Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Hana Václavíková

Shaping of Lord Byron’s Persona Under Various Influences

Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: doc. Michael Matthew Kaylor, PhD.

2019

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

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Hana Václavíková

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my supervisor, doc. Michael Matthew Kaylor, Ph.D., for his valuable advice, and the

time he invested in helping me.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 5

2. Historical Context 8

2.1. Relevant Consideration 9

2.2. Historical Context to Byron’s Contemporary England 10

3. Byron’s School Years and Other Influences on Byron’s Life 15

3.1. The Friendships of Lord Byron Throughout His Schools Years 16

3.2. Byron’s Method of Encryption and Its Development 18

3.3. Self-Exile, Beckford and Shelley 21

4. Byron’s Early Poems of Undisclosed Homosexual Nature 29

4.1. L'amitié, Est L'amour Sans Ailes 29

4.2. To Thyrza 34

5. Conclusion 40

6. Bibliography 43

7. Summary 47

8. Resumé 48

4 1. Introduction

The purpose of this work is to take a closer look at the life of Lord Byron together with chosen influences that are considered to have contributed to the modification of Byron’s controversial persona. Although the focus shifts in between

Byron’s personal life and work, and other chosen personalities and events, these are explained and connected to Byron’s life with the emphasis on the aspects of his life they had an impact on. The thesis strives to dissect various situations and events in Byron’s life in connection to his work and how these situations influenced him as an author, but also a person altogether. The thesis deals with two, often omitted characters, that influenced Byron at some period of his life. These two characters are William Beckford and Percy Bysshe Shelley, who were considered dissidents in the course of their lifetimes, however, never really met one another.

In the beginning, the paper provides contemplation on the matter of identification of Byron together with the necessary description of contemporary

England with a special focus on the issue of sodomy, providing the background of the political situation during Byron’s life. This knowledge of the contemporary law and social dogmas is crucial for the understanding of the time of Byron’s work and the restrictions he had to endure, considering his writing style as well as his demeanours.

Consequently, after emphasizing the restrictions of this time, the focus switches to the innovative, however at that time controversial, thoughts of pioneering figures such as Jeremy Bentham or Edmund Burke. They are comprising reminders of the aberrant stream of thoughts that endeavoured to spread understanding for minorities and supported individuality but also pointed out the wrongs and injustices that were occurring in the contemporary society’s phenomenon of hatred towards anything out of

5 the ordinary. In a way, Bentham and Burke represent an example of figures who thought ahead of their time.

The figure of Lord Byron keeps its scandalous reputation up until today.

However, during the times of his glory, he was not only known for his promiscuous and deviant behaviour but also acknowledged as possibly the greatest poet of his time. That itself was a rare case as it was quite unusual for a writer, let alone a poet, to be recognized during his lifetime, especially to such an extent. In comparison to, for example John Keats, who was appreciated and praised by his friends and other poets, nevertheless, it was not until after his death that he became widely recognized for the brilliance of his work. Byron’s case is quite the opposite, as there are fewer of those who can fully appreciate the wit and ingenuity in his work nowadays. For the lack of information and urge to be informed about his curious personal life is disabling the readers’ full apprehension of his work.

As Byron’s figure was considered a scandalous one even before his self-exile and attracted many onlookers trying to get a peek into his privacy, Byron from an early age must have figured a way to protect his privacy in a way that was both public, and public inaccessible. However, even for a personality like Byron’s the freedom of expression was not without restraints. For Byron’s poetry, as bold as it was, was still rather censored and cut out to fit into his contemporary society’s needs, while managing to keep just the right amount of outrageousness. The fact that Byron’s personal life was just as popular as his work, provided his observers with a unique insight into his creative process. Since one could always look underneath the obvious meaning and dig deeper to find hidden allusions to his life and, even better, to his scandalous adventures and loves. Therefore, it proves essential for a proper understanding of the writer’s work to be acquainted with his or her personal life as well.

6 Even though William Beckford does not really fit into Byron’s life, in a sense that he would actively participate as Byron’s acquaintance, there are many similarities in between these two historical figures. And these parallelisms are looked into and compared in the course of the thesis, in chapter which focuses on Byron’s life before his self-exile. For Beckford was not a particular fan of Byron’s of which he made no secret, however that did not keep Byron from admiring Beckford, even if only from afar.

Furthermore, Byron seems to be rather inspired with Beckford’s life and work, or even encouraged when it comes to the matter of Greek love, as Byron and his friends named the matter of their homosexual explorations. Therefore, Beckford’s presence, or rather

Byron’s knowledge of Beckford’s presence, in England and beyond it is considered important for the inspiration Byron took from it.

Later, as Byron undergoes his self-exile, the thesis, as well as Byron’s focus, switches to another important aspect of this chapter of his life, and that is his meeting and socialization with the Shelleys1, most significantly with Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Therefore, the romantic poet’s entanglement is mentioned and discussed in compliance.

Percy Shelley plays a significant role in Byron’s life, especially during his years spent in Italy, for he himself was a debatable person for the conventions of contemporary

England’s society and his ability to defy them. Exerting an impact on Byron, throughout his open-mindedness and atheistic views in combination to his fascination with Greek philosophers, rendering Plato’s Symposium as The Banquet, where he, for the first time, translates the work truly to its meaning.

Hence, this thesis strives to point out figures in Byron’s life who might not be considered of big importance, or even seemingly lost their connection to the poet, but

1 Meaning Percy B. and Mary Wollstonecraft, later Shelley.

7 are not to be forgotten for their influence, and therefore contribution, when it comes to the magnificent and outrageous personality of Lord Byron.

8 2. Historical Context

As to get a thorough understanding of Byron’s struggles when it comes to his extraordinary social life and exquisite poetry that derives from it, one must be acquainted with the overall situation and conventions that dominated his contemporary

England. For Lord Byron might not have been such a controversial figure nowadays as he was back in his days as the jurisdiction and social situation have undergone many changes, especially during the last century. Firstly, the matter of Byron’s identification for the purposes of the thesis needs to be discussed. Consequently, it is weighty to understand the punishment and legal corollary of being accused of and subsequently sentenced for sodomy in England, during Byron’s lifetime. For homosexuality, also sodomy, was an illegal activity and therefore participating in the homosexual act made one a criminal and one must have taken the consequences into account. Furthermore, the thesis shows that the situation was not entirely unequivocal as there were those who, even though not identifying themselves with any homosexual desires were aware of the injustice caused to the queer minority. Moreover, such time with its strict norms produced a philosopher such as Bentham, whose ideas were completely opposing those of the society’s, even pointing out the origin of the problem being in the majority’s apprehension of the minority. Last but not least of importance is the period of disorders that arises together with Byron’s maturing that begins with the French Revolution in

1792 and continues with Napoleonic wars. These affairs provide young Byron with further imagery of pain and suffering as well as anarchy and revolt against the established systems that become deeply rooted in him up until his very end.

9 2.1 Relevant Consideration

Even though the focus of this thesis is centred mostly around Byron’s homosexual affairs and their impact on him, the thesis does not endeavour to identify

Lord Byron with any kind of sexuality that he did not previously use to describe himself with. Furthermore, the aim of this thesis is not to force any label on Byron or to try and categorize him accordingly to his documented actions. Nevertheless, his sexual explorations play a vital role of this work as these are the manifestations of his personality against the contemporary laws and prejudice of the contemporary society, therefore making them both aberrations and fascination for the society. Furthermore, these experiences of Byron’s prove to be important factors for his creative work as he used these emotions and experiences as a germane motif in his poems and often derives from them for his work.

Hence, when addressing Byron’s personality, the term polymorphous perversity seems to be the most suitable one when dealing with such a complex and complicated identity as is the one of Lord Byron’s. Although, in the Freudian interpretation of the term the polymorphous perversity usually applies to children up until the age of five, the term assimilated itself as well as a description of “a Freudian term that signifies a person's ability to experience sexual pleasure in a variety of ways in the entire body, beyond the narrow range of genital stimulation that is consonant with reproduction,”

(Hovey 1) which seems to be more a suitable definition for describing Byron’s sexual explorations.

What is more important is the historical record of figures such as Byron’s, for they serve as an important factor for further research into the substance of human nature and its diversity. As Byron was influenced by the lives of those before him, such as

10 Virgil, Horace, Plato etc. but also Beckford, who is more of his contemporary, his personal experience is just as important for the future generations.

2.2 Historical Context to Byron’s Contemporary England

In the England of late 18th century and early 19th century it was not an unusual conviction to be hanged for sodomy as this sentence occurred in average two times a year between the years of 1806 and 1840 as described in the book by Louis Crompton

Byron and Greek Love (16). What is rather striking and important to acknowledge is that at the same time executions for other capital offences and crimes decreased and that even though in the countries of the continent homosexuality became more acceptable

(Crompton 38). It is hard even today to find the origin of the hatred of the English towards homosexuality that surmounts any other crime. Most probably it is rooted in the religious background and the damnation for this “crime that could scarcely be mentioned, much less defended or extenuated” (Munt 43), as Edmund Burke said when commenting on the Smith & Reed affair. Although Burke’s description of the “crime” of homosexuality might seem disapproving, he rises against the punishment of pillory2 for its warped character where a man can be slowly killed by hateful crowd, when he is not supposed to be killed at all.

However, it is important to take into consideration that when dealing with sodomy, or homosexuality, of this period, and its legal sanctions, it is mostly targeted at the male homosexual acts and the act of anal penetration. This does not mean that women would be allowed to participate in homosexual acts, on the contrary, they might not be considered to even be capable of such a crime. “Traditionally, European culture

2 As defined by the Oxford dictionary: “A wooden framework with holes for the head and hands, in which offenders were formerly imprisoned and exposed to public abuse.”

11 had condemned male homosexuality and ignored female homosexuality” (Anderson and

Zinsser 221) this being a long-lasting phenomenon as even towards the end of 19th century when illegalizing homosexuality without the factual evidence of committing sodomy, with the Labouchere Amendment. It was not until 1921 that the Criminal Law

Amendment Bill was introduced, where “gross indecency between women” (Derry) would be considered illegal, nevertheless this amendment never passed. As Michel

Foucault states sodomy was considered “a category of forbidden acts” and as a result making the person who identified as homosexual: “nothing more than juridical subject”

(43), which also signifies the problematics of its identification.

Another occurring difference at that time was England’s strict jurisdiction towards homosexuality in comparison to other countries of the continent, where sodomy was no longer punishable by death albeit the religious sermons preached the same condemnation for sexual immorality “[i]f a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them ” (Lev. 20:13) and “[t]hou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination” (Lev. 18:22). Yet, with regards to the series of prosecution in the past years, such as for witchcraft, and with it connected bloodshed, the jurisdiction must have been altered and adjusted to the age to prevent other hysteria that could lead to even more killings, this modification took England much more time than to the surrounding countries. “The level of intolerance forced even rich and intellectually distinguished homosexuals to flee the country,” (MacCarthy 37) as self- exile was not an unusual solution, but not affordable for just any man, wealthy and prominent personalities could use this as the last resort to avoid public detestation.

In 1533, male homosexuality was made a capital offence by the Parliament, however, it was not until 18th century that the term “sodomy”, often used for the

12 description of homosexuality, was even looked into and tried to be conceived and defined. Fortunately, the penalty for sodomy and the actuality that act of sodomy was considered a crime were also strictly criticized by statesman such as Edmund Burke, who was not only a respected politician but also a philosopher, as well as Jeremy

Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism. Bentham adhered to the decriminalization of homosexuality, for he saw the main problem in the homophobia, the abhorrent stand towards homosexuality, and not in the act of homosexuality as was the current fashion.

These ideas put him aside from his contemporaries but also many years, even centuries, ahead of them. Whereas Burke, albeit not sympathizing with homosexuality as something natural, fought against its severe punishment and inhuman treatment of those condemned to pillory, which was another possible sentence for sodomy. Furthermore, in

1790 Burke purposed abolition of the pillory in Parliament, which was a dangerous step in his political carrier and brought him derision and mockery by the press and the public for showing sympathy for homosexuals. Nevertheless, even such a respected statesman as Burke, could not change the Parliament’s views in one speech, “[t]he pillory was not abolished until 1816 (except as a punishment for subornation and perjury) and not completely abolished until 1837” (Norton).

While pillory was considered another alternative of the punishment for sodomy and was supposed to be a milder, as one was to avoid the death penalty in exchange of public exposure and humiliation, Burke stresses the opposite. However, this was not always the case and especially not, when the crime was sodomy. “Jaw broken or an eye beat out,” (Bentham) that is just a small fragment of possible consequences that a heated crowd was able to cause to anybody sentenced to pillory for homosexual practices. Therefore, even though pillory might appear as a better variant of the sentence in comparison to hanging, the outcome might just as well be the same if not worse, for

13 as Burke mentioned “to die in torment, was more dreadful than momentary death”

(158). For many people ended up severely wounded or crippled or even killed, as in the case of William Smith and Theodosius Reed. The case of Smith and Reed, who were ordered to pillory for homosexual behaviour, is rather an extreme one, as the mod violence that was caused by the homosexual nature of the sentence cost Smith his life and Reed was gravely wounded. It is not certain if his death caused objects that were thrown at him by the emotional crowd or rather by the sloppy check of the pillory, causing it to be too tight, however, this case only proves the point of hatred and carelessness towards those accused of sodomy.

Jeremy Bentham and Burke represent important characters of this period, for they show that even in such a tense period with strict jurisdiction, there can be found those, who are not afraid to rise against the contemporary law and are disturbed by the treatment of others without the need to gain something out of it. Bentham took a deep interest in the situation of sentencing for homosexuality, but moreover into the nature of the homophobic society, ever since a very young age and he devoted to this topic ever since. While writing philosophical papers on that topic together with his hedonistic views, striving for equal treatment notwithstanding one’s sexual preferences. In spite of

Bentham not being like-minded with his contemporary society’s values, he managed to create a basis for further development of individual freedom and his work have had a huge impact on future studies on the subject of homosexuality and its acceptance. On top of that contributing to the overall change that was later achieved in England, albeit many years after Byron’s and his own death.

The political and social background in England during Byron’s work is significant namely for its gloominess and the ever-present notion of death, that Byron must have been aware of all the time, especially when it comes to his homosexual and

14 socially inadmissible relations. Nonetheless, the knowledge of jurisdiction was not the only concern of Byron’s time, rather it was the overall situation of war conflicts and revolutions that were defying the age at the turn of the century. Byron himself was fascinated with the figure of Napoleon and the wars that were occurring throughout his youth. Fiona MacCarthy in her book Byron Life and Legend mentions Byron’s interest in European politics and especially in the controversial figure of Napoleon. His fascination with Napoleon occurs as he enters Harrow and continues long after until his admiration turns to hatred together with Napoleons failures culminating in his Ode to

Napoleon Buonaparte. What is significant about Napoleon for Byron, is the idea that his personality represented “a man who could come from nowhere and change the way people looked at the world and at their places in it” (Cochran). This might even serve as elucidation for Byron’s admiration of Napoleon as he signified more than just a military statesman, but rather a myth or an embodiment of revolution that Byron considered called for in England. Perhaps he even thought that by knowing enough about Napoleon he could transform himself into the figure that inflames England’s own revolution. Even though he was not able to bring the revolution about in his homeland, he is memorized and praised for his participation in the one of Greece, which turned out to be his fatal deed.

