lord george gordon byron
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Lord George Gordon Byron
1788 - 1824
Ann Lidovskay andKristina Botieva 11-a
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Lord George Gordon Byron wasthe son of Captain John Byron,and Catherine Gordon of Gight, aself-indulgent, somewhathysterical woman, who was hissecond wife.
He was born with a club-foot andbecame extreme sensitivity abouthis lameness
His life did not become easier when he received painfultreatments for his foot by a quackpractitioner in 1799. Eventually hegot a corrective boot.
At home Byron's alcoholicgoverness made sexual advanceswhen he was nine. According tosome sources, Byron was alsoseduced by the lord who rentedhis mansion before he inheritedit.
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In his works short and stout Byron glorified proud
heroes, who overcome hardships. The poet himself
was only 5 feet 8 1/2 inches tall and his widely
varying weight ranged from 137 to 202 pounds - heonce said that everything he swallowed was
instantly converted to tallow and deposited on his
ribs.
One of his friends noted that at the age of about 30he looked 40 and "the knuckles of his hands were
lost in fat."
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Byron spent his early
childhood years in poor
surroundings in Aberdeen,
where he was educated until
he was ten. fter he inherited the title and
property of his great-uncle in
1798, he went on to Dulwich,
Harrow, where he excelled in
swimming, and Cambridge,
where he piled up depths and
aroused alarm with bisexual
love affairs.
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Staying at Newstead in 1802, he probably first met
his half-sister, Augusta Leigh. At the age of fifteen
he fell in love with Mary Chaworth, his distant
cousin, whom he wrote the poem 'To Emma'.
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In 1807 appeared Byron's first collection of poetry, HOURS OF IDLENESS. It receivedbad reviews. The poet answered his critics
with satire ENGLISH BARDS AND SCOTCH
REVIEWS
in 1808. Next year he took his seat in the House of Lords, and set out on his grand tour, visitingSpain, Albania, Greece, and the Aegean. In
Malta he stopped for treatments of gonorrhea.
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Success came in 1812 whenByron published the first twocantos of CHILDE HAROLD'S
PILGRIMAGE (1812-1818 ). "I awoke one morning and foundmyself famous," he later said.
He became an adoredcharacter of London society,he spoke in the House of Lords effectively on liberal
themes, and had a hectic love-affair with Lady Caroline Lamb.''Mad - bad - and dangerous t o k now ,'' she wrote in her journalon the evening she first sawhim.
But the love of Byron's life wasaccording to Fiona MacCarthy(see Byron: Life and Legend,2002) an impoverishedchoirboy named JohnEdleston.
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During the summer of 1813 Byron apparently entered into a more
than brotherly relationship with his half-sister Augusta Leigh, who
was a mother of three daughters. In 1814 Augusta gave birth to
Elizabeth Medora, who was generally supposed to be Byron's.
In the same year he wrote 'Lara,' a poem about a mystical hero,aloof and alien, whose identity is gradually revealed and who
dies after a feud in the arms of his page.
THE CORS AIR (1814), sold 10,000 copies on the
first day of publication
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Byron married Anne
Isabella Milbanke in
1815, and their
daughter Ada was bornin the same year. The
marriage was unhappy,
and they obtained legal
separation next year.
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When the rumorsstarted to rise of his
incest and debts wereaccumulating, Byronleft England in 1816,
never to return. ''Theonly virtue they honor inEngland is hypocrisy,''he once wrote a friend.
Polidori was only 20;three patients diedunder his care, and hecommitted suicide theage of 26.
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Byron had a fever from which he died in
Missolonghi on 19 April 1824.Memorial services were held all over the
land. Byron's body was returned to Englandbut refused by the deans of both Westminster
and St Paul's.Finally Byron's coffin was placed in the family
vault at Hucknall Torkard, near Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire