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1Don Juan, Canto 1

By George Gordon, Lord Byron

Don Juan is a long narrative poem by Byron, based very loosely on the legend of the evil seducer, Don Juan. The first and second of (eventually) seventeen Cantos composed during Byron's self-imposed exile from England appeared, anonymously, in July 1819 and were greeted with scandal, condemnation, admiration and hilarity. Modern critics generally consider the self-proclaimed 'epic', which remained incomplete at Byron's death, to be his masterpiece. (Summary by Peter Gallagher)

LibriVox volunteers bring you nine different recordings of <em>When We Two Parted</em>, by George Gordon, Lord Byron. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of November 26th, 2006.

3Don Juan, Canto 5

By George Gordon, Lord Byron

Juan, captured by Turkish pirates and sold into slavery is bought by a beautiful Princess as her toy-boy. Dressed as an odalisque, he is smuggled into the Sultan's harem for a steamy assignation. Unbelievably, Byron's publisher almost baulked at this feast of allusive irony, blasphemy (mild), calumny, scorn, lesse-majeste, cross-dressing, bestiality, assassination, circumcision and dwarf-tossing. This was the last Canto published by the stuffy John Murray (who had, however, made a tidy fortune on the earlier parts of the Epic). Although Byron's mood starts, after this, to grow darker and his bitterness at English hypocrisy to grow sharper, his discursive comedy and precise and intriguing rhyme is rarely better than in Canto V. (Summary by Peter Gallagher)

This powerful poem narrates the fateful return of Count Lara to the British Isles after spending years abroad traveling the orient.<br /><br /> Returning to his patrimony with a retinue consisting of one foreign-born page, Count Lara resumes the management of his landed estates. Lara's first efforts are crowned with success: only to be undermined by the jealousy and envy of his his peers. After a successful duel to defend his honour, the count becomes inexorably caught up in local blood-feuds; which quickly escalate to open warfare between his own followers and the private armies of his enemies.<br /><br /> - Count Lara remains a bold and skillful leader: is he strong enough to triumph yet over adverse fortune?<br /><br /> - And what is the secret of his mysterious foreign page: who left kindred and homeland behind in order to follow Count Lara to the uttermost ends of the earth?<br /> (Introduction by Godsend)

These are the last four Cantos of his mock epic that Byron completed in the year before his death at the age of 36 in Messolonghi, Greece, where he had gone to fight for the nationalists against the Ottoman Empire. Juan, now in England, is invited to spend the autumn with a hunting party at the ancient country seat of Lord Henry and Lady Adeline Amundeville. There, he meets the most intriguing of the Byronic heroines, Aurora Raby, and is visited by a ghost with ample breasts (!). That is the narrative outline but hardly the focus of the last Cantos. Byron is more interested satirizing the frailty of faith, the fecklessness of the English aristocracy, the futility of English pastimes and the fawning of elected Members of Parliament over their middle-class constituents. Booze, banquets, belles and bishops are given the Byronic treatment, while his spleen is reserved for his critics and for "tyranny". (Summary by Peter Gallagher)

An imagined day in the life of each composer gives the anonymous author scope to describe each one's work and life, sketchily, of course, but interestingly. (Summary by David Wales) <br><br> <i>Note: This is a compilation of three books, each describing three composers. The second book - middle three chapters - has no online version as of yet. </i>

7Giaour

By George Gordon, Lord Byron

"The Giaour" is a poem by Lord Byron first published in 1813 and the first in the series of his Oriental romances. "The Giaour" proved to be a great success when published, consolidating Byron's reputation critically and commercially. (Summary by Wikipedia)

In this moving poem, Byron recounts the final, desperate resistance of the Venetians on the day the Ottoman army stormed Acrocorinth: revealing the closing scenes of the conflict through the eyes of Lanciotto - a Venetian renegade fighting for the Ottomans - and Francesca - the beautiful maiden daughter of the governor of the Venetian garrison: Minotti.<br /><br /> Lanciotto - whose impasioned suit for Francesca's hand had been previously refused by Minotti: had later fled the Venetian empire after being falsely denounced by anonymous accusers via the infamous "Lion's Mouth" at the Doge's palace. Enlisting under the Turkish flag, Lanciotto repudiates both his nationality and his religion: only to be challenged by Fransesca herself the night before the final assault to repent his apostasy, to forgive his accusers, and to save the Venetian garrison from certain slaughter. <br /><br /> - Can Lanciotto - after years of unjust persecution and betrayal - bring himself to relent and save the Venetian garrison now on the verge of wholesale slaughter? <br /> - Will Francesca's years of constant, faithful devotion succeed in winning the renegade back from his suicidal slide to perdition? (Summary by Godsend)