15 3. School Years and Other Influences on Byron’s Life

One of the most significant milestones for Byron’s following development and in forming of his personality was his attending the Harrow school in England and subsequently the Trinity College at Cambridge. Not only did he obtained there some of his life-long friendships as that with John Cam Hobhouse, Charles Skinner Matthews or

Scrope Berdmore Davies, but it even provided him with opportunities of explorations, reaching beyond the innocence of boyhood friendships, that he did not imagine up until then. However, it was not until he commenced his studies at Cambridge that he established the intimate friendship with John Edlestone, a choirboy at Trinity Chapel and two years Byron’s junior, who made one of the most significant impact on Byron.

Firstly, Byron’s years at, both, Harrow and Trinity College are looked at together with the important events that more or less contributed to his interest in sexuality outside of the socially constructed norms. Then the main focus turns towards

Byron’s friendships that he established during these years, especially concentrating on

John Edlestone and Earl of Clare. In relation to his friendships, Byron developed an exquisite sense of encryption, as well as equivocation, for the purposes of concealment, when expressing some of his most personal and intimate feelings. This ability of his and reoccurring device in his poetry is further looked into and explained in order to point out these nuances in Byron’s poetry later on. Subsequently, parallels between Byron and Beckford are pointed out as for the ticklish circumstances of his self-exile.

Furthermore, the impact of Shelley on Byron’s life gains on its significance.

16 3.1 The Friendships of Lord Byron Throughout His Schools Years

Amongst the most significant experiences of Byron’s his participation at the school of Harrow should be always included. As the school of Harrow established an environment where young boys were to create alliances and hierarchy in order to be able to rely on each other and develop friendships that might last for life. However,

Byron’s years at Harrow provided him with various experiences that are today considered of an intimate nature, namely his relation to John Fitzgibbon, second Earl of

Clare, whom he described as “the only male human being for whom he felt true friendship” (MacCarthy 39). It was Byron’s years at Harrow that apparently initiated his homosexual explorations, which seems to be understandable as he found himself in his pubescent years, driven with curiosity, surrounded only by boys that established a system of subordination amongst them. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that when in confrontation with feelings, he knew were illegal, Byron must have altered his understanding of friendship, so that he could easily distinguish between friends and friends, meaning those with whom he shared some intimate emotional connection. As

Byron advanced in this hierarchy, he encompassed himself with juniors that he called his “Theband band” (MacCarthy 38), conveniently referring to both a male elite army and a renowned male-lovers group. This might be intended as a form of equivocation for to the uninitiated eye the name would not seem suspicious and he could always only provide the explanation of elite army, whereas it might also serve as a common joke amongst the boys.

Later, as Byron started his studies at Cambridge, even his self-expression begun to be bolder and overall more “Byronic”3 (Dictionary). Together with his Cambridge

3 According to Oxford Learner’s Dictionary the term refers to “typical of Lord Byron, considered especially as a romantic figure”, but also by the Lexico as “(of a man) alluringly dark, mysterious, and moody.”

17 circle, he managed to get more acquainted with various Greek literates and philosophers and the conception of Greek love. However, it was not until after Byron’s lifetime that the translation of Plato’s Symposium became widely known and accessible to the public, as the first authentic translation was provided later by Percy B. Shelley, as The Banquet.

However, there were still other Greco-Roman authors to read, thanks to Byron’s knowledge of Latin and his like-minded friends who shared his interests. Amongst

Byron’s friends Hobhouse, Davies and Matthews were his closest friends with whom he refined his sense of humour, shared intellectual values but also to whom he confined his intimate, socially unacceptable, explorations and experiences for the rest of his life. For

Byron was rather blessed as he always managed to find and surround himself with people, who share his curiosity and appreciate him even for his, at the time, deviant pleasures.

Nonetheless, Byron did not strive to excessively share with his friends his passionate friendship with the choir boy, John Edlestone, who subsequently made an ever-lasting impact on his life. Which perhaps he did only for he knew his apprehensive friends so well. Since, unfortunately, during one of their travels, Hobhouse saw the manuscript sheets where Byron wrote of his early life, considering the episodes of his and Edlestone’s affections, and persuaded him to burn them, in order to protect them from being found. However, Byron “later appears to regret this destruction, telling

Tomas Moore that the loss of the manuscript had been ‘irreparable’” (MacCarthy 105).

The abruptness of Edlestone’s death might also be the cause for Byron’s consecutive regret as after hearing of it Byron started to cherish all that he possessed which had any sentimental value of their romance. Byron even wrote to Mrs. Pigot to retrieve the

Cornelian stone, which was given to him by Edlestone during the time of their entanglement and which was the subject of his poem of the same name, written in 1806.

18 During Byron’s grieving period after learning about Edlestone’s death in 1811, he composed an elegy that he dedicated to Thyrza, or as was later revealed, to his memory of John Edlestone. Even though the identity of Thyrza was for a long time the subject of conjectures, some women at that believing that they must be the inspiration behind that pseudonym, the evidence was clearly attesting towards the name of Edlestone. In 1974, another Latin version of the elegy was found in the Murray archive, which bears the words: “Te, te, care puer4!”, which indicates to “a generic loved boy” (Patanè, 74), together with the name of Edlestone written three times in the margin, which provided the explicit and long longed-for evidence.

3.2 Byron’s Method of Encryption and Its Development

The encoding of a male subject into his poems was just one of the various cases of encryption that occurs in Byron’s poems, however, this method of gender disguising was not unusual for English translations of homoerotic classics as well as for writing about prohibited topics. Since the poems of the Thyrza elegy were of intimate, personal nature shared between two men that was also strictly forbidden under the law of

England, Byron could not otherwise than intricately compose this inside knowledge into his work.

He had learned and enhanced this ability during his Cambridge school years with his friends, as they used various coding languages when addressing illegal activities. MacCarthy mentions amongst some of the expressions which Byron and his friends used for concealment when dealing with a situation of homoerotic nature the term “horatian” (39) or “methodiste” (67). Or in the case of his friend Matthews they used the term “the man of Method” (MacCarthy 67) appositely as his nickname.

4 Original emphasis

19 Matthews was very close to Byron as they shared the same humour and interest in homoerotic activities but also enriched Byron with his atheistic views and ideas. It might even give rise to Byron’s believes in sexual liberation to have a friend with such latitudinarian way of thinking.

Amongst other methods of encoding their language, Byron and his friends used botanic terminology and names of Greek myths when addressing some of the more delicate love conquests, comprising of what would be labelled as sodomy, for example describing a boy as Hyacinth which “refers to the beautiful Laconian youth loved by

Apollo” (MacCarthy 90). Their usage of botanical terminology, when it comes to the affairs of sexual nature, is even more penetrating the moment one is acquainted with the knowledge that “it is no accident that the word "sexuality" originates in reference to plants” (Sha 19). Thanks to their wide knowledge in different areas of interest, Byron and his Cambridge circle managed to communicate in puns and puzzles with a humorous nature even when talking about important issues: “[i]n one fell swoop, Byron and his friends could attack religion, return to a liberating classical sexuality, one that could conceive of pederasty as being a higher form of love than married heterosexual love, and undermine hetero- normativity” (Sha 43). This prowess of theirs has been noticed by researches and the allusions used in their correspondence were analysed and connected to their inner meanings.

