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“I am one with the storm!”. To the 225 th anniversary of George Byron’s birthday. Photo: http://science.howstuffworks.com.

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  1. “I am one with the storm!” To the 225th anniversary of George Byron’s birthday Photo: http://science.howstuffworks.com

  2. “This is I: I am one with the storm! The rolling thunder-stone, reverberating through the abysses of the Alps, is the echo of my own soul! All desolate lands and cities … express me. But I am greater than these symbols, myself, one and indivisible,—a tortured human soul, unconquered, unsurrendering.” “Byron in Our Day” J. F. A. Pyre

  3. George Gordon Noel Byron (1788-1824) was one of the most illustrious British poets who became the successor of romantic literature originated in the 18th century. • Byron created a popular Romantic character - melancholy, haunted by secret guilt - for which his own life and experience seemed the model. George Gordon Byron Photo: http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp00691/george-gordon-byron-6th-baron-byron

  4. George Byron was born in London on 22 January 1788. • His mother, Catherine Gordon of Gight(1765-1811), was an impoverished Scots heiress. • His father Captain John ("Mad Jack") Byron (1755-1791) was a fortune-hunting widower with a little daughter Augusta. • John Byron left his family indirefinancialstate and eventually decamped for France, an exile from English creditors, where he died in 1791. CaptainJohnByron Photo: http://www.keats-shelley-house.org/en/writers/writers-lord-byron/lord-byron-family

  5. Mrs Byron was not a bad woman, but she was not a good mother. Passionate and extravagant, she mismanaged her son from his childhood. • She neither looked nor spoke like a gentlewoman; but in the conduct of her affairs, she was praiseworthy. She avoided debts, and when she obtained a civil list pension of 300 pounds a year she spent most of it on her son. • Mrs Byron was well-educated and had some taste for reading. Catherine Gordon of Gight Photo: http://www.ashfield-dc.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/community-and-living/faiths--beliefs-and-religions/st--mary-magdalene/george-gordon-byron/;jsessionid=C842125160B16F142839EC84DC6BB88E

  6. Young Byron was christened “George Gordon Byron” at St Marylebone Parish Church after his maternal grandfather, George Gordon of Gight, a descendant of James I of Scotland. • Mrs Byron moved back to Aberdeenshire in summer in 1789 where Byron spent his early years. Photo: http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/aberdeenshire/stonehaven.shtml

  7. From 1794 to 1798 ByronattendedAberdeen Grammar School. • Itwasasolidfoundationenablinghimtokeepahandoverhistalents and developing interest in reading and especially a "grand passion" for history that influenced much of his poetical works. Aberdeen Grammar School Photo: http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/search_item/index.php?service=RCAHMS&id=70525

  8. From birth, Byron suffered from a deformity of his right foot which caused him both psychological and physical misery for all his life. • Under the care of a Dr. Bailey, he was encouraged to exercise in moderation, but could not restrain himself from "violent" bouts in an attempt to overcompensate for his physical defect.

  9. At the age of 10 Byron inherited the title of 6th Lord Byron and the estate of Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire via his great-uncle the "wicked" Lord Byron.  • The Abbey was presented to the Byron family by Henry VIII. • Young boy fell in love with the ghostly halls and romantic ruins of Newstead Abbey where he lived for a while.  Newstead Abbey Photo: http://heritagecatering.org.uk/page7.php

  10. Through thy battlements, Newstead, the hollow winds whistle; Thou, the hall of my fathers, art gone to decay; In thy once smiling garden, the hemlock and thistle Have choked up the rose which late bloom’d in the way. Of the mail-cover’d Barons, who proudly to battle Led their vassals from Europe to Palestine’s plain, The escutcheon and shield, which with every blast rattle, Are the only sad vestiges now that remain. “On Leaving Newstead Abbey” 1803 Photo: http://www.aboutbritain.com/NewsteadAbbey.htm

  11. He was privately tutored in Nottingham and his clubfoot was treated by a quack named Lavender.  • In 1799 Byron entered the school of Dr. William Glennie in Dulwich and then he studed at Harrow School in northwest London. Harrow School Photo: http://www.ukstudycentre.com/education/secondary-education/schoolscatalogue/harrow-school/

