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Delphi Complete Works of Lord Byron
This is the sixth volume of a new series of publications by Delphi Classics, the best-selling publisher of classical works. Many poetry collections are often poorly formatted and difficult to read on eReaders. The Delphi Poets Series offers readers the works of literature's finest poets, with superior formatting. This volume presents the complete poetical works of Lord Byron, with beautiful illustrations and the usual Delphi bonus material. ( 1)
* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Byron's life and works
* Concise introductions to the poetry and other works
* Images of how the poetry books were first printed, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts
* Excellent formatting of the poems
* Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the poetry
* Easily locate the poems you want to read
* Rare minor poems section
* Byrons vampire short story, appearing for the first time in digital print
* Includes Byron's journals and letters - spend hours exploring the poet's personal correspondence
* Features the first ever biography on Lord Byron by John Galt - discover the poets literary life
* Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres
The Poetry Collections
HOURS OF IDLENESS
CHILDE HAROLDS PILGRIMAGE
HEBREW MELODIES
STANZAS FOR MUSIC
OCCASIONAL PIECES, 1807-1824
DOMESTIC PIECES, 1816
SATIRES
TALES
DRAMAS
BEPPO
DON JUAN
MINOR POEMS
The Poems
LIST OF POEMS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
LIST OF POEMS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
The Short Story
FRAGMENT OF A NOVEL
The Letters
THE LETTERS AND JOURNALS OF LORD BYRON
The Biography
THE LIFE OF LORD BYRON by John Galt
* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Byron's life and works
* Concise introductions to the poetry and other works
* Images of how the poetry books were first printed, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts
* Excellent formatting of the poems
* Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the poetry
* Easily locate the poems you want to read
* Rare minor poems section
* Byrons vampire short story, appearing for the first time in digital print
* Includes Byron's journals and letters - spend hours exploring the poet's personal correspondence
* Features the first ever biography on Lord Byron by John Galt - discover the poets literary life
* Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres
The Poetry Collections
HOURS OF IDLENESS
CHILDE HAROLDS PILGRIMAGE
HEBREW MELODIES
STANZAS FOR MUSIC
OCCASIONAL PIECES, 1807-1824
DOMESTIC PIECES, 1816
SATIRES
TALES
DRAMAS
BEPPO
DON JUAN
MINOR POEMS
The Poems
LIST OF POEMS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
LIST OF POEMS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
The Short Story
FRAGMENT OF A NOVEL
The Letters
THE LETTERS AND JOURNALS OF LORD BYRON
The Biography
THE LIFE OF LORD BYRON by John Galt
4911 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 1901
457 people are currently reading
896 people want to read
About the author
Lord Byron
4,059 books2,051 followersGeorge 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 14, 2023
"One Shade the More, One Ray the Less"
Byron speaks. He speaks for himself. This is one large volume of Lord Byron's work. Whatever portions of his great opus that you have enjoyed, you are sure to find a few things here that you haven't read. I've always enjoyed his poetry, but hadn't ventured into some of the longer works until now. After reading the complete works, I found an appreciation for the sweeping grandeur of Child Harold's Pilgrimage, and the reverent beauty of the Hebrew Melodies. The biography at the end, by John Galt was really dry and less fun than a Wikipedia entry, so I don't recommend that, unless you just want to read it. But, I came away with a continuing preference and love for Byron's poetry.
Much of his poetry is beautiful, and filled with the deep meaning of life and love, age and youth. Of course, Byron's life was like a train-wreck to the outward observer. He could be seen as bipolar; was often seen as 'mad, bad, and dangerous.' He was born in the late 1700's. After a year of marriage, he divorced his wife and sent his one legitimate daughter with her, and left England for good. Since that was in the 19th Century, the father had the right to keep the child himself, but he wasn't interested in keeping her. That daughter was Ada Lovelace. Her mother seemed to be almost as absent as her father and her various illegitimate half siblings she never really knew. But, its a safe guess that you are familiar with Ada Lovelace's work. Byron's heart was in his poetry, as well as in many other places. These two quotations are just a taste of his poetry.