9Manfred

By George Gordon, Lord Byron

Manfred is a dramatic poem in three acts by Lord Byron, and possibly a self confessional work. A noble, Manfred, is haunted by the memory of some unspeakable crime. In seeking for forgetfulness and oblivion, he wanders between his castle and the mountains. He has several encounters with the people who try to assist him, as well as spirits that rule nature and human destiny. The poem explores themes of morality, religion, guilt and the human condition. (Summary by TimSC)<br><br> <strong>Cast</strong><br>Manfred: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2574">TimSC</a><br>First Spirit/Narrator: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1259">Elizabeth Klett</a><br>Second Spirit: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/6733">Snapdragon</a><br>Third Spirit: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/7130">Verity Kendall</a><br>Fourth Spirit/Second Destiny: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/6548">Kristingj</a><br>Fifth Spirit/Third Destiny: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/6947">Grace Garrett</a><br>Sixth Spirit: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/7315">Charlotte Duckett</a><br>Another spirit/Second voice without: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/3536">Arielle Lipshaw</a><br>First Destiny: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2269">Rhonda Federman</a><br>Nemesis: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/4744">Amy L. Gramour</a><br>Arimanes/A voice/Manuel: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/3595">Martin Geeson</a><br>Chamois Hunter: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/7079">Chuck Williamson</a><br>Witch of the Alps: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/6544">Amanda Friday</a><br>Abbot of St. Maurice: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/4705">Algy Pug</a><br>Herman: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2136">Great Plains</a><br>Phantom of Astarte: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1328">Duan</a><br>Audio edited by Elizabeth Klett

Who was John Milton? The author of Paradise Lost you say? Well, certainly, but he was also a man, going about his daily life like any of us in 17th century England, (except that he was a genius of course). Take time to read about a day in his life and learn more about him and his likes, dislikes, background and proclivities. Also, the same with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Walt Whitman, Lord Byron, Keats and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Each of them a man or woman of their times, living each day like us, but seeing shades and hues of life that we can only experience through their exquisite poetry. These are meant by the author to be brief biographies with examples of their works and some insights into their common foibles as humans in addition to human geniuses. If you love to read poetry, you will enjoy reading these short bios which contain much of their best poetry in them. The selections are from a number of stand alone sources but Browning is part of another book and the link below is to that directly. (Summary by phil chenevert)

11Island

By George Gordon, Lord Byron

Written late in his career, Byron's narrative poem The Island tells the famous story of the mutiny on board the Bounty, and follows the mutineers as they flee to a South Sea island, "their guilt-won Paradise." (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)

12Childe Harold's Pilgrimage: Canto IV

By George Gordon, Lord Byron

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage is a lengthy narrative poem in four parts written by Lord Byron. It was published between 1812 and 1818 and is dedicated to "Ianthe". The poem describes the travels and reflections of a world-weary young man who, disillusioned with a life of pleasure and revelry, looks for distraction in foreign lands. In a wider sense, it is an expression of the melancholy and disillusionment felt by a generation weary of the wars of the post-Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. The title comes from the term childe, a medieval title for a young man who was a candidate for knighthood. Canto IV describes Harold's travels in Italy. (Summary by Wikipedia and alan mapstone)

13Cain: A Mystery

By George Gordon, Lord Byron

Cain: A Mystery is Lord Byron's retelling of the classical Biblical story from the point of view of its antagonist. Undoubtedly influenced by Milton's Paradise Lost, Byron's Cain is defiant and questioning. In trying to come to terms with the mortality humanity has been punished with, he comes face to face with Lucifer, who takes him to the "Abyss of Space," shows him a vision of Earth's violent natural history, and gives him a true understanding of death. Upon his return, a devastated Cain carries out the familiar end of his tragedy. Cain: A Mystery is a closet drama, a popular form for Romantic writers, where the script is not intended to be performed onstage, but rather read aloud with a small group. - Summary by Sarah Terry<br><br> With the voices of:<br> <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">alanmapstone</a> as Adam,<br> <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8799">Peter Tucker</a> as Cain,<br> <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6281">Beth Thomas</a> as Abel,<br> <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7679">Libby Gohn</a> as the Angel of the Lord,<br> <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9792">Mike Cantrell</a> as Lucifer,<br> <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/3157">TriciaG</a> as Eve,<br> <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9001">Mary Kay</a> as Adah,<br> <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6544">Amanda Friday</a> as Zillah,<br> and narrated by <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/4174">Availle</a>.

14Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

By George Gordon, Lord Byron

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage is a lengthy narrative poem in four parts written by Lord Byron. It was published between 1812 and 1818 and is dedicated to "Ianthe". The poem describes the travels and reflections of a world-weary young man who, disillusioned with a life of pleasure and revelry, looks for distraction in foreign lands. In a wider sense, it is an expression of the melancholy and disillusionment felt by a generation weary of the wars of the post-Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. The title comes from the term childe, a medieval title for a young man who was a candidate for knighthood. - Summary by Wikipedia

15Lines, On Hearing That Lady Byron Was Ill

By George Gordon, Lord Byron

Here is a bitterly sarcastic poem wherein a jilted Lord Byron spits out his distain for his estranged wife, Lady Byron, laying a curse upon her, accusing her of being a "moral Clytemnestra" (wife of Agamemnon, who conspired with her lover Aegisthus to murder her husband). The Byrons were only together 2 years before she fled to the safety of her parents' estate with their infant daughter and refused to see him henceforth, due to his debauchery, cruelty, and profligate spending of her money. Lord Byron was run out of Parlaiment and fled England for his scandalous behavior, and especially for having had an incestuous affair with his half-sister (with whom he had another daughter). But as he was a Lord, (and as he was a typical man of the period who considered himself his wife's Lord to do with as he pleased), he always blamed Lady Byron's high morals, unwillingness to speak up for him in public (he considered her silence treason), and what he perceived as her "unforgiveness" for his downfall. He often waged war with her in public through his poetry. Lord Byron left such a large body of letters, essays and "worlds' best" poetry, some don't realize he died at age 36. (Summary by Michele Fry)

El corsario es, ante todo, un poema autobiográfico que narra las aventuras de un tal Conrado, un corsario rechazado por la sociedad -no así por las mujeres- debido a su comportamiento escandaloso. Byron fue uno de los poetas que gozó en vida de más popularidad. Su existencia se enlazó con la historia política europea de un cuarto de siglo, y llegó a eclipsar en su patria y en su época la gloria de otros poetas. Byron fue un genial poeta romántico, que con sus obras y aun con su misma vida legendaria y anómala, era el prototipo del poeta romántico, hasta el extremo de asumir en él toda la escuela romántica que se designó con el nombre de byronismo. - Summary by Phileas Fogg

17Castled Crag of Drachenfels

By George Gordon, Lord Byron

LibriVox volunteers bring you 12 recordings of The Castled Crag of Drachenfels, by George Gordon, Lord Byron.<br> This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for September 5, 2021. <br> ------<br> The Castled Crag at Drachenfels is a 4-verse poem embedded in Canto 3 of <i>Childe Harold's Pilgrimage</i> by Lord Byron. It is thought to be addressed to his half-sister Augusta Leigh, by whom he was believed to have fathered a child. The Drachenfels crag overlooks the town of Kornigswinter on the river Rhine in Germany, just south of Bonn. - Summary by Alan Mapstone

18Childe Harold's Pilgrimage: Canto III

By George Gordon, Lord Byron

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage is a narrative poem in four parts written by Lord Byron. It was published between 1812 and 1818. The poem describes the travels and reflections of a world-weary young man who, disillusioned with a life of pleasure and revelry, looks for distraction in foreign lands. In a wider sense, it is an expression of the melancholy and disillusionment felt by a generation weary of the wars of the post-Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. <br> The title comes from the term Childe, a medieval title for a young man who was a candidate for knighthood. <br> Canto III describes Harold's travels in Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. - Summary by Alan Mapstone

19Childe Harold's Pilgrimage: Cantos I - II

By George Gordon, Lord Byron

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage is a narrative poem in four parts written by Lord Byron. It was published between 1812 and 1818. The poem describes the travels and reflections of a world-weary young man who, disillusioned with a life of pleasure and revelry, looks for distraction in foreign lands. In a wider sense, it is an expression of the melancholy and disillusionment felt by a generation weary of the wars of the post-Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras.<br> The title comes from the term Childe, a medieval title for a young man who was a candidate for knighthood.<br> Cantos I & ΙΙ describes Harold's travels in Iberia and the Mediterranean. - Summary by Alan Mapstone

The Corsair (1814) by Lord Byron narrates the tale of Conrad, a pirate or privateer, who was rejected by society in his youth because of his acts and his later war against humanity. Conrad attacks the island fortress of Pacha Seyd to try to seize his possessions but is captured while trying to rescue women from the pasha's harem. Gulnare, the pasha's slave, initiates a plan to trick Seyd into freeing Conrad but when this fails she kills Seyd and they both escape. Conrad takes Gulnare back to his island home where he discovers that his wife Medora has died from grief. Conrad departs the island alone without Gulnare.<br> <i>"He left a Corsair's name to other times, Linked with one virtue and a thousand crimes"</i><br> <br> This poem, which was one of Byron's most popular selling 10,000 copies on its day of publication, created the figure of the <b>Byronic Hero</b>, "a man of loneliness and mystery who perceives himself a villain or anti-hero".<br> (Summary by Alan Mapstone and Wikipedia)

