George Gordon Byron (1788-1824)

      George Gordon Byron was born in an old aristocratic family in 1788. His family was poor, because his father was very wasteful and spent all their property. He was born with a clubfoot. But despite the handicap, he began to swim and soon became one of the best English swimmers.When Byron was a child, he was taken by his mother, Catherine Gordon, to Aberdeen, Scotland, where they lived in a flat on a small income.  He attended the grammar school there. At the age of 10, George inherited the title and estates of his great uncle, Lord Byron.  His mother proudly took him to England.  The boy liked the dark halls and spacious grounds of Newstead Abbey, which had been presented to the Byron family by King Henry VIII, and he and his mother lived in its ruins for a while.

He started to write when he studied in Oxford University. In his youth he published his first volumes of poems. It was a success, because his poems were versatile: on the one hand they could be romantic and on the other hand rigid, funny and serious.

        Born less than thirty years after Robert Burns, George Gordon Noel Byron came from a very different background and it is certainly shown in his poetry. He helped poor people, loved nature and showed that he was not afraid of what people were going to say about it.

Byron's Grandfather

         On the one hand Byron is one of the most famous English poets, who became popular out of his native land. His life is remarkable in many ways: first by his masterpieces, like ”Beppo”, “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”, “Cain”, “Don Juan”, “Manfred”. These poems were passionate and full of satire. They are his best works, and they reveal his outstanding talent. He wasn’t very happy in his life and that is why his works were sometimes melancholic. 

         On the other hand he is famous for his speech for Luddits’ justice. He delivered it and told the lords, that people are the creators of national wealth. This made him leave his motherland and he earned a nickname- a Rebellious Lord.

           The life was unfair to him. The ruling class hated him, he had to leave the country and move to Europe. The nostalgic bitterness for England is revealed in his works. Offended by the English ruling classes he accused English ruling classes in all their sins.

A cover of the book
“Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”

But there were some pleasant moments in his life. He was admired by Europeans. Famous Russian authors adored him. Pushkin called Byron “The ruler of people’s thoughts”. He was the most favorite poet of the majority but he wasn’t appreciated in his homeland. But still he was such a man, who had many attachments among woman.

      I think that Byron made a bad mistake, when he began to answer to the criticism of the English press and offended them.  That made his situation worse. We can notice one of a great number of these situations in these lines:

 'Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print; 

A Book's a Book, altho' there's nothing in't.”

Here Byron shows us his dislike to one of  the English poets.

     Some words about him as a man. He was the fighter for justice.  His perfect features were generosity and compassion, because he wanted ruling classes to improve weavers’ conditions of life. His contemporaries told that he was a faithful friend and an impetuous fellow. His character, wit and charm impressed virtually everyone who met him. We can find out his traits in his heroes. Such a man was Childe Harold. Seriousness, ability to deep ponder, gaiety, inner energy were the main features of this character. May be Byron described himself.

    Some lessons could be learnt from the way of his life. Byron found out what was important for him and lived it. As he said, “I can make my way in life by myself, and I'll do it or die. Many successful people were born with nothing in the purse and died being great people. Could I, having a little of money be inactive?”  I think it is the right way to find yourself in life. 

   The other lesson for me is that we must not suffer of the life troubles and loose a hope. He had neither an elder brother nor a father, who could help him in his life. He made his way himself; there was no help to him. In my opinion if he had a person, who could help him, his life could be simplier. That is why Byron made his way independently. There was a time when he had to behave himself like a stiff aristocrat, but he chose the other way – he became a public speaker-barrister, and only justice influenced him.

In his master-pieces we can find a lot of heroes. He created a new type of him- the solitary, dark-haired rebel.  I think a hero is a person that plays the first role in the poem; all events take place with his participation. In the famous lyrcal-epic poem ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’ Byron’s hero travelled all over theworld, suffered hardships, there were a lot of events with him. Childe Harold is the example of a typical Byron’s hero. A hero must be courageous, bold, he must like adventures. A romantic Byron’s hero must have a proud and indomitable character, he must hate cowardice, perfidy, greediness, must help  needy people. For Europeans Byron was such a hero. He greatly influenced people’s thoughts. He introduced great changes in the English literature.

But being an old man he remained a rebel. He fought for Greek deliverance.

In 1823 he caught a fever and died on 19 April, 1824.

By Anna Makhmudova 8”B”