Most of my quotes come from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, which Byron wrote in four cantos. A childe was a young noble before he attained knighthood. In the work, Harold travels much of the Euro/Mediterranean coastline. He sees his world and his writing plunges and rises to great depths and heights, as does his mind and emotions. But, the work is expansive and filled with its own grandeur. Quotations follow from each of the four cantos. They appear in order, and the last quote is poignant, considering the life Byron led. This work seems a bit autobiographical. Byron died at the young age of 36. This Kindle edition has photos, and is perfect for anyone wanting a full survey of Lord Byron's writings.
Byron speaks. He speaks for himself. This is one large volume of Lord Byron's work. Whatever portions of his great opus that you have enjoyed, you are sure to find a few things here that you haven't read. I've always enjoyed his poetry, but hadn't ventured into some of the longer works until now. After reading the complete works, I found an appreciation for the sweeping grandeur of Child Harold's Pilgrimage, and the reverent beauty of the Hebrew Melodies. The biography at the end, by John Galt was really dry and less fun than a Wikipedia entry, so I don't recommend that, unless you just want to read it. But, I came away with a continuing preference and love for Byron's poetry.
Much of his poetry is beautiful, and filled with the deep meaning of life and love, age and youth. Of course, Byron's life was like a train-wreck to the outward observer. He could be seen as bipolar; was often seen as 'mad, bad, and dangerous.' He was born in the late 1700's. After a year of marriage, he divorced his wife and sent his one legitimate daughter with her, and left England for good. Since that was in the 19th Century, the father had the right to keep the child himself, but he wasn't interested in keeping her. That daughter was Ada Lovelace. Her mother seemed to be almost as absent as her father and her various illegitimate half siblings she never really knew. But, its a safe guess that you are familiar with Ada Lovelace's work. Byron's heart was in his poetry, as well as in many other places. These two quotations are just a taste of his poetry.
"Ah! gentle, fleeting, wav’ring sprite, Friend and associate of this clay! To what unknown region borne, Wilt thou now wing thy distant flight? No more with wonted humour gay, But pallid, cheerless, and forlorn."
"When age chills the blood, when our pleasures are past — For years fleet away with the wings of the dove — The dearest remembrance will still be the last, Our sweetest memorial the first kiss of love."
Most of my quotes come from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, which Byron wrote in four cantos. A childe was a young noble before he attained knighthood. In the work, Harold travels much of the Euro/Mediterranean coastline. He sees his world and his writing plunges and rises to great depths and heights, as does his mind and emotions. But, the work is expansive and filled with its own grandeur. Quotations follow from each of the four cantos. They appear in order, and the last quote is poignant, considering the life Byron led. This work seems a bit autobiographical. Byron died at the young age of 36. This Kindle edition has photos, and is perfect for anyone wanting a full survey of Lord Byron's writings.
"Ah, Spain! how sad will be thy reckoning day, When soars Gaul’s Vulture, with his wings unfurled, And thou shalt view thy sons in crowds to Hades hurled." CHP: Canto First, LII
"Whate’er betides, I’ve known the worst. What is that worst? Nay, do not ask - In pity from the search forbear: Smile on - nor venture to unmask Man’s heart, and view the hell that’s there" CHP: To Inez
"Blood follows blood, and through their mortal span, In bloodier acts conclude those who with blood began." CHP: Canto Second, LXIII
"A thousand years scarce serve to form a state; An hour may lay it in the dust: and when Can man its shattered splendour renovate, Recall its virtues back, and vanquish Time and Fate?" CHP: Canto Second, LXXXIII
"Death in the front, Destruction in the rear!" CHP: Canto Second, XC
"And none are left to please where none are left to love." CHP: Canto Second, XCIV
"Oh! ever loving, lovely, and beloved!" CHP: Canto Second, XCVI
"What is the worst of woes that wait on age? What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow? To view each loved one blotted from life’s page, And be alone on earth, as I am now. Before the Chastener humbly let me bow, O’er hearts divided and o’er hopes destroyed: Roll on, vain days! full reckless may ye flow, Since Time hath reft whate’er my soul enjoyed, And with the ills of eld mine earlier years alloyed." CHP: Canto Second, XCVIII
"He who ascends to mountain-tops, shall find The loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow; He who surpasses or subdues mankind, Must look down on the hate of those below. Though high above the sun of glory glow, And far beneath the earth and ocean spread, Round him are icy rocks, and loudly blow Contending tempests on his naked head," CHP: Canto Third, XLV
"Earth paved like Heaven; and to seem such to me." CHP: Canto Third, L
"I send the lilies given to me; Though long before thy hand they touch, I know that they must withered be, But yet reject them not as such; For I have cherished them as dear, Because they yet may meet thine eye, And guide thy soul to mine e’en here, When thou behold’st them drooping nigh, And know’st them gathered by the Rhine, And offered from my heart to thine!" CHP: Canto Third, LV
"The sky is changed! - and such a change! O night, And storm, and darkness, ye are wondrous strong, ... Leaps the live thunder! Not from one lone cloud, But every mountain now hath found a tongue;" CHP: Canto Third, XCII
"All things are here of him; from the black pines, Which are his shade on high, and the loud roar Of torrents, where he listeneth, to the vines Which slope his green path downward to the shore, Where the bowed waters meet him, and adore," CHP: Canto Third, CI
"I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs; A palace and a prison on each hand: I saw from out the wave her structures rise As from the stroke of the enchanter’s wand: CHP: Canto Fourth, I"
"The thorns which I have reaped are of the tree I planted, - they have torn me, and I bleed: I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed." CHP: Canto Four, X
January 8, 2012
(I just clicked on this edition because it has a picture as unfortuantely my volume of all his work is ancient, to say the least.)
