
author
1788–1824
A dazzling and rebellious voice of the Romantic age, these poems mix beauty, wit, longing, and danger in a way that still feels startlingly alive. Famous in his own lifetime and endlessly discussed afterward, he helped shape the idea of the tragic, charismatic literary hero.

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron
Born in London on January 22, 1788, and known to readers as Lord Byron, he became one of the defining poets of the Romantic movement. He inherited his title while still a boy, studied at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, and rose to sudden fame after the publication of the first cantos of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage in 1812.
His writing ranges from lyrical poems such as She Walks in Beauty to the sweeping satire of Don Juan, and his life was almost as famous as his work. Travels in southern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean deeply influenced his imagination, and his passionate, restless public image helped inspire the enduring idea of the “Byronic hero.”
In his final years, he supported the Greek struggle for independence from Ottoman rule and went to Greece to help the cause. He died at Missolonghi on April 19, 1824, at just 36 years old, leaving behind a body of work that remains central to English literature.