However, this ability of Byron’s equivocation and encryption was especially crucial to his poetry and for his description of various situations in different, allusive ways, that might otherwise be considered illegal. For it required a deeper knowledge of the topic from the reader in order to understand these poems wholly, yet without the inside knowledge, the poems did not lose their poetical value, moreover it enriches the poems with the possibility of engaged reading.

20 Nevertheless, it was not only the disguising of gender that was so important in

Byron’s time, but he also abounded in concealing the matter of other illegal activities in his poems in order to avoid sanctions. Gary Dyer wrote an essay where he deals with the Canto 11 of Byron’s Don Juan (1819) and the style of language Byron uses to achieve the complexity of his poem. As he wrote Don Juan, Canto 11, on his ways throughout Europe, Byron introduces the figure of Tom who is a thief that attacked

Juan. Dyer’s essay pays attention to Byron’s usage of the word flash, or the slang, that was typical for the boxing community and stresses Byron’s mastery of this language, which also serves him as a means of coding.

Dyer explicates that not only was flash used as a “noun that denoted a particular kind of language but also an adjective that meant ‘in the know’ or ‘clued in’” (Dyer

563). This is significant as Byron uses the flash in both meanings. Therefore, proposing the necessity of Byron to be aware of the secretive nature that flash carried within itself as it was the language often associated with the underground for its crude and atypical nature. Demonstrating how well he was versed in the culture of outcasts, perchance this could be attributed to his acquaintance with the activity illegal the most, sodomy, and therefore realizing the importance of using the slang properly. However, the remarkable aspect of Byron’s usage of flash is not in his ability to do so as much as it proves his knowledge to such an extent of it. This Dyer connects to the need for secrecy as he refers to Thomas Moore, who was one of the members of “the Fancy”5, and stresses his notion of the usage of flesh as a cypher “for purposes of secrets and as a means of

5 The Fancy were those who supported and followed sports, especially boxing, in 19th Century. The Fancy contained members throughout the whole society, and therefore aristocrats were mixing with the underworld of lower classes, bringing about the flash dialect as a “combination of sporting technicalities and cockney and underworld slang" (Dyer 564)

21 eluding” (Dyer 566). Thus, Dyer points out some of the other examples where Byron uses his extraordinary competences with language while using a dialect that indicates that the user who knows how to do it, learned it, to hide something from the uninitiated.

However hard Byron’s development of the language he was able to use so eloquently was, he managed to employ it so that the information intended to be concealed remained so. Only those whom he decided to entrust the truth to, were to be able to read in between the lines properly. Nevertheless, as ever since Byron’s death his life has been researched and the events in his life sometimes connected to specific poems, it provides a challenge for Byron’s readers to understand his poetry better if aware of the background of his life that is available. Some of the examples of possible interpretation of Byron’s poems in relation to his life’s events is provided in the succeeding chapters.

3.3 Self-Exile, Beckford and Shelley

Provided it was not for Byron’s eccentric lifestyle, the circumstances of his self- exile might have had never taken place. However, as Byron earned his reputation as a celebrity quite early in his life, his scandalous behaviour was almost always under the surveillance of the ever-inquisitive public onlookers. Even though the real cause of

Byron’s self-exile was never proved, it gave rise to many theories over time. It might be compared to the case of William Beckford, who just as well as Lord Byron, was a man of the family with a wife and a little child, and of high social status. Furthermore, it was

Beckford, who underwent the self-exile that was full of hardship for the nature of its accusations against him, of being a suitor to a young boy named William Courtenay, which took place years before Byron’s case. Perhaps the two personalities are

22 seemingly rather miscellaneous at first sight, however there are also similarities that might be caused by Beckford’s indirect contribution.

Beckford was in the first-place aristocrat, who was eager to be recognized for more and as a result trying various activities available, in order to find his calling. In his tries he even pursued his writing carrier, resulting in one popular Gothic novel, called

Vathek, written in 1782, and some other less significant tales. On the other hand, Byron was recognized mainly as a poet, an artist, who was fortunate enough not having to struggle for finances. For he was, as well as Beckford, of a noble descendent which provided him with the privilege of not having to worry about money from an early age.

Nevertheless, more significant analogies can be found in the lives of these two figures that prove the influence of Beckford on Byron’s life.

As Beckford did not manage to become a well-known author despite his tries, the story of Vathek played an instrumental role in Byron’s life. The novel is considered to be carrying some autobiographic parallels to his life, as seen by Timothy Mowl in his biography called William Beckford Composing for Mozart (1998). In this book, Mowl refers to Beckford’s novel in connotation to his life events and stresses out these parallels which carry autobiographic elements. Although the act of projecting one’s life into his or her work might not be an unusual occurrence, this seems to be a connecting point in the lives of Beckford and Byron as they projected their, at the time reprehensible, sexual desires and experiences as a way of release into their work.

“Beckford’s sexuality was bound up with his writing: to understand his books, its complex nature needs to be faced” (Mowl 107). Even more importantly, both being of the homoerotic nature with pederastic overtones. Beckford acquires a unique quality, for he publishes a story that conveys his personal feelings of a homoerotic nature in a way that is legal and accessible to reader such as young Byron.

23 Moreover, it is proved that Byron was acquainted with Beckford’s writing, concretely Vathek, as he was the one who popularised the story by praising it in his

Turkish tale, The Giaour (1813), and ascribing it its inspirational value: “[Vathek], the sublime tale…even Russelas must bow before it; his “Happy Valley” will not bear a comparison with the “Hall of Eblis”” (Mowl 137). The laudation of the novel was then added to every future edition of Vathek. However, this was more of a torment for

Beckford, who in contradiction to Byron, disdained the poet and certainly did not wish to be connected to his name, as Mowl alludes throughout his book. Furthermore, as

Byron acclaims the story as well as recognizes its impact on his work, it is conceivable that not only did he derived inspiration for his stories, he also adopted Beckford’s technique of hiding his personal experiences within his writing. Alternatively, it could give rise to the idea of encoding his personal feelings and experiences into his work as well. Byron might derive from Beckford’s tale for his own literary work in pursuit of being recognized by him, or more likely for the luring quality hidden in its content, visible only to the conversant reader.

In any case, the evidence of Byron’s cognizance of Beckford itself is significant.

Insofar as it proposes the probability of Byron being aware of the circumstances of

Beckford’s self-exile which is later solidified as he follows in his footsteps. Even though the conditions of Beckford’s exile varied in some regards, the pederastic6 nature of his relationship to Courtenay and its public accusation present an example convenient for Byron to be aware of. As it was of the same nature as was Byron’s own experiences from the past and also his assumed incentive for his self-exile. Even if the reason for

Byron’s exile proved to be of a different cause, Beckford’s impact remains, as he was a

6 According to the Lexico dictionary “Paederasty” is “sexual activity involving a man and a [underage] boy”, as “pederast” is therefore defined, by Merriam-Webster dictionary, as “a man who desires or engages in sexual activity with a boy.”