  12. During the summer holidays of 1803 Byron stayed at Newstead with his tenant, Lord Grey, and courted his distant relative Mary Anne Chaworth (1786–1832).  • The young lady became the reason Byron refused to go back to Harrow school that year. His mother wrote, "He has no indisposition that I know of but love, desperate love, the worst of all maladies in my opinion”. • When Miss Chaworth grew tired of "that lame boy," Byron expressed his sadness in melancholy poems in which Mary became the symbol of unattainable love. His poem “To Emma” is dedicated to her. (Later, when Byron achieved fame she had to regret her rejection.) Mary ChaworthMusters Photo: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/mary-chaworth-musters-17861832-47827

  13. Since now the hour is come at last,When you must quit your anxious lover;Since now, our dream of bliss is past,One pang, my girl, and all is over. Alas! that pang will be severe,Which bids us part to meet no more;Which tears me far from one so dear,Departing for a distant shore. Well! we have pass'd some happy hours,And joy will mingle with our tears;When thinking on these ancient towers,The shelter of our infant years … “To Emma” 1807 Photo: http://rompedas.blogspot.ru/2009/12/one-of-finest-american-watercolorists.html

  14. Byron enteredTrinity College at Cambridge in 1805. "The place is the devil,"he wrote about it. • But there he made some friends who were worthy of his choice. The scholar-dandy Scrope Berdmore Davies and his best friend - politician John Cam Hobhouse(1786–1869) were among them. Trinity College Photo: http://luirig.altervista.org/naturaitaliana/viewpics.php?title=Trinity+College,+Cambridge,+England John Cam Hobhouse Photo:http://www.art-prints-on-demand.com/a/wivell/johncamhobhousec1821.html

  15. In 1806 Byron wroteand published most of his "Juvenile Poems”. His first book was a thin quarto of 66 pages dated December 23d, 1806. • Later in 1807 his new book entitled “Poems on Various Occasions”was ready for private distribution. • Encouraged by two critics, Henry Makenzie and Lord Woodhouselee, Byron publishedthe next edition under his own name “Hours of Idleness, by George Gordon Lord Byron, a minor”. • The last issue of Juvenilia cycle “Poems, Original and Translated” was published in March 1808. Resource:http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Works_of_Lord_Byron_(ed._Coleridge,_Prothero)/Poetry/Volume_1

  16. Byron has sometimes been compared to the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759 – 1796) because both of them wrote from their personal impressions and feelings, frankly showing themselves in their poetry. • In his early poems Byron expressed how much he despised hypocriticalBritish societyas well as the English climate which he found too rainy. Photo: http://illustrators.ru/illustrations/46754

  17. Byron’s early poems were criticized for demonstrating a "Scotch accent”. Later he replied to the critics with a satire "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers”. • He always remembered his Scottish roots and the beauty of the Scottish nature: England! thy beauties are tame and domestic, To one who has rov'd on the mountains afar Oh! for the crags that are wild and majestic The deep frowning glories of dark Loch na Garr. “Hours of Idleness" Photo: http://www.michaelhughesantiques.co.uk/michael_hughes/scottish_painting.html

  18. At the age of 21 in January 1809, Byron took his seat in the House of Lords. • In his speeches Byron was seen as a defendant of social reforms in Britain and supporter of the Luddites (workers in Nottinghamshire who destroyed textile machines that were putting them out of work). The Lords met such words with sarcastic remarks insisting on the benefits of automation. • In another speech he expressed opposition to the established church believing it was unfair to people of other religious beliefs. • His parliamentary experiences were reflected in the political poems: “Song for the Luddites” (1816), “The Landlords' Interest”, “The Best of the Cut-Throats” (1819) etc. Photo: http://www.historyevents.ru/4/st11.htm

  19. On 11 June 1809 Byron and his friend John Hobhouse left Britain for the continent making a Grand Tour over Eastern Europe. • They visited Spain, Malta , Greece, and made an inland voyage to Janina and later to Tepelene in Albania to visit Ali Pasa.  • On his return at Janina Byron began an autobiographical poem “Childe Harold”, which he continued during his stay at Athens.  They lodged with a widow, whose daughter, Theresa Macri, became a prototype for Byron’s “The Maid of Athens”.  Photo:http://readytogoebooks.com/MOA-P43.htm

