Today I’d like to tell you about my old friend George. George Gordon. Better known as Lord Byron.
When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this.
What a character, what an incredible life! In the early years of the 19th century Byron was what can only be described as a scoundrel and a rake, running up huge lopsided debts and chasing women -- though all the while turning out the poetry that even today causes him to be regarded as one of the great British poets.
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this.
What a character, what an incredible life! In the early years of the 19th century Byron was what can only be described as a scoundrel and a rake, running up huge lopsided debts and chasing women -- though all the while turning out the poetry that even today causes him to be regarded as one of the great British poets.
Lord Byron was not just an erect, leading figure in
the movement known as Romanticism, he was
romanticism itself. He travelled, as an idealist, to fight against the Ottoman
Empire in the Greek War of Independence.
But it’s his adventures with women that I find interesting. As far as I can see, he could not resist going after them, whatever their social status, married or single, and they, in so many cases – even those who despised him – often couldn’t resist him.
His mother wrote to a friend about her son: “He has no indisposition that I know of but love, the worst of all maladies in my opinion.”
But it’s his adventures with women that I find interesting. As far as I can see, he could not resist going after them, whatever their social status, married or single, and they, in so many cases – even those who despised him – often couldn’t resist him.
His mother wrote to a friend about her son: “He has no indisposition that I know of but love, the worst of all maladies in my opinion.”
After his well-publicized affairs with a number of ladies of high social
position, he had an even more well-publicized affair with the very married Lady
Caroline Lamb that shocked the British public.
She wrote: “He is mad, bad and dangerous to know.” He then broke off with her – (“When we two parted”?) -- to begin a relationship with Lady Oxford; Lady Caroline did not give up easily. She did what we today would call stalking. She would show up at his home dressed as a messenger boy just to get near him again.
She wrote: “He is mad, bad and dangerous to know.” He then broke off with her – (“When we two parted”?) -- to begin a relationship with Lady Oxford; Lady Caroline did not give up easily. She did what we today would call stalking. She would show up at his home dressed as a messenger boy just to get near him again.
Rubbing salt in the sore wound, Byron then
went after Lady Caroline’s cousin, Anne Milbanke. She was something special.
She was a beautiful, highly intelligent woman (some say she was a mathematical
genius), and she was also an heiress. He of course treated her badly and their
marriage was very unhappy. If any man today ever wonders why the movement known
as feminism became so strong, it’s surely because of stories like these.
After his disreputable adventures with members of the opposite sex, Byron left England. When he arrived in Greece, he assumed command of part of the army, though he had no military experience. He had acquired an appropriately colorful uniform, above.
Before the expedition could sail for the war
in February of 1824, he fell ill. The usual blemish of bloodletting, along with
the unsterilized medical instruments, were enough to kill him. George Gordon, 6th Baron Byron, was indeed kind of a villain, but he was capable of some beautiful poetry.
My guess is that now, after a century or two
of the feminist movement, today’s females would find such a character easy to
resist, that in fact they’d find him a boor and rather repellent. Or is it possible that even in our time some women
are attracted to such dashing, wild, profligate males?