24 public figure in England, to which Byron could relate his homoerotic tendencies. It was for Beckford’s primal experience that might provide Byron with his idea of self-exile in order to avoid persecution as in Beckford’s case. Yet Beckford’s self-exile might not be requisite by the law, for the whole case was tangled and both parts were at fault. With

Courtney and his wife on his side, Beckford’s flight was rather like the fulfilment of his social duties “a very conventional gesture, almost one of noblesse oblige” (Mowl 130).

Perhaps, even Byron’s exile originated in his sense of social obligations, therefore explaining the exile that unintentionally lasted until the end of his days.

However, Byron lost the favour of his wife, who was already overlooking many of his scandalous affairs and connections, completed with their cohabitation with his half-sister/lover Augusta on the Piccadilly Terrace in London. For that, his self-exile was solely his own without other members of his family making the whole act even more scandalous, whereas Beckford initially took his wife with him.

Apart from that, Byron was unable to escape his publicity, and the society, which ostracized him, was still eager to follow his infamous persona wherever he fled.

Byron’s frustration is evident from his memories in Genoa that he conveyed to Lady

Blessington: “The notoriety that follows me, precludes the privacy I desire,” (New

Monthly Magazine 237) as well as his feelings of desperation regarding his domestic situation in England: “I am bound, by the indissoluble ties of marriage, to one who will not live with me, and I live with one whom I cannot give a legal right to be my companion” (New Monthly Magazine 237). Nevertheless, Byron, as well as Beckford, found his haven in Switzerland, where he settled down near Lake Geneva in Villa

Diodati in 1816. Perhaps Switzerland was Byron’s first destination he followed

Beckford’s previous example.

25 Yet Byron’s self-exile was not only geographical but also of a more metaphorical meaning as he devoted himself to his work on Child Harold’s Pilgrimage

(1812) and Don Juan, which were both vastly based on Byron’s experience abroad. As

Byron states in his journal, in 1813: “To withdraw myself from myself. . . has ever been my sole, my entire, my sincere motive in scribbling at all; and publishing is also the continuance of the same object, by the action it affords the mind, which else recoils upon itself.” (Byron 208)

In this, Byron lets out a peek into the conception of the writing process, which is also examined by scholars and scrutinized in order to get a better understanding of Byron’s mind. In the book Byron and the Limits of Fiction (1988), this fragmentation and intersection of Byron’s life and his work is considered of being on the boarders of sanity: “To use poetry as a relief to get away from a painful condition, only to reproduce that painful condition in the poetry, is like fleeing madness in a way that is itself still half-mad” (Beatty and Newey 246). This section corroborates that Byron decomposed his self in order to write more personal and sincere poetry. The pieces written during his self-exile were of an involved nature to such an extent that it reflects the change his inner self must have undergone so that it could be fully invested.

Metaphorical exile is represented by the mindset that was involved in Byron’s poetry written in England, which was abandoned, so that the new mindset, altered by the self- exile, could be invested instead. This also resonates with Caroline Lamb’s famous description of Byron as “[m]ad, bad, and dangerous to know” (Crompton 197).

A new chapter of Byron’s life begins with his self-exile in Switzerland, where he spent his days in the company of the Shelleys, Claire Clairmont and Dr John Polidori.

However adventurous and extraordinary Byron’s life after his self-exile was, during this period the strongest impact on him exerted Percy Shelley, “[m]eeting Shelley at this

26 juncture was more important to Byron than he ever admitted” (MacCarthy 291). The two of them shared their intellectual background as well as a passion for writing and together with their group, they engaged in various stimulating debates. Shelley’s nature was much different from the one of Byron’s, but simultaneously each enriched the life of the other. Shelley abounded in idealistic views of the world, and his poetry and values were different from those of Byron’s, perchance it was for their differences that they had always something to debate on.

Shelleys, as well as Byron, were of a scandalous reputation which was fortified by their rather unusual habits for the time, such as abstaining meat or they atheistic views and attitudes towards sexuality. In the book The Real Shelley (1885), Jeaffreson implies that Shelley might have gotten his eating habits from Byron: “[p]erhaps he adopted the Byronic diet just as he adopted the Byronic shirt-collar, in imitation of the poet whom he admired so greatly” (Jeaffreson 143). This was not the case as Shelley acquired his diet long before meeting Byron, however it can be used as an example of the amount of value that is often attributed to the famous friendship of the two poets and their influence on each other.

Nevertheless, the time at the Villa Diodati had an impact on all the lives of those present. Since stories of the time when Byron and his friends occupied the banks of

Lake Geneva remained even after their deaths. “’The year without a summer’, as 1816 became known, provided the perfect backdrop to the telling of bleak, macabre and doom-laden Gothic tales” (Buzwell). The conditions were of the felicitous coincidence for writing. However, the additional value that was perhaps only realized by those in the

Villa, was the presence of Lord Byron, who according to the stories came up with the very idea that “those present should turn their hands to the writing of ghost stories”

(Buzwell). The atmosphere of that summer gave rise to many valuable literary pieces,

27 not only Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) but also Byron’s “Darkness” or Polidori’s The

Vampyre (1819).

Later on, as Byron and his companions left Switzerland for Italy, Byron and

Shelley remained in touch and often engaged in common activities. Even though

Shelley did not know how to swim, a favourite activity of the two poets was to row in a boat on a lake or sail on the sea. This might be attributed to Byron’s passion for swimming. It is hard to know the exact nature of their friendship, as it was often discussed, especially regarding the scandalous stories that were heard about the Villa

Diodati and those near Byron. The relationship was of such an intriguing nature which remained undefined that even “Oscar Wilde put forward the theory that the friendship between Byron and Shelley ended when Byron attempted to make love to Shelley, and he resisted the overtures” (MacCarthy 429).

Whatever the nature of their friendship and the cause of its decline was, it was not as significant as was Shelley’s understanding and support for Byron. That might provide him with an encouragement that was of a defining quality for Byron’s future manifestation of his desires and his self. As their friendship was so close, it is reasonable to presume that Byron conveyed his homosexual attractions, that were often of pederastic nature, to Shelley at an early stage of their friendship.

Shelleys were both liberal not only in their thoughts but also believed in sexual liberation that was passed on to them by Mary’s father Godwin, as Polidori mentioned in his diary, back in Switzerland when describing Percy Shelley: “’bashful, shy, consumptive… keeps the two daughters of Godwin, who practise his theories’, [where]

Godwin’s theories were of sexual freedom” (MacCarthy 291). Maybe even for the fact that Percy and Mary were sharing their love in spite of the conjugal law and even

28 adding Claire Clairmont to the famous triangle, Byron felt that they would not judge his fondness of the same sex, nor any of his sexual activities.

Perhaps it was the friendship with Byron that inspired Shelley to translate The

Banquet by Plato, true to its word and with a preface and introductory essay called “A

Discourse on the Manners of the Antient Greeks Relative to the Subject of Love.” This essay adds to the translation a unique value as it aims to manifest the Greek culture and society as it was and without censure. Even pointing out the deficiency of preceding works focused on Greece or Greek translations: “There is no book which shows the

Greek precisely as they were, they seem all written for children” (Shelley 15). Shelley thereafter ponders on the differences and historical events in between the two periods and looks for the cause of such a switch in the judgment of tolerable sexual intercourse.

Amongst the possible influences Shelley names “the doctrines of Jesus Christ […] institutions of chivalry, or […] fundamental differences of physical nature existing in the Celts” (Shelley 16).

