George Gordon, Lord Byron 1788-1824

George Gordon was the first of the main three poets of the second generation of Romantics. Although the first and second generations were both classified as Romantics, they drew their inspirations from much different sources, as is reflected in their work. The first generation Romantics were greatly influenced by the French Revolution since they were in their prime when it was occurring; however, the revolution played little to no role in inspiring the second generation writers as Gordon was the only of the three to even be alive during this time, and he was only one year old. Another difference between Gordon and the first generation writers is how long he lived. Blake, Wordsworth, and Coleridge all lived to grow old, while Gordon died at age 36. “In 1798 his great-uncle the fifth Baron Bryon, “the wicked Lord,” died childless, and just after his tenth birthday he inherited his title” (356). This would later go on to shape much of his work. Lord Byron entered Trinity College in 1805. His first published volume of work was Hours of Idleness and was published in 1807.

Lord Byron wrote in the Regency period, which was a political classification of the period. It was post French Revolution. This difference in period affected his writing and made them differ greatly from the first generation Romantics. One example of this can be seen in how he views Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo compared with how the first generation poets viewed it. Unlike his predecessors, Gordon simply viewed the defeat as a reverse of the revolution. He saw it as a return to the status quo, putting the church and old forms of government back in charge. Lord Byron’s persona matched up nicely with the general attitude of society during his time. This coupled with his great writing success combined to make him a kind of super star during his time. He gained much more notoriety for his work while he was alive than any of the first generation poets did. His work, The Corsair, sold more than 10,000 copies on the first day of its publication in 1814. This was an incredible number for the time. I was very surprised when I read this, but I was even more surprised to learn that Lord Byron has had far reaching influences into today that have been right under my nose, like the town named after him in Byron, GA or the stained class window in the Hay House right here in Macon inspired by him.

I like the fact that Byron was such a well traveled person and that he used his experiences on his travels in his writings. Byron was a charismatic man who was surrounded with rumors and mystery. He was unhappily married to Annabella Milbanke until they separated amidst rumors of his many affairs, among which was rumored one with his half sister. I enjoyed the fact that Byron was involved in political life as well, lobbying against such things as the death penalty. I also liked how he had the audacity to call out many of the acclaimed writers of the day. He openly criticized such writers as Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Milton in his semi-autobiographical Don Juan. All in all I can easily see why George Gordon rose to the celebrity status that he did.