  20. In March 1810 the friends went to Constantinople. At the mouth of the Hellespont Byron visited the site of Troy. • On 3 May 1810 he swam from Europe to Asia across the Hellespont Strait in imitation of Leander (the first recorded notable example of open water swimming). • Greece made a lasting impression on his mind - he delighted its sunny mild climate and moral tolerance of the people.  After leaving the country, Byron dreamt to return there again. Photo: http://yesway.ru/greciya-v-akvareli-ot-xudozhnika-pantelis-zografos.html

  21. The isles of Greece, the isles of Greece! Where burning Sappho loved and sung, Where grew the arts of war and peace, Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung! Eternal summer gilds them yet, But all, except their sun, is set. The Scian and the Teian muse, The hero’s harp, the lover’s lute, Have found the fame your shores refuse: Their place of birth alone is mute To sounds which echo further west Then your sires’ “Islands of the Blest.” “The Isles Of Greece” Photo: http://yesway.ru/greciya-v-akvareli-ot-xudozhnika-pantelis-zografos.html

  22. Thomas Phillips depicted Byron dressed in traditional Albanian costume that he bought in Epirus (part of modern Greece and Albania) in 1809, while on a Grand Tour. • In the portrait, the translucent paleness of skin contrasts with the dark velvet of the costume. It inspired Sir Walter Scott who compared the portrait to a beautiful alabaster lamp, lit from within. Photo:http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/george-gordon-byron-17881824-6th-baron-byron-poet-29031

  23. In 1811 ByronreturnedtoEngland. His mother died that year. "I hadbutonefriend," heexclaimed, "andsheisgone." • The poems appeared during this period showed his melancholy and desolation. • Soonafterin 1812 Byron successfullypublishedthefirsttwocantosof “ChildeHarold’sPilgrimage”whicharose theinterestofcontemporaries to his works and personality. Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childe_Harold's_Pilgrimage

  24. The plot of the story is said to be taken from the experience of Byron’s travels around Mediterranean (1809-1811). • It demonstrates the first example of the character lately known as “Byronic hero” – a well-educated, attractive and mysteriously charming person, rather cynical, with self-destructive behaviour. • George Byron’s poetry promoted English Romanticism as an international style. Childe Harold's Pilgrimage by J.M.W. Turner. 1823. Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Childe_harold.jpg

  25. In 1813-1814 other Byron’s works were published: “The Waltz”, “The Giaour”,“The Bride of Abydos”, and “The Corsair”. These Turkish Tales became even more popular than “Childe Harold”. • Byron had an active social life being a member of various London’s political clubs and a welcomed guest at the famous salons. • The abdication of Napoleon evoked "An Ode”, “Lara, a Tale” (an informal sequel to “The Corsair”). • The dark inner side of Byron’s characters started to be confused in the mind of the readers for that of the poet himself as he supported such myth around his persona, but it would cause him more harm lately. Photo: http://www.wikipaintings.org/ru/tag/fictional-characters/22

  26. As a child, Byron had seen little of his half-sister Augusta Leigh (1784-1851) but in adulthood he had a close relationships with her. • A potential influence came into Byron’s life as they met in London during the season of 1813-1814. There were some people who treated their relations as innocent but others interpreted them as incestuous. • Augusta Leigh (a married woman) gave birth to her third daughter, Elizabeth Medora Leigh (1814-1849). She was brought up together with her sisters and brothers however a girl was treated in Byron’s family as his child. Augusta Maria Leigh Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusta_Leigh

  27. In 1815 Byron married Anne Isabella Milbanke ("Annabella") (1792-1860) who refused his first proposal of marriage but later accepted him. • Baroness Byron was a woman of high morals, intelligent and mathematically gifted. • Their daughter Augusta Ada Byron (1815-1852) or Ada as she was called in the family was born in the same year. • The marriage was unhappy, and they were given a legal separation in 1816. Lady Byron was awarded sole custody of Ada who she brought up to be a mathematician and scientist. Anne Isabella Milbanke Photo: http://englishhistory.net/byron/stowebyron.html Augusta Ada Byron Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace

  28. My soul is dark My soul is dark—Oh! quickly string  The harp I yet can brook to hear;And let thy gentle fingers fling  Its melting murmurs o'er mine ear.—If in this heart a hope be dear,  That sound shall charm it forth again—If in these eyes there lurk a tear,  'Twill flow—and cease to burn my brain—But bid the strain be wild and deep,  Nor let thy notes of joy be first—I tell thee—Minstrel! I must weep,  Or else this heavy heart will burst—For it hath been by sorrow nurst,  And ached in sleepless silence long—And now 'tis doom'd to know the worst,  And break at once—or yield to song.1815 Photo: http://www.help-rus-student.ru/text/06/080.htm

  29. The reasons for separation were never given and rumors began to fly, most of them connected with Byron’s relations with Augusta Leigh.  • When the rumors grew, Byron went abroad, never returning to England.  He became the most famous exile in Europe. • From May to December in 1816 Byron spent time in a company of an English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) and his friends in Geneva, Switzerland. • Claire Claremont, Byron’s mistress, gave a birth to his daughter Clara Allegra Byron (1817-1822) (later she was placed in a convent near Ravenna where she died of typhus fever). View of Villa Diodati, Byron's home on Lake Geneva Photo: http://www.keats-shelley-house.org/en/writers/writers-lord-byron/lord-byron-geneva Clara Allegra Byron Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Allegra_Byron.jpg

  30. In Geneva Byron sailed round the lake and visited the castle of Chillon. He finished the third canto of “Childe Harold” and began his new poem “The Prisoner of Chillon”(published December 5, 1816). • In September Byron made excursions in the Alps. Impressed by fascinating scenery he depicted the Alpine sights in the first two acts of “Manfred”. • His old friend Hobhouse was with him and he had a nice time, but in his letter to Mrs Leigh Byron noticed that he could not lose his "own wretched identity" in the "majesty and the power and the glory" of nature. Manfred on the Jungfrau. John Martin (1837) Photo: http://www.judgmentofparis.com/board/showthread.php?t=2365

  31. …My mother Earth! And thou fresh breaking Day, and you, ye Mountains, Why are ye beautiful? I cannot love ye. And thou, the bright eye of the universe That openest over all, and unto all Art a delight - thou shin'st not on my heart. And you, ye crags, upon whose extreme edge I stand, and on the torrent's brink beneath Behold the tall pines dwindled as to shrubs In dizziness of distance; when a leap, A stir, a motion, even a breath, would bring My breast upon its rocky bosom's bed To rest forever - wherefore do I pause? “Manfred” Photo: http://www.bibliotekar.ru/k102-Constebl/7.htm

  32. In 1816 from April to October Byron travelled around Italy. He visited Milan, Verona, Rome and Venice . He studied the history and the language of the country. • Italian scenes appeared in his poetry: "The Lament of Tasso”, “Beppo, a Venetian Story”, "Ode on Venice”, the fourth canto of “Childe Harold” and others. • Byron continued to protest against society's hypocrisy. He himself led a life of a man who rejected the standards and morals of the day. The Grand Canal from the Campo San VioBernardo Bellotto (1721-1780) Photo: http://www.ashfield-dc.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/community-and-living/faiths--beliefs-and-religions/st--mary-magdalene/george-gordon-byron/;jsessionid=C842125160B16F142839EC84DC6BB88E

  33. One of Byron’s final and greatest works "Don Juan" was also produced in 1818. In this drama he tried to remind about his Scottish roots again: But I am half a Scot by birth, and bred A whole one, and my heart flies to my head, - As 'Auld Lang Syne' brings Scotland one and all, Scotch plaids, Scotch snoods, the blue hills and the clear streams, The Dee, the Don, Balgounie Brig's black wall, All my boyhood feelings, all my gentler dreams Of what I then dreamt, clothed in their pall, Like Banquo's offspring. • This satiric work was too free for that days as Byron said about it. Though the poem is based on the legend of Don Juan, Byron changed the plot describing Don Juan not as the famous seducer but on the contrary as a man who easily succumbs under women’s charm. Photo: http://www.keats-shelley-house.org/en/writers/writers-lord-byron/lord-byron-byronic-heroes

