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Past-Time Lover: Lord Byron

Updated Monday, 8 February 2021
This article is part of a collection produced for Valentine’s Day. Who would you select for your Valentine from these iconic figures from history?

Profile of Lord Byron Lord Byron

Likes : travel, lust, poetry

Dislikes: social institutions, criticism, conformity

Age: 227

Personality traits: artistic, creative, passionate, mysterious

A bit about me:

Love first touched my soul at the mere age of 8 when I set eyes upon my distant cousin Mary Duff. I was later to learn of her marriage, and ‘it nearly threw me into convulsions…sometimes I doubt if I have ever been really attached since.’ (The Works of Lord Byron: With His Letters and Journals, and His Life, Thomas Moore 1893)

I am a well-educated man from a reputable family. I have attended Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge. I am also well-travelled, having set foot upon Portugal, Spain, the Mediterranean, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy and Greece, to name just a few.

After the publishing of Hours of Idleness, a particularly hostile review was published and I decided to pen the satire English Bards and Scotch Reviewers anonymously – to which many of my critics took offense. Following this, I took a tour to the Mediterranean and upon returning to England, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage was published in 1812. A wondrous event occurred – it sold out in three days and ‘I awoke one morning and found myself famous’! (Letters and Journals of Lord Byron, Thomas Moore 1830).  I went on to publish The Bride of Abydos and then The Corsair, which sold ten thousand copies in the first day.

I have sought and received affection from many women, single and married alike. Rumours have been rife regarding my so-called scandalous private life and my time in Greece – allegations of male and female suitors have been noted. However, I did marry Annabella Milbanke, a woman of stability, but this ended catastrophically. My relationship with my half-sister has oft been gazed upon with questionable eyes and the rumours and discussions around my divorce led my formerly adoring society to turn upon me.

This eventually caused me to seek a quieter life in Switzerland and then Venice, and after the birth of my daughter Allegra, I began my work on Don Juan, which was to be my masterpiece. However, scandal also surrounded this continued work and its controversial ways.

I became a national hero of Greece, and remain so still, after being elected the deputy of The London Greek Committee and attempting to gain Greek independence, but alas, my death of fever prevented me from such a final achievement.

I am looking for:

I am a man of passion, wherever that may take me, or to whom. I have often spent beyond my means, and so a partner of relative means would be a considerable convenience. I am a man of some mystery and would like an open-minded partner with whom to share my thrilling world. If you are willing to relocate to Greece, please do write to me of your affections. 

Is Lord Byron the Juan for you? Cast your vote!

This article is part of a collection produced for Valentine’s Day. Who would you select for your Valentine from these iconic figures? See the collection and cast your vote by going to Past-Time Lover.

Illustrator: Neil Arnold

 

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