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Topic: George Gordon Byron

George Gordon Byron, who became the sixth Lord Baron of Rochdale at the age of ten, was born on this date in 1788.

Lord Byron, who died at 36 while fighting for Greek independence, is remembered as one of the great Romantic poets: among other things, he wrote Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. He was also famously described—by Lady Caroline Lamb, herself one of the more flamboyant people around—as "mad, bad, and dangerous to know."

We're not going to argue with the phrasing, but we'll point out Byron's life was both romantic and dramatic. Destitute as a young child, he inherited great wealth before he was in his teens. By the time he was out of his teens, he had published his first book of poems. By the time he was 24, he had, like the mythological Leander before him, swum the straits of Dardanelle. He had also been involved in a number of scandalous love affairs, prompting Lady Caroline to write the above-quoted description of her would-be lover. Four years later, at the age of 28, Lord Byron had fathered at least one child, had been abandoned by his wife, and had exiled himself from England.

"Mad bad and dangerous" he may have been, but the seemingly extroverted Byron had insight into introversion. He reflected, "I only go out to get me a fresh appetite for being alone."

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