Anyway, a million stars! If Byron was still alive he'd be a superhero or better and i'd be his no.1 fan. LOVE HIS WORK!
Anyway, a million stars! If Byron was still alive he'd be a superhero or better and i'd be his no.1 fan. LOVE HIS WORK!
February 4, 2018
But Grief should be the Instructor of the wise;
Sorrow is Knowledge: they who know the most
Must mourn the deepest o'er the fatal truth,
The Tree of Knowledge is not that of Life.
-Manfred, Act I, Scene I
I can't help comparing Byron's poems to those of Keats and Shelley. Like them, he liked writing about Greek mythology, gave long descriptions of nature, and had an obsession with death. Byron seemed to write more about lost love than they did. He also lived longer than them and produced a lot more writing. Perhaps due to this, he moved on from the familiar themes into new territory. Compared to them, he was also something of a bad boy and gave us the Byronic anti-hero. The protagonists of his poems and plays are often deeply flawed, yet still sympathetic characters. (Byron even makes us feel sympathy for the Biblical Cain.)
There's also his humor, which delighted me all the more because it was so unexpected. Unlike Keats and Shelley, Byron knew how to be funny. "Beppo" is full of humorous digressions much like his more famous poem Don Juan. "The Vision of Judgement" in which King George III is judged at Heaven's gate is also funny. "Lines Addressed to a Young Lady" in which Byron apologizes for almost shooting a woman, then proceeds to flirt with her is rather audacious. "The Blues", an unfinished play which pokes fun at bluestockings, was also funny in parts.
Of his short poems, "Darkness" stood out. I mean, it's dark even for Lord Byron. It's a nightmare about what would happen if light suddenly disappeared from the world. Everyone descends into savagery. There's a scene in which a dog guards the corpse of his master from those who would eat it. I also quite liked "To Augusta", a poem Byron wrote to his sister in which he psychoanalyzes himself in a melancholy way.
This collection also included parliamentary speeches Byron gave against anti-poor and anti-Catholic bills, which I think gave some additional incite into his character.
I'd say Don Juan is certainly his masterpiece. It's interesting that Byron took a figure famous for being a seducer of women and instead turned him into someone who was constantly seduced by women. And not only that, but his lovers are all older women.
Although it wasn't finished, Don Juan does give us pretty much everything: romance, comedy, tragedy, horror, war, death, descriptions of nature, a travel narrative with exotic locations, hypocrisy, cannibalism, cross-dressing, slavery, religious and political commentary, breaking the fourth wall, musings on philosophy and morality, dream sequences, descriptions of medicine and food, science, high society, a ghost story, and digressions on pretty much anything Byron was thinking of at the time.
Looking back on the whole thing, I think the first six cantos are the best. There's plenty of plot momentum with Juan's mother sending him away from Spain in disgrace after an affair, a shipwreck landing him in Greece where he falls hopelessly in love again only to be sold into slavery by his lover's father. Don Juan winding up dressed as a woman in a Turkish harem was pretty funny too.
I think the quality starts to dip a bit by canto 7. Lord Byron seems to throw narrative aside and we're suddenly in the midst of a battle and Don Juan doesn't even show up until the end. Worse, we don't even get an explanation of how Juan avoids the death sentence that was looming over him at the end of the sixth canto. He's just suddenly in another city. Still cantos 7 and 8 are both very readable with their brutal yet mocking descriptions of war.
