LORD BYRON’S LOVE AFFAIRS AS REFLECTED IN HIS POETRY

“Lord Byron was in the flower of his age one of the greatest poets of modern times, and his heroic mind had engaged in a cause which opened to his active powers a new career of glory.” Sir Cosmo Gordon, 1824. George Gordon Noel, sixth Baron Byron (1788 – 1824), widely known as Lord Byron, was an English Romantic poet, who is considered one of the world’s greatest poets of the nineteenth century. With a massive collection of highly valuable works contributing to world literature, the genius and dedication of Lord Byron cannot be denied. As “the embodiment of Romanticism” , his compositions always picture the strongest and sincerest emotions in the liveliest way. But what distinguishes him from other Romantics is that Byron’s emotions did not come from the imaginary, but from the reality. He spent his whole life experiencing the world relentlessly, broadening his mind and enriching his soul with fascinating stories of adventures, then collecting every piece of them to fulfill his colourful album of life. With Byron, “strong sense of fact and entire emancipation from the inhibitions of his contemporaries led him to the celebration of ‘unadorned reality’” (Trueblood, 1969). It can be said that Byron is an extraordinary representative of Romanticism. Undoubtedly, his influence on world literature is profound and prolonged. He himself created his own glorious era in literature – the era of Byronism, and became a great source of inspiration for numerous writers of the time. Regardless of time, the works of Lord Byron – among those are the famous Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812 – 1818) and Don Juan (1819 – 1824) – remain their outstanding value and still captivate readers all over the world nowadays. Apparently, Byron devoted every moment of his thirtysix years to poetry, and to love. Byron’s private life definitely proved itself to be the Poet’s most famous collection of romantic poems. As for the Poet, love was like the air he breathed, he fulfilled his life with love, and loved relentlessly. Undoubtedly, Lord Byron’s life was attached to love, and was defined by love. Francis Gribble (1910) claims that, “Whether a book is called ‘The Love Affairs of Lord Byron’ or ‘The Life of Lord Byron’ can make very little difference to the contents of its pages. Byron’s love affairs were the principle incidents of his life, and almost the only ones” (p. v). Love affected every aspect of his life, and existed in every phase of his days. The Poet’s love was, perhaps, the most colourful and distinctive love on earth. However, despite being through numerous affairs, with all shades and colours, Byron’s love was never superficial. He always loved with all his heart, sincerely and passionately. All these overwhelming feelings, in the end, found their solace in the Poet’s verse. With his genius and outstanding life, Lord Byron has always been a world leading figure for more than two hundred years. However, the name of Lord Byron, seemingly, has not yet received a proper attention in Vietnam. We all know Victor Hugo, Alexander Pushkin, Alexandre Dumas, and Heinrich Heine – the brilliant stars in the sky of world literature – but we do not seem to pay much attention to Lord Byron, although it is necessary to notice that Lord Byron, more or less, exerted his great influence on the formers directly in their compositions. Obviously, Vietnamese readers have been encountering many difficulties in approaching Byron and his poetry, since the source of authentic materials on the life and works of Lord Byron, both original and translated versions, remains scarce. Acknowledging the major disadvantages that Vietnamese readers have to face, I decide to do research on Lord Byron. As a person of adventurous spirit, I am always keen on exploring new topics and novel aspects which no other researchers has touched upon before. And Lord Byron’s life and poetry, undoubtedly, have proved to be a fertile ground for me to do research on. Furthermore, I chose to study the Poet in relation to his love life and his poetry for the fact that love and poetry were always inseparable in his life. For Byron, poetry was the reflection of love, and in turn, love was the root of poetry. Although being a pioneer is never easy, the sense of honour and passion are my major motivation to conduct this research.

