poems through 'She Walks In Beauty', which is one of my all time favourite poems. I was saddened to see that the poems selected in this collection do not live up to my favourite. I prefer shorter poems and this collection seemed to focus on the longer ones which took up 10 odd pages. However, I did like the Epistle for Augusta :)

[Emma J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Satirical fun!