Cantos 9 and 10 about Juan's relationship with Catherine the Great are probably the weakest in the poem, and they also seemed to be the shortest. Byron just seemed to want to get through them as quickly as possible. Juan then spends the rest of the poem in England, but not much happens. We get several short digression-filled cantos largely lacking in narrative momentum.
Canto 16 gives us a ghost story and returns to the quality of the first six cantos. Too bad we didn't get more of this before the author's death. If I were to read Don Juan again, I'd definitely skip cantos 9 through 15.
Sorrow is Knowledge: they who know the most
Must mourn the deepest o'er the fatal truth,
The Tree of Knowledge is not that of Life.
-Manfred, Act I, Scene I
I can't help comparing Byron's poems to those of Keats and Shelley. Like them, he liked writing about Greek mythology, gave long descriptions of nature, and had an obsession with death. Byron seemed to write more about lost love than they did. He also lived longer than them and produced a lot more writing. Perhaps due to this, he moved on from the familiar themes into new territory. Compared to them, he was also something of a bad boy and gave us the Byronic anti-hero. The protagonists of his poems and plays are often deeply flawed, yet still sympathetic characters. (Byron even makes us feel sympathy for the Biblical Cain.)
There's also his humor, which delighted me all the more because it was so unexpected. Unlike Keats and Shelley, Byron knew how to be funny. "Beppo" is full of humorous digressions much like his more famous poem Don Juan. "The Vision of Judgement" in which King George III is judged at Heaven's gate is also funny. "Lines Addressed to a Young Lady" in which Byron apologizes for almost shooting a woman, then proceeds to flirt with her is rather audacious. "The Blues", an unfinished play which pokes fun at bluestockings, was also funny in parts.
Of his short poems, "Darkness" stood out. I mean, it's dark even for Lord Byron. It's a nightmare about what would happen if light suddenly disappeared from the world. Everyone descends into savagery. There's a scene in which a dog guards the corpse of his master from those who would eat it. I also quite liked "To Augusta", a poem Byron wrote to his sister in which he psychoanalyzes himself in a melancholy way.
This collection also included parliamentary speeches Byron gave against anti-poor and anti-Catholic bills, which I think gave some additional incite into his character.
I'd say Don Juan is certainly his masterpiece. It's interesting that Byron took a figure famous for being a seducer of women and instead turned him into someone who was constantly seduced by women. And not only that, but his lovers are all older women.
Although it wasn't finished, Don Juan does give us pretty much everything: romance, comedy, tragedy, horror, war, death, descriptions of nature, a travel narrative with exotic locations, hypocrisy, cannibalism, cross-dressing, slavery, religious and political commentary, breaking the fourth wall, musings on philosophy and morality, dream sequences, descriptions of medicine and food, science, high society, a ghost story, and digressions on pretty much anything Byron was thinking of at the time.
Looking back on the whole thing, I think the first six cantos are the best. There's plenty of plot momentum with Juan's mother sending him away from Spain in disgrace after an affair, a shipwreck landing him in Greece where he falls hopelessly in love again only to be sold into slavery by his lover's father. Don Juan winding up dressed as a woman in a Turkish harem was pretty funny too.
I think the quality starts to dip a bit by canto 7. Lord Byron seems to throw narrative aside and we're suddenly in the midst of a battle and Don Juan doesn't even show up until the end. Worse, we don't even get an explanation of how Juan avoids the death sentence that was looming over him at the end of the sixth canto. He's just suddenly in another city. Still cantos 7 and 8 are both very readable with their brutal yet mocking descriptions of war.
Cantos 9 and 10 about Juan's relationship with Catherine the Great are probably the weakest in the poem, and they also seemed to be the shortest. Byron just seemed to want to get through them as quickly as possible. Juan then spends the rest of the poem in England, but not much happens. We get several short digression-filled cantos largely lacking in narrative momentum.
Canto 16 gives us a ghost story and returns to the quality of the first six cantos. Too bad we didn't get more of this before the author's death. If I were to read Don Juan again, I'd definitely skip cantos 9 through 15.
October 2, 2021
This book presents a nice little selection of Lord Byron’s work, giving the reader a sample of his wider work and his writing style in around 130 pages.
