‘The flesh is frail,’ 1818–1819 (Volume VI)

Byron's Letters and Journals #6

by Lord Byron, Leslie A. Marchand (Editor)

George Gordon Byron was a superb almost all his letters, whatever the subject or whoever the recipient, are enlivened by his wit, his irony, his honesty, and the sharpness of his observation of people. They provide a vivid self-portrait of the man who, of all his contemporaries, seems to express attitudes and feelings most in tune with the twentieth century. In addition, they offer a mirror of his own time. This first collected edition of all Byron’s known letters supersedes Prothero’s incomplete edition at the turn of the century. It includes a considerable number of hitherto unpublished letters and the complete text of many that were bowdlerized by former editors for a variety of reasons. Prothero’s edition included 1,198 letters. This edition has more than 3,000, over 80 percent of them transcribed entirely from the original manuscripts.

Byron’s epistolary saga continues con brio in this volume. At the start of 1818 he sends off the last canto of Childe Harold and abandons himself to the debaucheries of the Carnival in Venice. At the close of 1819 he resolves to return to England but instead follows Teresa Guiccioli to Ravenna. In the meantime he writes three long poems and two cantos of Don Juan , whose bowdlerization he violently protests; he breaks off with Marianna Segati, copes with his amorous “tigress” Margarita Cogni, then falls passionately in love with the young Countess Guiccioli; he thinks seriously of emigrating to South America; he takes custody of his little daughter Allegra and becomes increasingly fond of the child. The Shelleys visit him, as does Thomas Moore, to whom he entrusts his memoirs (burned after his death). The letters to friends are a marvelous outpouring of funny anecdotes, practical talk, discussions of his poems, statements of his beliefs. The love letters are in a class by themselves.

Genres: Romanticism

306 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

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

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm actually so invested in this catty society drama from 200 years ago.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Byron's letters are hilarious. This is generally pretty obvious, but reading several volumes of these letters, even from a really difficult period in Byron's life - my god. The letter where he talks about the "league of incest" he's accused of creating with Shelley is hysterical. And in his letters to Lady Melbourne, Byron creates this campy, totally over the top persona - like your gay best friend, only he's sleeping with every woman in sight (including his sister). And I hate to laugh at Caroline Lamb's expense, but when Byron's writing about her in his letters... well, let the hilarity ensue.

Examples:

From November 11, 1818, to John Cam Hobhouse, on the "bitter" dedication of Don Juan to Robert Southey:
"The Son of a Bitch [Bob Southey] on his return from Switzerland two years ago--said that Shelley and I "had formed a League of Incest and practiced our precepts with &c."--he lied like a rascal--for they were not Sisters--one being Godwin's daughter by Mary Wollstonecraft--and the other the daughter of the present Mrs. G[odwin] by a former husband."

From October 28, 1816, to Augusta Leigh, regarding Annabella Milbanke (his now ex-wife):
"Miss Milbanke appears in all respects to have been formed for my destruction..."

And so on.

On a more professional note, Leslie Marchand has done an incredible job collecting, referencing, and publishing these letters. This eleven-volume set is an resource beyond all value.