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER LORD BYRON’S LOVE AFFAIRS AS REFLECTED IN HIS POETRY Supervisor : Đỗ Thu Hương, MA Student : Ngô Hạnh Quyên Course : QH2010.F1.E21 HÀ NỘI - 2014 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP LORD BYRON’S LOVE AFFAIRS AS REFLECTED IN HIS POETRY Giáo viên hướng dẫn : Đỗ Thu Hương, MA Sinh viên : Ngô Hạnh Quyên Khóa : QH2010.F1.E21 HÀ NỘI - 2014 I hereby state that I: Ngo Hanh Quyen, student of QH2010.F.1.E21, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper. Signature Ngo Hanh Quyen Date: 05.05.2014 ABSTRACT Lord Byron was one of the greatest poets in Romanticism. He was famous for both his notorious love life and outstanding poetry. For Byron, poetry was the reflection of love which, in turn, was the root of poetry. This research will be based on the strong connection between these inseparable factors to study Byron’s emotions when he was in his relationships with Mary Chaworth, John Edleston, Augusta Leigh, Lady Byron, and Countess Teresa Guiccioli, by analysing literary language in some related poems of the Poet. The research will then find out the characteristics of these love affairs, as well as the differences among them, so as to highlight Byron’s characteristics in love. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Do Thu Huong, MA for her thorough guidance and enthusiastic support throughout this research. Her useful advice has been a great help to me in completing my graduation thesis. I would also like to offer my special thanks to my grandfather, Professor Nguyen Xuan Huy, for his valuable and constructive suggestions with regards to the thesis. It was my grandfather who led me to literature and gave me inspiration to do research on Lord Byron. Therefore, this study would never been conducted without him. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their support and encouragement throughout my college years. Especially, I wish to thank my grandparents, my parents, my younger brother, and my best friend Ngan, whose great love and support enabled me to complete this study. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………. iii LIST OF APPENDIXES………………………………………………………. v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………… 1 1.1. Rationale…………………………………………………………… 1 1.2. Aims of the study……………………………………………………. 3 1.3. Scope of the study…………………………………………………… 3 1.4. Significance of the study…………………………………………… 4 1.5. Methodology……………………………………………………… 4 CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND……………………………………………… 6 2.1. Literature theories……………………………………………………. 6 2.1.1. Literature…………………………………………………… 6 2.1.2. Poetry………………………………………………………. 9 2.2. English society and literature in the early nineteenth century………. 10 2.2.1. English society in the early nineteenth century……………. 10 2.2.2. English literature in the early nineteenth century………… 12 2.3. The life of Lord Byron: love and poetry…………………………… 14 2.3.1. Family background and personal life………………………. 14 2.3.2. Love life……………………………………………………. 16 2.3.3. Poetry………………………………………………………. 18 CHAPTER 3: ANALYSIS…………………………………………………… 21 3.1. Mary Chaworth……………………………………………………… 21 3.2. John Edleston……………………………………………………… 25 3.3. Augusta Leigh……………………………………………………… 28 3.4. Lady Byron………………………………………………………… 35 3.5. Countess Teresa Guiccioli…………………………………………… 38 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION………………………………………………… 42 4.1. Major findings……………………………………………………… 42 4.2. Limitations of the study…………………………………………… 45 4.3. Suggestions for further research…………………………………… 45 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………. 46 APPENDIXES………………………………………………………………… 50 6 LIST OF APPENDIXES Appendix Page A Potted biographies of the five figures studied in the research 50 B Lord Byron’s poems used in the research 52 7 8 Lord Byron (1788—1824) CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. Rationale “Lord Byron was in the flower of his age one of the greatest poets of modern times, and his heroic mind had engaged in a cause which opened to his active powers a new career of glory.” Sir Cosmo Gordon, 1824. George Gordon Noel, sixth Baron Byron (1788 – 1824), widely known as Lord Byron, was an English Romantic poet, who is considered one of the world’s greatest poets of the nineteenth century. With a massive collection of highly valuable works contributing to world literature, the genius and dedication of Lord Byron cannot be denied. As “the embodiment of Romanticism” 1 , his compositions always picture the strongest and sincerest emotions in the liveliest way. But what distinguishes him from other Romantics is that Byron’s emotions did not come from the imaginary, but from the reality. He spent his whole life experiencing the world relentlessly, broadening his mind and enriching his soul with fascinating stories of adventures, then collecting every piece of them to fulfill his colourful album of life. With Byron, “strong sense of fact and entire emancipation from the inhibitions of his contemporaries led him to the celebration of ‘unadorned reality’” (Trueblood, 1969). It can be said that Byron is an extraordinary representative of Romanticism. Undoubtedly, his influence on world literature is profound and prolonged. He himself created his own glorious era in literature – the era of Byronism, and became a great source of inspiration for numerous writers of the time. Regardless of time, the works of Lord Byron – among those are the famous Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812 – 1 From http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/lord-byron Retrieved April 24, 2014 10 [...]