The works include a few shorter poems, such as She Walks in Beauty, and some longer ones, like Beppo, which I enjoyed. I must disclaim that I don’t like poetry, especially the type of poetry that is meant to appeal to deeper feelings just for the sake of them. Lord Byron is different because, in the tradition of epic poems that he directly praises in his works, he uses verse to tell tales that could otherwise be novels. So that’s why it appeals to me, I’m here for the story.
This selection also contains some excerpts from Don Juan, although it doesn’t really give away the plot. I enjoyed reading these few stanza and I think they make the selection complete.
This book for me was mostly a pretty piece to add to my collection, and it made me want to read more of Byron’s work, so it gets 4 stars for achieving the desired outcomes.
The works include a few shorter poems, such as She Walks in Beauty, and some longer ones, like Beppo, which I enjoyed. I must disclaim that I don’t like poetry, especially the type of poetry that is meant to appeal to deeper feelings just for the sake of them. Lord Byron is different because, in the tradition of epic poems that he directly praises in his works, he uses verse to tell tales that could otherwise be novels. So that’s why it appeals to me, I’m here for the story.
This selection also contains some excerpts from Don Juan, although it doesn’t really give away the plot. I enjoyed reading these few stanza and I think they make the selection complete.
This book for me was mostly a pretty piece to add to my collection, and it made me want to read more of Byron’s work, so it gets 4 stars for achieving the desired outcomes.
August 4, 2020
After I saw Byron painted as a bit of an arse in the Mary Shelley movie (recommend by the way) I wanted to read some of his poetry for myself. I wasn’t disappointed! While he has a tendency to waffle in some his poems (Beppo and the Vision Of Judgement to name some), I still found the work thoroughly entertaining. I particularly enjoyed ‘She walks in beauty’ and [Epigrams].
Overall I did enjoy this collection, and it made me see Byron in a new perspective. Will have to mull it over to make a final judgement on his character though!
Overall I did enjoy this collection, and it made me see Byron in a new perspective. Will have to mull it over to make a final judgement on his character though!
March 29, 2013
"But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think;
'Tis strange, the shortest letter which man uses
Instead of speech, may form a lasting link
Of ages; to what straits old Time reduces
Frail man, when paper - even a rag like this,
Survives himself, his tomb, and all that's his."
Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think;
'Tis strange, the shortest letter which man uses
Instead of speech, may form a lasting link
Of ages; to what straits old Time reduces
Frail man, when paper - even a rag like this,
Survives himself, his tomb, and all that's his."
October 2, 2018
Byron is the man. What I wouldn't give for a tenth of his talent and experiences
July 9, 2025
“'Tis night, when Meditation bids us feel
We once have loved, though love is at an end:
The heart, lone mourner of its baffled zeal,
Though friendless now, will dream it had a friend.
Who with the weight of years would wish to bend,
When Youth itself survives young Love and Joy?
Alas! when mingling souls forget to blend,
Death hath but little left him to destroy!
Ah, happy years! once more who would not be a boy?”
We once have loved, though love is at an end:
The heart, lone mourner of its baffled zeal,
Though friendless now, will dream it had a friend.
Who with the weight of years would wish to bend,
When Youth itself survives young Love and Joy?
Alas! when mingling souls forget to blend,
Death hath but little left him to destroy!
Ah, happy years! once more who would not be a boy?”
September 11, 2018
Made me want to be a writer.
April 26, 2024
Though I'm not a huge fan of his longer works, there are many Byron poems that I quite enjoy. I also found many lovely lines all throughout.
December 8, 2024
Comprehensive collection, extensive footnotes, historical references, and bibliographies of all of Byron's works.
April 10, 2019
I have been slightly burned in my poetry-reading career (which is still in its infancy) by purchasing large collections of poetry by poets I turn out to dislike. I had to give up Frank O'Hara entirely till I have a spare week or so in which to hate my life; I struggled with Anne Sexton; I am still making my way through Auden five months later, although that is extremely rewarding (but also extremely slow). So in February, when I went on a mad, seven-poet spree, I decided fuck it, I will just get small volumes and avoid the sunk cost fallacy. This is an absolutely adorable volume as well, with the lilac and white cover, and Paul Muldoon - who is clearly an epic Byron scholar - wrote a huge shrug of an intro in which he basically said 'these are my faves, take it or leave it'.