However, Shelley does not only touch upon the theme of Greek love and its homosexual connotations but also the injustice towards women. In his essay, Shelley focuses both on the differences that were achieved in Europe as well as those that

Europe lacked in. This theme was a rather significant one, as Mary’s mother, Mary

Wollstonecraft, was an advocate of women’s rights and author of A Vindication of the

Rights of Women (1792), making her the pioneer suffragist. Her legacy was continued through her daughter Mary and her husband, as well as her other followers, who honoured Mrs Wollstonecraft’s revolutionary ideas. Presumably, this was another frequent topic that the group discussed, as Byron had an affair with Mary’s half-sister

Claire Clairmont with whom he also had his other daughter Allegra.

29 Furthermore, the essay by Shelley has an exceptional defending quality which, at the same time, functions as a means of approval and understanding. The notion of internal meaning is especially perceptible to a reader, who is aware of Shelley’s friendship with Byron. In this case, the essay added to the translation as well as the translation seem to be Shelley’s way of showing Byron his understanding, even advocating homosexuality and shrewdly connecting it to the exquisite poetry of Ancient

Greeks, at the beginning of the book. Even though the translation was not fully published until long after Shelley’s death, it is probable that Byron read his work, including the essay, thus the whole work obtains an intimate personal value shared amongst the two friends.

30 4. Byron’s Early Poems of Undisclosed Homosexual Nature

The poems selected for the analysis of Byron’s encryption are “To Thyrza”

(1811) and “L’amitié, Est L’amour Sans Ailes” (1806). For both of these poems were written with regard to Byron’s school years or to its connected relations, as well as they both conceal Byron’s intimacy for its homoerotic nature. This chapter aims to look into segments of Byron’s poetry, which are scrutinized in order to depict his approach and comprehension of his feelings in general, together with the matter of friendship and how he understood its concept. As these poems are often used in relation to Byron’s homosexual affairs, for example in Crompton’s Byron and Greek Love, the analysis strives to point out the lines and devices which carry the information that Byron tried to encode into his words.

4.1 L'amitié, Est L'amour Sans Ailes

The name of this subchapter is derived from Byron’s poem bearing the same name, also translated as “Friendship Is Love Without His Wings”, written in 1806 when

Byron studied at Trinity College. As the name indicates, Byron compares the value of friendship to love, however, without the elevation that is contained in the metaphor of the wings. Further, the poem reflects Byron’s contemplation of the substance of friendship and functions as evidence of Byron’s different division of his valued friends.

Nevertheless, when dealing with Byron’s work, one should always take into consideration Byron’s prowess at concealment together with his proclivity to equivocation. In relation to the poem “L'amitié, Est L'amour Sans Ailes”, it bids the reader to contemplate a variety of meanings with a possibility of having, for that time, an illegal background of some sort. As the poem was written in 1806, this was the period after Byron left the school of Harrow, together with his friends and friends,

31 especially Lord Clare, whom he called his “only true friend,” (MacCarthy 39) and were forced to adjust to the new system of the Trinity College. Albeit the poem discourses on friendship, the inner nature of it seems to be much more intimate and complex, bringing the reader closer towards the poet’s comprehension of friendship. In the first stanza of the poem Byron might be weeping for his youthful years, however that would be rather rushed as he was only seventeen at that time. Therefore:

Why should my anxious breast repine,

Because my youth is fled?

Days of delight may still be mine;

Affection is not dead. (1-4)

The first lines of the poem might signify Byron’s remembering of his years at

Harrow and the comfort those years have brought to him together with the sorrow of leaving it. However, the “youth” (2) might also be interpreted as a concrete boy, who has left the poet and for whom he now weeps. The latter interpretation is symptomatically followed with the last couplet of the first stanza saying: “Where first my heart responsive beat,/ Friendship is love without his wings!” (Byron 9-10) which might refer to Byron’s meeting of the Earle of Claire and the first time he felt the true friendship he only ever before felt for Claire. Or more generally these lines might point towards Byron’s connection to Harrow where he explored his feelings and made intimate friendships for the first time.

Yet, the reoccurring refrain, as well as the title of the poem, can be interpreted in many ways, affording the reader more alternatives for interpretation and the author the possibility of disguising the intended one. For “Friendship Is Love Without His Wings”, can either be interpreted as a simple poetic means of describing friendship in connection to some divine aspect of wings that could be connected to the imagery of angels and

32 even propose some kind of determinism. Another possibility of understanding the title might be that friendship is seen as grounded in comparison to love and perhaps more valuable as it cannot flee easily for it has no wings. However, the title can be interpreted with the intention of symbolism that friendship is really just love without his wings, or more precisely chubby, winged baby-boy from Greek mythology, also known as

Cupid7. This interpretation seems to be carrying some notion of probability as it connects the text allusively to Greek mythology which Byron and his friends knew so well. If this being the case, for Byron, the true friendship might equal to love, albeit in a human form. Once this interpretation is considered, the nature of the poem seems to be more intimate, even more so as it was published after Byron’s death in 1832. Once settling on the exposition of the poem as drawing analogy between Byron’s intimate relationship to one of the boys at Harrow and his transfer of schools while losing his first loved one, the evidence can be found all over the text. Perchance one must first know what to look for in Byron’s poetry, before finding the needed evidence.

On that account, the concept of the poem referring back to Byron’s years at the school of Harrow is supported and illustrated by the third stanza where the poet mentions the school environment, saying:

7 As defined by the Encyclopaedia Britannica “ancient Roman god of love in all its varieties… At the worst he was considered mischievous in his matchmaking”

33 Round this unconscious schoolboys stray,

Till the dull knell of childish play

From yonder studious mansion rings;

But here, whene'er my footsteps move,

My silent tears too plainly prove

“Friendship is love without his wings!” (15 - 20)

The school environment and his memories of what he encountered there seem to have an emotional impact on Byron, not only for the carelessness of boyhood, which now might seem to fade away but also for the experiences he gained and the self-exploration he went through. This is even more intensified by the refrain, implying the importance of the friendship he obtained there yet combined with the severity of their detachment, not only physical but likewise the emotional aloofness.

In the subsequent fourth stanza, Byron is referring to the one germane friendship of his schoolboy days when saying “My hopes, my dreams, my heart was thine, / But these are now decay’d” (33 - 34). In these lines, it is apparent that Byron is accusing the boy of stealing away his hopes for their future together and breaking his heart, while at the same time disclosing the vulnerable nature of the friendship they had. If the question of the gender of Byron’s concealed lover is still dubious, it is assuredly voiced in the fifth stanza, where he states, “My blossom glows with former fire, / In mind again a boy” (43 - 44). These lines would be too scandalous to be available to the public eye during Byron’s lifetime, which explains why the poem was not published until after his death as he did not endeavour to encode the nature of his affection in this one.

From there on, the poem gains on its ardour, firstly for the newly discovered boy whom Byron calls his friend when impatiently raring for their desired encounter, and subsequently for all of his friends in the penultimate stanza. Byron also prises his

34 friends from youth, as they proved to be unimpeachable and present when he needed them:

Ye few! my soul, my life is yours,

My memory and my hope;

Your worth a lasting love insures,

Unfetter'd in its scope. (71 – 74)

However, what the nature of these friendships that Byron mentions is, is not clear in the end as he incites them not to forget that “Friendship is love without his

Wings!” (80), which, likely intentionally, confuses the true notion of these friendships once again. The intended interpretation of the title is not apparent from the poem, so it is up to the reader to decide if Byron praises his friends for being true to him without the need for romantic love, therefore making them less likely to leave him as his friend from Harrow at the beginning of the poem. Or if, on the contrary, the poem divulges that all of Byron’s friendships that he cherished were a combination of intimate and devoted feelings towards one another, of a more personal essence than one would expect of a friendship. In the poem, the term Friendship is used in a way, which together with the knowledge of Byron’s background, exhorts to be perceived as equivocation.

