Interview with Lord Byron:
1. Q: You published your first work of poetry when you were 14. What happened to make you so interested in poetry, at such a young age? A: Well, as a young boy, I attended Grammar school, which might of, somewhat, sparked my interest in writing. My mother wanted me to be very successful. As a result, she was sure that I received a sufficient education. We didn’t have much money until later in life, but she did her best. My ancestors were thought to be those of great achievements, so I also felt I had to be great, somehow (Moore 2011). But I wasn’t sure how. I had a clubfoot when I was younger, and it caused me to be very sensitive. My sensitivity, was a cause for my melancholy writing. I liked to write to express my feelings.
When I was nine, I had an attraction to my nurse, May Gray, she had an attraction to me too. She made sexual contact with me. I believe this caused my sexual drive towards women. I was separated from my nurse, many years later. I also felt love was a big part of my life as a young adult. I fell in love with my distant cousins, Mary Duff and Margaret Parker. I believe my experiences such as these, swayed me to write in the genre of Romanticism. Later, I grew very fond of school, when I went to Harrow, mostly because of my friendships with the other boys. This is when I realized my sexuality. My biggest romantic experience was when I courted Mary Chaworth, she got bored of me and left me. This sent me into a state of depression. I used my grief as a tool for writing, and Mary became a symbol of idealized and unattainable love in my writing. I fell in love too many times to count throughout my life.
I visited Greece when I was traveling Europe,. This helped inspire my later writing. I loved the people and the beauty of the land. Greece left a lasting impression on my writing. I would love to return there. It is hard to say what exactly sparked my interest in poetry, but that I wanted to be able to express my feelings. (Keats 2011)
2. Q: How did mentors inspire you to be who you are as a poet?
A: Well, I consider my self to be very liberal. I was a great supporter in the Greek War for Independence. I love to see countries, and people fight for what they believe in! I tried to boost my political career by joining the Whig Party. My mentor in the Whig Party was Lord Holland (Byron 2011). He helped with my induction to the Whig Party and aided me in my short political career. He was a very nice man. He helped me to get where I am. He helped me as a satirist, because many times he requested that I write for the Drury Lane Theater (Lord Byron Chronology Wikipedia 2011). He helped me get my writing published.
As for my poetry, I never had a real mentor. My mother pushed me to be successful, but she wasn’t necessarily a mentor. I guess, if mentors could be feelings, my mentor would be love. Love is what inspired me as a poet. It helped me express my feelings in the form of poetry. Love is what consumed most of my life. I decided my talent in poetry was Romanticism. I loved to be romantic, and I fell in love easily. So if I had to choose a mentor, it wouldn’t be a person, but the idea of love.
3. Q: What was the world of poetry like when you first published your poetry?
A: I entered the world of poetry in the early 1800’s. At the time I began writing, Romanticism was becoming big! So, the combination of my fondness for Romanticism, and the popularity of it, drove me to the genre of Romanticism. I published my first poetic work in 1807. It received bad reviews. It was hard to get a positive review, when there was a constant competition with poet, William Wordsworth. Wordsworth started the Romantic Movement. He was a great poet. At this time, poetry focused a lot on emotion. Poetry was also a dominant literary form. (TW- Worsdworth Packet 2011).
In response to my first poem’s reviews, I wrote English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, a satire criticizing them. Then in 1812, people began to adore my writing. I wrote the first two cantos of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. Poetry was a beautiful sea of emotion when I entered. It stressed human life, expressiveness, and passion. It described the nature of romance, and gave people a happy and peaceful feeling. (“Lord Byron Biography- Poems.” 2011)
4. Q: How did culture, economy, and politics during your era, effect your writing?
A: I believe the situations greatly impacted my writing. I defied many cultural boundaries through out my life. I was a rebel. I liked the scandal and thrill of a romantic life. I feel we must break from convention, from the older assumptions about not only social life, but literary life as well (Vanorsow 2011). In my poem Childe Harold‘s Pilgrimage, I defended the value of personal freedom. It was a of the hardships of life in this world. I wrote many satires, that defied some of my political opponents. As well as being a supporter of the Whig Party, I wrote many pieces on their views. In the House of Lords, I used my power to make speeches about many issues at the time. I spoke out against the government control on religion. I believed everyone should have the right to choose their own beliefs. I also opposed the death penalty to the Luddites. I thought our countries belonged to people of our country, rather then machines. I also wrote poetry about Lord Elgin’s removal of the Parthenon marbles from Greece. I strongly disagreed with the choice in “The Curse of Minerva.” They were a beautiful piece of art. ("Lord Byron." 2011).
Later, in the Greek War for Independence, I fought for the people of Greece. So, I tried to show my support, and gain support throughout Europe. I believed in independence and human rights! I would fight for freedom anywhere needed, explaining how some symbolize me as the romantic hero. I fight for freedom and defy cultural boundaries. (Vanorsow 2011).