I don't know what the opposite of a sunk cost fallacy is but I definitely experienced it here. I LOVED Byron. After the free verse hell I have experienced with various twentieth century poets it is an absolute joy to read someone who treated this as a craft with seriousness and dedication and not just a confessional box. He's also SO DAMN FUNNY. I love him. I love him so much I bought a brick of a 'collection' from the Oxford University Press that even then doesn't contain it all because my boy was PROLIFIC. I'll happily spend the next year plus getting through it.
She Walks in Beauty - obvious classic.
The Destruction of Sennacherib - so MUSICAL! Such skill! Much clever!
Beppo:
For glaces beget ogles, ogles sighs,
Sighs wishes, wishes words, and words a letter,
Which flies on wings of light-heeled Mercuries,
Who do such things because they know no better;
And then, God knows what mischief may arise,
When love links two young people in one fetter,
Vile assignations, and adulterous beds,
Elopements, broken vows, and hearts, and heads.
Vile assignations!
Which people call 'a certain age',
Which yet the most uncertain age appears,
Because I never heard, nor could engage
A person yet by prayers, or bribes, or tears,
To name, define by speech, or write on page,
The period meant precisely by that word -
Which surely is exceedingly absurd.
I had to stop reading to laugh.
I love the language, that soft bastard Latin,
Which melts like kisses from a female mouth,
And sounds as if it should be writ on satin
Lovely.
I like the weather when it is not rainy,
That is, I like it two months of every year
lol
Canto II
if foes be food in hell, at sea
Tis surely fair to dine upon our friends
DARK LOL
Canto III
Frail man, when paper - even a rag like this,
Survives himself, his tomb, and all that's his.
Marcus Aurelius would disagree!
Canto XI
[...] save for our country's good -
Which grows no better, though 'tis time it should.
[...]
Called 'Parks', where there is neither food nor flower
Enough to gratify a bee's slight munchings;
But after all it is the only 'bower',
(In Moore's phrase) where the fashionable fair
Can form a slight acquaintance with fresh air.
I forsee the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
I don't know what the opposite of a sunk cost fallacy is but I definitely experienced it here. I LOVED Byron. After the free verse hell I have experienced with various twentieth century poets it is an absolute joy to read someone who treated this as a craft with seriousness and dedication and not just a confessional box. He's also SO DAMN FUNNY. I love him. I love him so much I bought a brick of a 'collection' from the Oxford University Press that even then doesn't contain it all because my boy was PROLIFIC. I'll happily spend the next year plus getting through it.
She Walks in Beauty - obvious classic.
The Destruction of Sennacherib - so MUSICAL! Such skill! Much clever!
Beppo:
For glaces beget ogles, ogles sighs,
Sighs wishes, wishes words, and words a letter,
Which flies on wings of light-heeled Mercuries,
Who do such things because they know no better;
And then, God knows what mischief may arise,
When love links two young people in one fetter,
Vile assignations, and adulterous beds,
Elopements, broken vows, and hearts, and heads.
Vile assignations!
Which people call 'a certain age',
Which yet the most uncertain age appears,
Because I never heard, nor could engage
A person yet by prayers, or bribes, or tears,
To name, define by speech, or write on page,
The period meant precisely by that word -
Which surely is exceedingly absurd.
I had to stop reading to laugh.
I love the language, that soft bastard Latin,
Which melts like kisses from a female mouth,
And sounds as if it should be writ on satin
Lovely.
I like the weather when it is not rainy,
That is, I like it two months of every year
lol
Canto II
if foes be food in hell, at sea
Tis surely fair to dine upon our friends
DARK LOL
Canto III
Frail man, when paper - even a rag like this,
Survives himself, his tomb, and all that's his.
Marcus Aurelius would disagree!
Canto XI
[...] save for our country's good -
Which grows no better, though 'tis time it should.
[...]
Called 'Parks', where there is neither food nor flower
Enough to gratify a bee's slight munchings;
But after all it is the only 'bower',
(In Moore's phrase) where the fashionable fair
Can form a slight acquaintance with fresh air.
I forsee the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
August 10, 2020
A few months back someone read one of my stories and asked if I had named a character (Levi Byron) after Lord Byron. Back when Levi was created (when I was fifteen), I did - most likely because Lord Byron was a respectable man known as one of the greatest British poets. Although back then I meant to read anything around Lord Byron, I focused on my own Byron and forgot about the writer (Until it was recently brought up).