Finally, Byron uses this perplexity to his own good, when in the last stanza he plays with words and implies the possibility of fiction in his lines as well as he proposes the possibility of the poem being true to its word, as he says, “If laurell'd Fame but dwells with lies, / Me the enchantress ever flies…” (85 - 86). On the other hand, those who knew of Byron’s scandalous character might just perceive this as another of his devices to shock the audience, or at least that would be if the poem was published when it was written. The postponement and the lack of encryption of gender corroborate that

35 this poem was to serve personal purposes and maybe as Byron’s catharsis for he must had been always mindful and on his guard when it came to his writings and in it encoded meanings.

Was it not for many, if not most of, Byron’s valuable, and more significantly personal, works being burned after his death, there might have been, and perhaps was, a huge section of his work that was not censored nor adjusted to the scrutiny of the public eye. This work might provide to be more than just a witness of the author’s life in a whole new light moreover filling in the gaps and affording a look behind the curtain of a person who was engaged in and known of practising, in that time, the most harshly treated illegal activity as was sodomy. Therefore, the scholars and Byron’s followers are left to try and connect the residues of the poet’s life to get the intended meanings out of his poetry and only conjecture the possibilities of interpretation of his work and the missing parts of his personal life.

4.2 To Thyrza

This part is dedicated to one of Byron’s most personal poems, from the Thyrza elegy To Thyrza, which he wrote in the months following his attainment of Edlestone’s death. Even though the romance between the two boys was not of a long-lasting duration, Byron’s reaction to the event proves to be of profound emotional involvement than would be expected of just a fleeting youthful affection. In this chapter, the poem is dissected to depict Byron’s emotional bond to the young Edlestone boy and its importance. The relationship between Byron and Edlestone is different from his other affairs with boys. For there is enough material to connect their relationship to Byron’s work and how the young poet transmitted it into his poetry even though it meant that the poems would carry overtones of homoerotic nature. Although the poet is also known for

36 many of his scandalous affairs considering women, even his half-sister Augusta, his affection for young men is subject to debate as it requires a thorough study of his life as well as his poetry. These relationships are often connected to his knowledge of Greek literature and an occurring conception of paederasty. However, as these affairs were concealed for Byron’s own good, it comes as no surprise that women, such as Lady

Falkland, were of the persuasion that “his poems to Thyrza, were really addressed to her” (MacCarthy 162). Nevertheless, as it was later discovered, the poems which reflect the poet’s sensitivity and affection were inspired by his late lover Edlestone.

The poem begins with the poet’s portrayal of the gloomy atmosphere of a cemetery and sets the sorrowful mood that is to be expected when the causation of the poem is considered:

Without a stone to mark the spot,

And say, what Truth might well have said,

By all, save one, perchance forgot,

Ah! wherefore art thou lowly laid? (1- 4)

The first stanza reflects Byron’s feelings of regret over the loss of his friend, while at the same time he ponders over the idea of the place where he is buried. The first line referring to “a stone” might symbolize Byron’s unawareness of the death of his friend for many months and imply the poet’s inability to accept the knowledge of Edlestone’s death. However, mentioning a stone in the first line might as well denote the cornelian stone that the young Edlestone gave to Byron as a symbol of his devotion. “[Edlestone] gave Byron an inexpensive stone, a cornelian. But fearing that B. would despise his gift, he burst into tears. This in turn melted Byron, who shed tears of his own” (Crompton

99). Perhaps his regrets and sense of guilt for giving the stone away, made him more aware of its absence and consequentially retrieving it.

37 In the second stanza, the situation of the two men during the last months is pointed out, as Byron writes “By many a shore and many a sea / divided yet beloved in vain” (5 – 6). These lines also strengthen Byron’s sense of despair as he points out the redundancy of his love for Edlestone, who was already months dead. Nevertheless, it serves as an evidence for the poet’s persisting feelings towards the young boy even after their parting and is once again intensified by fourth stanza: “Once long for thou ne’er shaft see, / Who held, and hold thee in his heart?” (15 – 16). These lines might be comprehended as a testimony of Byron’s feelings and evoke the notion that Byron hoped-for future, where the two were supposed to meet again.

The poem is evidently interwoven with the theme of death and sorrow as well as lost hope and a loved one. At parts, the lines even give the impression of Byron’s reproaching Edlestone for dying, however, these are quickly replaced by the sentiment and reminiscence of their youthful days:

Ours too the glance none saw beside;

The smile none else might understand;

The whisper’d thought of hearts allied,

The pressure of the thrilling hand. (29 – 32)

In Byron’s description of the times of their affection, the feelings of the two lovers seem to be of such a pure and reciprocated nature that it is understandable why women wished to identify with those poems. However, the overall sadness and the unravelling of Byron’s memories discloses the clues that lead to the figure of Edlestone. As in the tenth stanza where Byron casts his mind back to the meeting of the two boys back in

Trinity College.

38 The tone, that taught me to rejoice,

When prone, unlike thee, to repine;

The song, celestial from thy voice,

But sweet to me from none but thine. (37 – 40)

There, the poet refers to Edlestone’s membership in the school’s choir and how he was, at first, allured by the young boy’s voice. This remembrance strikes Byron, for he is again reminded of what he lost in Edlestone. Byron even confesses that until then he had never felt so hurt: “Oft have I borne the weight of ill, / But never bent beneath till now!” (43 – 44). Which he follows up in the next stanza, where he tries to look on to the bright side again “Well hast thou left in life’s best bloom” (45). It comes as a consolation for the poet that his friend died at his peak, therefore does not have to live through the bitter rigours of growing old, which Byron does.

Towards the end of the poem, Byron even thinks of Edlestone as perhaps finding a more hospitable place, where he might look over him “But if in worlds more blest than this, / Thy virtues seek a fitter sphere.” (49 – 50). However, the nature of the

“world more blest” is not disclosed, and considering Byron’s erudition, it is highly unlikely that he would be dreaming of paradise as described in the Bible. Especially considering his affections that were damned, in the Bible as well as by the English society, and so was the nature of the relationship he shared with Edlestone.

Furthermore, Byron wishes to share this blessing, if it is so, and he even plays with the idea of being reunited in the afterlife: “On earth by love was such to me / It fain would form my hope in heaven!” (55 - 56). Or at least, he might find consolation in hope and therefore finding solace even in something inevitable like death. Perhaps, even the idea of Edlestone being in Byron’s notion of heaven made the poet more in peace with the loss that he suffered from the death of his former lover.

39 This poem is a perfect reflection of Byron’s inner processes and for the privy to his life even not so complicated to decode. However, during his life, the Thyrza poems remained of unidentified nature, providing him with the unusual luxury of privacy, or perhaps their decoding might have been a factor contributing to Byron’s self-exile.

Nonetheless, as for their homoerotic nature and the wave of acclamation he received for their composition, it can be compared to Shelley’s rumination about the Greek poets whose social habits differed so greatly in their comprehension of lawful expressions of love from contemporary England. And as the poem was inspired by homoerotic relationship and yet portrayed this despised union in such a manner that people wanted to be identified with it, Shelley’s essay gains on its depth, for it shows that it is not up to the gender to define the quality of a poem, but the honesty of the feelings depicted in it.