English Bards and Scotch Reviewers was first published anonymously in 1809 with Byron only identified as the author in the 2nd edition. Byron wrote this satire after his first book of poems Hours of Idleness received "strong censure" in the Edinburgh Review. Byron used heroic couplets in imitation of Alexander Pope's The Dunciad to attack the reigning poets of romanticism, including Wordsworth and Coleridge. Byron suppressed this work after the 5th edition, possibly because he came to regret some of the criticism that he had made. (Summary by Alan Mapstone and wikipedia)

Byron wrote this tribute to the great 14th-century Italian poet Dante Alighieri after visiting his tomb in Ravenna in 1819. It envisages Dante prophesying the future of Italy just before his death.<br><br> The poem is written in <i>Terza Rima</i>, the complex 3-line rhyme scheme used by Dante in his <i>Divina Commedia</i><br><br> (Summary by Alan Mapstone)

<b>Hours of Idleness</b> was Byron's first book of poems published when he was only 19. In it he experiments with various poetic styles and provides translations of, and poems written in imitation of, earlier mainly classical poets. <br><br> The book received strong criticism on publication to which Byron responded with his poem English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. <br><br> (Summary by Alan Mapstone)

Manfred is a Dramatic Poem written by Lord Byron in 1816-7 after he left England for the last time and shortly after the famous ghost story telling session at the Villa Diordati by Lake Geneva involving Byron, Percy and Mary Shelley and John Polidori which also led to the writing of Frankenstein and The Vampyre. It contains many of the supernatural elements of Gothic Fiction but also describes the internal torment of the central character caused by guilt at unspecified actions in his past life which may have resulted in the death of his beloved. The poem explores issues of morality, guilt, religion and the human condition. Many people think that this work is Byron's attempt to come to terms with his own guilt at some of the immoral and illegal actions which forced him to flee England. <br> Although never intended for the stage it was performed at Covent Garden Theatre in London in 1834. It also inspired musical works by Schumann and Tchaikovsky. (Summary by Alan Mapstone)<br><br> <b>Cast List:</b><br> Manfred: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8011">Greg Giordano</a><br> Chamois Hunter: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a><br> Witch of the Alps: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/18543">Agnes Robert Behr</a><br> Abbot of St Maurice: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8425">Larry Wilson</a><br> Nemesis: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/4705">Algy Pug</a><br> Manuel: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a><br> Herman: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/4705">Algy Pug</a><br> Arimanes: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">Alan Mapstone</a><br> Phantom of Astarte: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/18745">Owler</a><br> Spirit: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">Alan Mapstone</a><br> Spirit: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/16764">dc</a><br> Destiny: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">Alan Mapstone</a><br> Destiny: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6924">Rapuzelina</a><br> Narration: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/13257">Elsie Selwyn</a><br> Audio Editor: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">Alan Mapstone</a><br>

Lord Byron visited the Castle of Chillon on Lake Geneva in Switzerland in 1816 and was intrigued by the legend of Francis Bonnivard who was said to have been imprisoned there in medieval times. The title poem of this collection was written in response to that visit. <BR><BR> Originally published in 1816 this collection was extended after Byron's death. The final poem was written on his 36th birthday, just 3 months before he died. - Summary by Alan Mapstone

To mark the 200th anniversary of the death of Lord Byron, LibriVox volunteers bring you 22 recordings of his poem So, We'll Go No More A-Roving.<br> This was the Weekly Poetry project for April 28th, 2024.<br>------<br> George Gordon, Lord Byron died on April 19th 1824 at Missalongi in Greece, aged just 36. In his lifetime he was renowned for both his poetry and his hedonistic lifestyle and was called "the second most famous man in Europe after Napoleon". His creation of the Byronic Hero influenced European literature through the 19th century and his work inspired music by Berlioz, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Verdi and Strauss. (Summary by Alan Mapstone)

Byron wrote the Hebrew Melodies to accompany music by the composer Isaac Nathan which he claimed derived from Synagogue tunes used at the time of the Temple in Jerusalem, although it is likely that most of the music was from more recent European sources. While some of the poems are based on stories from the Book of Job most have no specific religious or Hebrew connotations. <br><br> The poems were widely admired, influencing works by Heine and Lermontov and being set to music by composers including Mendelssohn, Schumann and Mussorgsky. <br><br> (Summary by Alan Mapstone)