Lord Byron puts a lot of time and effort and emotion into his writing, however, I wish there was more in this little book. Although some of his work is quick and short and gets to the point, some of it can go on for twenty pages or more with so much detail that it's easy to lose track some times. Other times I felt uninterested.
I'm very 50/50 with what was selected and would rather read a complete collection of Lord Byron's work - which I hope I will be able to do one day.
Lord Byron puts a lot of time and effort and emotion into his writing, however, I wish there was more in this little book. Although some of his work is quick and short and gets to the point, some of it can go on for twenty pages or more with so much detail that it's easy to lose track some times. Other times I felt uninterested.
I'm very 50/50 with what was selected and would rather read a complete collection of Lord Byron's work - which I hope I will be able to do one day.
January 21, 2015
Lord Byron on Why You Shouldn’t Apply Make-up in the Dark My synopsis of Lord Byron’s poem “Darkness:” Planet Earth is in trouble. The sun goes out. Plants are dying. There’s nothing to eat. People burn everything they could for light and warmth. And then, after everyone is dead, two last women approach the last fire and look at each other…and die from laughing after they see how badly they applied make-up in all this dark.
Okay, okay, I’m joking. It’s two last men who come up to the fire. No make-up involved. Unfortunately. And I’m still not sure what the moral of this poem is. Transcendental doom and gloom? However, the poem does relay feelings of hopelessness and terror and darkness brilliantly because Lord Byron is, of course, an amazing poet. :)
Okay, okay, I’m joking. It’s two last men who come up to the fire. No make-up involved. Unfortunately. And I’m still not sure what the moral of this poem is. Transcendental doom and gloom? However, the poem does relay feelings of hopelessness and terror and darkness brilliantly because Lord Byron is, of course, an amazing poet. :)
April 26, 2014
“She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.”
Even though Lord Byron still is extremely well-known, he is very rarely read today. Before I read these selected poems I had actually only read 'Manfred' and parts of 'Don Juan'. While I do appreciate these longer, grander and more ambitious long poems of his, I actually found myself loving his smaller poems much more. 'She Walks in Beauty' is, to me at least, perfection and 'Stanzas for Music' is simply beautiful. Perhaps I am simply more drawn towards Byron's lyrical works than his narrative poems.
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.”
Even though Lord Byron still is extremely well-known, he is very rarely read today. Before I read these selected poems I had actually only read 'Manfred' and parts of 'Don Juan'. While I do appreciate these longer, grander and more ambitious long poems of his, I actually found myself loving his smaller poems much more. 'She Walks in Beauty' is, to me at least, perfection and 'Stanzas for Music' is simply beautiful. Perhaps I am simply more drawn towards Byron's lyrical works than his narrative poems.
December 17, 2020
I went to a workshop of Paul Muldoon's last year and it sticks with me still. So upon seeing this I had to get it!
There are some poems I love on this day I compleye my thirty sixth year, she walks in beauty, we shall go no more a roving, Visions of Judgement (!!!) But the longer poems such as Beppo and the Don Juan cantos arent personally my cup of tea. There are elements to them that I love but they wind on a bit too long for me. Asides from that great collection and a good start to the Byronic
There are some poems I love on this day I compleye my thirty sixth year, she walks in beauty, we shall go no more a roving, Visions of Judgement (!!!) But the longer poems such as Beppo and the Don Juan cantos arent personally my cup of tea. There are elements to them that I love but they wind on a bit too long for me. Asides from that great collection and a good start to the Byronic
July 16, 2012
I chose this because my complete edition is so very old, it's not listed, and still has flowers, leaves and clovers pressed in it from the previous owner. I won't tell you how much I paid for it, suffice to say, it was worth every penny and no one but myself is allowed to touch it.
December 10, 2011
Enjoyed this way more than I expected! Byron loves to talk smack about his contemporaries! 'The Vision of Judgement', 'Beppo' and the extracts from 'Don Juan' were my favourite.
October 5, 2015
Awesomeness.
February 6, 2016
I've always loved Lord Byron's works. Period.
August 28, 2016
Still love Byron even though he was a misogynist.
abandoned-dnf
February 14, 2025Read Prometheus and January 22nd, Missolonghi for ENG 463.
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