  34. In the spring of 1819 in VeniceByron got acquainted with an Italian Countess Teresa Guiccioli (1800-1873).Young, beautiful and well-read, she fell in love with Byron at first sight and soon became and for nearly four years remained his true wife won his devotion and prolonged constancy. • They settled at Ravenna where Byron was received in society as her cavaliere servente. • Byron’s literary activity was great. He wrote historical dramas: "Mazeppa, a tale of the Russian Ukraine”,“Sardanapalus”, “The two Foscari”, “Cain”, “Heaven and Earth”. Teresa Guiccioli Photo: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/countess-teresa-guiccioli-c-18001873-47808

  35. Byron influenced European opinion by both his poetry admired in his home country and on the continent and his political views. However the British laughed at his politics but on the continent he was seen as the prophet and defender of liberty. • Byron supported the revolutionary movement of the Greeks for independence from the Ottoman Empire. In April 1823 Byron accepted the offer by the London Greek Committee to act as its agent in the Greek war.  All of his legendary enthusiasm and energy were at the service of the Greek army. Lord Byron being welcomed by Greeks Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Byron_in_Greece.jpg

  36. Byron spent £4000 of his own money to refit the Greek fleet and sailed for Missolonghi to support the Greek with military power. • While leading an attack in the Missolonghi marshes Byron caught a fever and on 19 April 1824 he passed away. • Byron’s death was mourned by the Greeks, and he became a hero throughout the country.  His heart was removed and buried in Missolonghi.  His remains were sent to England. Refused to be placed in Westminster Abbey, Byron was buried at Newstead. Only in 1969, a memorial to Byron was finally placed on the floor of the Abbey.  Photo: http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/byron.htm

  37. My days are in the yellow leaf; The flowers and fruits of Love are gone; The worm, the canker, and the grief Are mine alone! The fire that on my bosom preys Is lone as some Volcanic isle; No torch is kindled at its blaze— A funeral pile. “On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year” 1824 Photo: http://wallpaper-s.org/11__Coming_Tempest.htm

  38. Byron’s charismatic figure and charm, energetic style and wild imagination, his expressive verse made him the ideal of the Romantic writer who influenced writers in other countries. Photo: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/6th-lord-byron-17881824-47789

  39. The presentation is made by Svetlana Panfyorova, the librarian of the Department of literature in foreign languages Tula regional universal research library 2013

  40. Resources 1. Biography of George Gordon Lord Byron [Electronic resource] // PoemHunter.Com : [the site]. - [S. l.], 2012. - http://www.poemhunter.com/george-gordon-lord-byron/biography/. 2. Coleridge, E.H. BiographyofGeorgeGordonByron / by E. H. Coleridge, ed.by A.Gilmour. – [S. l.] : TheEncyclopediaBritannica, 1905. - http://www.ashfield-dc.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/community-and-living/faiths--beliefs-and-religions/st--mary-magdalene/george-gordon-byron/;jsessionid=C842125160B16F142839EC84DC6BB88E. 3. Famous Scots - George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron) (1788-1824) [Electronic resource] //  Rampant Scotland : [the site]. – [S. l., s. a.]. - http://www.rampantscotland.com/famous/blfambyron.htm. 4. The life of George Byron [Electronic resource] // Englishhistory.net : [the site]. – [S. l., s. a.]. -http://englishhistory.net/byron/life.html. 5. LordByronBiography [Electronic resource] // Famous Poets And Poems.com : [the site]. - [S. l.], 2006–2010. - http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/lord_byron/biography. 6. LordByron – biography [Electronic resource] // EuropeanGraduateSchool: [the site]. – [S. l.], 1997–2012. - http://www.egs.edu/library/lord-byron/biography/ . 7. Pyre, J.F.A. Byron in Our Day // The Atlantic monthly. – 1907. – April. - http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/07apr/pyre.htm

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