5. Q: What were your greatest achievements?
A: I don’t want to sound conceited, but I had many achievements over the years. For myself, and others, such as the people of Greece. By far, the greatest achievement in my life, was my induction into the House of Lords. On March 15, 1807 ("The Byron Chronology." 2011). It made me happy, as if I had achieved something great. I was proud of myself, and my mother was proud of me. She wanted me to make something of myself, and on that day I felt I did. I was happy I could please her. It also put in a position of power where I could speak out for what I believe in. I could do something important.
My greatest poetic achievement, was probably Don Juan. It was my longest poem, spanning 17 cantos. It was definitely my most significant poem. I spent so much of my time working on it. I think it will go down in history. I would like to call in an epic satire. Many criticized it, but it was very popular. The people loved it. And I fought most of my life for the people. (“Don Juan [Byron]” 2011)
Q: What style did you use in your writing?
A: In my early pieces I spoke in Stanza’s and in the archaic language of Spenser's Faerie Queene. Later, I moved away from that style, and took a modern approach. I continued to use the Spenserian Stanza. I liked to write four cantos. One for observation, one for description, one for sentiment, and one for meditation. ("Lord Byron (George Gordon) (1788 - 1824)." 2011)
6. Q: What were some important chances and connections that caused some of your success in your life and in poetry?
A: I think one of my biggest opportunities was my admittance into the House of Lords. This gave me the opportunities to do what I wanted: speak out for the people, and fight for what I believe in. It helped with my publicity as a poet as well, to make me successful. One of my opportunities for my poetry and life, was my education. It was a huge advancement for me. It aided me in life to be a better, more intelligent, and successful, person. In poetry, it helped me to be a better writer. I really appreciate my mother for seeing to it, that I received an education.
My biggest opportunity that I seized as a poet, was the publication of my first successful works as a poet, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Inspired by my journey Near East. That journey inspired a lot of my great poems, due to what I witnessed there: the beauty of the land, and the people, inspired some of my greatest poetry (Adler pg. 448). This ignited my popularity in the literary world. It helped me to grow closer to the community of England. And the people began to love me!
7. Q: What were some decisions that you made to get to where you are today, as one of the greatest romantic poets of all time?
A: One of the most important decisions in my career was to leave England. I loved the country, but the stress was too hard to bare. So, I left England to go abroad throughout Europe. Many question my reasons for leaving. I had to leave, I was humiliated. I had an incestuous relationship with my half sister, at the time I was married. And that was something the culture in Britain would not tolerate. I couldn’t make a career out of people who would refuse to read my literature. I had an enormous debt piling up, that I couldn’t pay off at the time. I just had to leave before matters got worse then they were. ("Lord George Gordon Byron." 2011)
This decision helped me to get where I ended up, because I am so much more successful then I would have been. In my time away, I wrote Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Lament Of Tasso, Mazeppa, The Two Foscari, Sardanapalaus, Cain, and my masterpiece, Don Juan. I got to see new places and meet new people, which helped inspire my writing. I was able to sell more literature, and share my writings with the world. Another decision I mad that added to my success was firing my publisher John Murray. He found some of the cantos in Don Juan, “outrageously shocking” that he refused to publish them. So, I fired him, and hired publisher John Hunt, a far more liberal publisher. If I was to continue to publish with Murray, I would of never published my masterpiece, Don Juan, and I wouldn’t be as successful as I am today. (Hughes 2011).
8. Q: What difficulties did you face, that you had to conquer, in order to be a poet?
A: I believe my biggest difficulty in becoming a poet, was my club foot. I knew young, that it would be hard to be in the arts, with problems getting around. I need to be able to travel to share, and promote my work. I needed to see new places, and meet new people. My club foot prevented me from doing that. Having a club foot, is when you have deformity in your foot, and a bone grows abnormally at birth. It causes your foot to turn inward, outward, up, or down, a certain way permanently. It makes it very hard to walk. ("Clubfoot." 2011).
Having a club foot made me very sensitive about my lameness. I couldn’t play what the other kids played, I couldn’t walk like the other kids walked, so I wrote. I wrote about how I felt. I became extremely emotional because of it. Class mates would laugh at me, and I would sob. I saw that I couldn’t go on like this for ever. So I learned to conquer my sensitivity, and get around more. I ended up using my problems to write brilliant poetry. I didn’t let the problem keep me from doing what I wanted to you. I traveled all through Europe, and withstood the pain. I didn’t let it bring me down. I carried on with life. ("Lord George Gordon Byron." 2011).
9: Q: What obstacles did you face as a poet and a person?
A: Some of my biggest obstacles in becoming who I am as a poet and a person were the critiques. I felt I was always being critiqued by someone. It started with my overly-sensitiveness about my club foot. I always felt someone was talking about me. I was afraid of what people would think of the way I walked, the comments they would make. I feared rejection, as a writer, I was hesitant to publish because I was afraid some one would say it wasn’t good enough. And after my first published work of poetry, Hours of Idleness, my fear was becoming real. The
I also received criticism for my affairs and scandalous life. I loved to run around with the ladies. I liked the excitement and thrill of it. I fell in love easily. Many critics and old lovers tried to ruin me by accusing me of incest, adultery, sodomy, and marital violence. They circulated it all around England. So I had to leave, I had no choice. I was ruined in England. Despite what happened, I overcame all of it. I continued to write and publish more of my work. ("Lord Byron." 2011).
10: Q: What personal events best describe how you became a great poet?
A: One of my stories I am about to tell you, didn’t directly lead to my success, but it proved that I could write romantically, and write about myself. On May 3, 1810, I swam the Hellespont, just as Leander did to visit his beloved hero. It spanned from Sestos to Abydos, and it took me two tries, under the strong currents and chilling waters, but I finally made the whole three miles down stream. I did it in about an hour, and did it with little difficulty. (King 2011).
I was only twenty- two, and I wasn’t yet popular in the literary community. I had just finished a draft of Childe Harold, and ended a serious affair. That was one with Constance Spencer Smith. She was very beautiful, and she was mysterious in ways. She was a rebel as well, she was arrested twice for speaking out against Napoleon. I loved her so much, that I would of defended her in a sunrise duel, and I did. But, as for the swim, I plume myself on the achievement more than I could possibly do on any kind of glory, political, poetical, or rhetorical success. That swim was a huge achievement for me. After the swim I wrote a poem, and many say, it shows me capable of poking fun at not only romanticism but myself. I can’t say much as to what lead directly to my success, but that I wrote, and the people enjoyed my writing. (King 2011).
Bibliography
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Edinburgh Review gave a savage review to my work. It made me a little upset, and I felt I had to get back at them, and I wrote, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, a satire criticizing the critics. They were set out to get me after that. ("Lord Byron." 2011).http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer- new2?id=ByrLet2.xml&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/par sed&tag=public&part=127&division=div2#l239fn01>.http://www.arlindo-correia.com/060103.html>.http://www.poemofquotes.com/lordbyron/>. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Byron_(chronology)>. http://englishhistory.net/byron/life.html>.
Adler, Philip. "George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824)." World Civiliaztions Volume 2. Ed. Ashley Dodge. Boston, MA : Thomson Wadsworth, 2008. Print.
Byron, Lord . "239. -- To Lord Holland.." Byron. The Works of Lord Byron, Letters and Journals Vol. II. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library, 25 June 1812. Web. 11 Mar 2011. <
"Clubfoot." Musculoskeletal Abnormalities. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck Research Laboratories, 2002. Web. <http://medical- dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/clubfoot>.
"Don Juan (Byron)." Wikipedia. Wikpedia, 13 March 2011. Web. 15 Mar 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Juan_(Byron) >.
Hughes, Kathryn. "Mad About the Boys." Lord Byron. Arlindo-Correia, 01 June 2003. Web. 11 Mar 2011.<
King, Steve. "Byron Swims the Hellespont." Today in Literature. TinL, n.d. Web. 17 Mar 2011. <http://www.todayinliterature.com/stories.asp?Event_Date=5/3/1810 >.
"Lord Byron Biography- Poems." Poem of Quotes. impNERD, n.d. Web. 12 Mar 2011. <
"Lord Byron (chronology)." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 6 January 2011. Web. 11 Mar 2011. <
"Lord Byron (George Gordon) (1788 - 1824)." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, 2010. Web. 12 Mar 2011. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/lord- byron#bibliography>.
"Lord Byron." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 15 March 2011. Web. 16 Mar 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Byron >.
"Lord George Gordon Byron." The Literatue Network. Jalic Inc, n.d. Web. 08 Mar 2011.
<http://www.online-literature.com/byron/>.
Moore, Thomas. "Notices of the Life of Lord Byron." English History . John Murray, 1835. Web. 07 Mar 2011. <http://englishhistory.net/byron/moorebyron.html>.
"The Byron Chronology." English History. English History, 18 June 2009. Web. 11 Mar 2011. <http://englishhistory.net/byron/chronology.html >.
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Edinburgh Review gave a savage review to my work. It made me a little upset, and I felt I had to get back at them, and I wrote, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, a satire criticizing the critics. They were set out to get me after that. ("Lord Byron." 2011).http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer- new2?id=ByrLet2.xml&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/par sed&tag=public&part=127&division=div2#l239fn01>.http://www.arlindo-correia.com/060103.html>.http://www.poemofquotes.com/lordbyron/>. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Byron_(chronology)>. http://englishhistory.net/byron/life.html>.
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