... as he can still sincerely smile when seeing her happiness despite all the misfortune she has inflicted on him Seemingly, his love for her has been so deep and so long that caring for her has become his instinct, and feeling happy for her happiness has become an old habit The fact that he is willing to feel grateful to his love s husband, who is supposed to be his enemy, so long as he loves her perfectly... fears of being refused when he admits his feelings for the nobleman Obviously, this teenage love has no fierce, even insane passion as Byron’s affairs in his later life In the poem “To Jessy”, the way Byron describes his love arouses a feeling of warmth and peacefulness It can be imagined that the two lovers walk together in the sun, and dream of each other in the moon In the beautiful picture of love, ... to study the Poet in relation to his love life and his poetry for the fact that love and poetry were always inseparable in his life For Byron, poetry was the reflection of love, and in turn, love was the root of poetry Although being a pioneer is never easy, the sense of honour and passion are my major motivation to conduct this research 1.2 Aims of the study The study aims at analysing the literary... left his beloved homeland in an effort to forget the painful first love But in the moment of departure, all he can think of is still his love and misfortune in love The distinguishing feature of the poem is the repetition of the statement “I cannot love but one.” The continually repeated statement emphasizes the fact that this love has got too deep to be erased from his heart, and that her image has... its intensity ‘You sometimes tell me I have been your first real love – and I assured you that you shall be my last Passion,’ wrote Byron in a letter to Teresa (Guiccioli, 2005, p 9) The Poet did indeed keep his promise since Teresa was truly the last love in his short life Nevertheless, there was no happy ending for Byron’s love life, as the moment they said farewell in 1823 was actually the last... The Poet’s love was, perhaps, the most colourful and distinctive love on earth However, despite being through numerous affairs, with all shades and colours, Byron’s love was never superficial He always loved with all his heart, sincerely and passionately All these overwhelming feelings, in the end, found their solace in the Poet’s verse With his genius and outstanding life, Lord Byron has always been... life was attached to love, and was defined by love Francis Gribble (1910) claims that, “Whether a book is called ‘The Love Affairs of Lord Byron’ or ‘The Life of Lord Byron’ can make very little difference to the contents of its pages Byron’s love affairs were the principle incidents of his life, and almost the only ones” (p v) Love affected every aspect of his life, and existed in every phase of his. .. answers to the following questions: - Who are the lovers having the most significant influences on Byron’s love life? - How are their images and relationships with Lord Byron reflected in his poetry? - What are the differences among these relationships? - What are the love characteristics of Lord Byron reflected in his poetry? 1.3 Scope of the study Lord Byron’s poetry varies from graceful lyric poems to... realize his special feeling for Miss Chaworth During this time, Byron had to suffer from Mary and her friends’ derisive laughs and sarcastic remarks for his limp Not only did Mary’s words hurt him, the fifteen-year-old boy was so infatuated with his first love that he did not realize she was in love with another man Mary got married in 1805, leaving the Poet with his first sorrow in love Among Byron’s. .. for himself, and cares for nothing but her Like every man in love, the young Poet considers his love to be distinctive Therefore, he repeats in his poem that “The flame that within my breast burns / Is unlike what in lovers’ hearts glows” (5-6), and that “Not ten thousand lovers could feel / The 30 friendship my bosom contains” (13-14) And indeed, a one-sided feeling lasting nearly ten years for only . Hạnh Quyên Course : QH2010.F1.E21 HÀ NỘI - 2014 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP LORD BYRON’S LOVE AFFAIRS AS REFLECTED IN HIS POETRY Giáo. MA Sinh viên : Ngô Hạnh Quyên Khóa : QH2010.F1.E21 HÀ NỘI - 2014 I hereby state that I: Ngo Hanh Quyen, student of QH2010.F.1.E21, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept. established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper. Signature Ngo Hanh Quyen Date: 05.05.2014 ABSTRACT Lord Byron was one of the greatest poets in Romanticism. He was