Altogether, the analysis of the two poems provides a certain insight into both

Byron’s work, and his life. Some of the possible variations of reading in between the lines are indicated together with the importance of knowledge about the author’s background, for comprehension of the polysemous implications. Nonetheless, in contradiction to Byron’s later narrative poems of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage or Don

Juan, the two poems chosen for the analysis compose of much shorter length.

Therefore, they comprise an ideal example as they are less difficult to dissect and connect to timely events and are more likely to only convey one or two possibilities of hidden meanings. On the contrary, in Byron’s later poems such as those mentioned above, the length of the poems provides space for encoded implications and allusions in various parts of the poems and the analysis itself becomes more challenging. However, the poems used in this thesis are to pose as an example of how the knowledge of author’s background, and his personal life can be connected to and can serve as an inspiration for, his or her creative process. Especially when dealing with figures who

40 were restricted by the social values and laws of their time. These can also serve as reminders of the social advancements and progresses that were defied and overcame in the course of time.

41 5. Conclusion

The thesis points out and identifies various moments of Byron’s life with chosen external influences that are proved to be of importance, more or less intentional, in contributing to the modification of Lord Byron’s persona as it is known today. First, the thesis provides a background to the contemporary society of Byron’s England. This is enriched by highlighting some significant figures of the period endeavouring to change the social mindset such as Jeremy Bentham. Furthermore, the focus switches to brief acquaintance with Byron’s life, pointing out situations that were of importance for his personal growth. The focus splits into three important parts. First, Byron’s attendance at the boy school of Harrow and consequently Trinity College at Cambridge are pointed out together with their gained acquaintances. Amongst these were named personalities like those of Byron’s school friends and those that attracted the poet’s affection. The influences of these personalities are depicted together with its impact on Byron’s poetry. The last part of the chapter dedicated to Byron’s life brings up the names of

Beckford and Shelley, as significant figures in the period of Byron’s self-exile and thereafter. However, the impact of these personalities differs as they were not actively striving for Byron’s change, rather providing the grounds for his future development.

Special concentration is devoted to Byron’s skill of encryption that he and his friends at Trinity College used for disguising the themes conveyed in their correspondence. This prowess, the poet used also in his poetry for the incorporation of the topic of sensitive nature connected to his homosexual desires and encounters.

Furthermore, some examples of Byron’s nuances of using equivocations and ambiguities as a form of encryption were mentioned as well as explained on the selected poems “To Thyrza” and “L'amitié, Est L'amour Sans Ailes”. The two poems are dissected in order to point out the connotations to the poet’s life, even connected to

42 concrete events of Byron’s life and explained with the homosexual implications there conveyed. Furthermore, “To Thyrza” is also dissected in order to provide the examples of the special bond that Byron shared with Edlestone, and its lasting impact on his life.

William Beckford is another significant figure that is depicted in a way of unintended influence. As he was not one of Byron’s admirers, however still managing to impress the poet throughout his novel. Beckford is rather a “silent” figure in Byron’s life, but important, nevertheless. For he poses an example of a figure that was ascribed with his homosexual inclinations notwithstanding the fact that he was Byron’s contemporary. As it is evident that Byron read Beckford’s novel with its autobiographic allusions together with homoerotic and pederastic overtones, considering Byron’s perceptiveness these might have served as a consolation for the poet, and as a means of realization of an inner connection of the two authors. For the poet, as well as Beckford, used his writing skills so that he would be able to convey his illegal activities and desires.

Furthermore, to the theme of Byron’s homoerotic affections contributes the personality of another romantic poet, Percy B. Shelley, who gains on his importance throughout the after-self-exile period of Byron’s life. Shelley’s personality was in many aspects opposite to the nature of Byron’s, however, the two poets managed to develop a close bond that was of an intimate value. The intimacy was not connected to the practices of their sexuality as much as to the mental intimacy conveyed throughout their thoughts and polemicizing. Reflected in the essay that Shelley wrote in defence of

Greek love for his translation of The Banquet.

The thesis strives to not only point out the influences that helped to create the persona of Lord Byron as it is known but even highlights the often omitted roles of figures that created the environment for the poet to be able to manifest himself more

43 freely in a society that was so restrictive in its beliefs. Furthermore, it tries to imply the significance of the seemingly insignificant. As in the case of Byron, it is the influence of those people in his life that made him feel comfortable and supported enough to be himself, which was the core source of his poetry. And however, Byron’s personality was despised for his actions by the society, he managed to exert his brilliance of mind to maintain his reputation and status of his poetry. Even during his last months, dedicating himself to the heroic cause of his choice when financing and participating in the Greek War of Independence.

Therefore, even with many documents considering Byron’s life were destroyed for its content of the poet’s then illegal activities, the concept of it remains in existence.

Hence providing the material for others to gain from, perhaps when looking for someone to identify with. Even serving as an idol to the American poet Edgar Allan

Poe, who made no secret of his admiration for Byron and perhaps even ensued his avocation: “His early fondness for Byron possibly led him to make this identification with the British poet who was also noted for his prowess as a swimmer” (Pruette 374).

Byron’s scandalous figure as well as his poetry remains an inspiration and his life as continually dissected by scholars or used in novels up to this day. For example, in a novel Frankissstein (2019) by Jeanette Winterson, or in works by Peter Ackroyd.

44 6. Works Cited Primary Sources:

Byron, George Noel Gordon. “To Thyrza”. Byron Poems. Everyman’s Library, 1994.

Byron, George Noel Gordon. “L’amitié, Est L’amour Sans Ailes”. Poetic Works of Lord

Byron. Vol. J. Murray, 1855-1856.

Crompton, Louis. Byron and Greek Love: Homophobia in 19th-Century England. U of

California P, 1985.

MacCarthy, Fiona. Byron: Life and Legend. John Murray, 2002.

Secondary Sources:

Mowl, Timothy. William Beckford Composing for Mozart. John Murray, 1998.

Anderson, Bonnie S. and Zinsser, Judith P. “Opportunities and Limits in the Twentieth

Century”. A History of Their Own: Women in Europe from Prehistory to the

Present. Vol. 2. Oxford UP, 1999. Pp. 197 – 224.

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48 7. Summary

The purpose of this thesis is to provide an overview of the selected influences that in some way exerted an influence on further development of Lord Byron’s persona.

The thesis focuses on the poet’s homosexual love affairs and their expression in his work, with the consideration of the contemporary England and its principles followed by legal sanctions. The background to Byron’s life bares significance as it posed many obstacles for his self-expression in his poems.

Amongst the main thoughts that the work points out are the influences that might seem insignificant, but nevertheless prove to be influential. Most of these are personalities that were close to Byron at some point during his life and their importance there is explained and if possible, depicted using evidence. William Beckford, who is one of the influences mentioned, poses an exception as his impact on Byron’s life was of a passive nature, unlike the others. On the other hand, Shelley is considered as an active force that was involved in every aspect of Byron’s life during their friendship.

Even providing the translation of Plato’s The Banquet accompanied by an essay on the connection between Greek love and Greek poetry, as a way of defence and understanding for the other poet.

In the last section of the thesis, the two selected poems are analysed in order to reflect the author’s method of disguising the homoerotic notions in his poetry. The parallels are drawn between the poems and Byron’s life, emphasizing the possible inner meanings encoded there. The poem “To Thyrza” also serves as an evidence for Byron’s affection towards Edlestone even long after their parting.

In the end all of the influences are considered with the reflection of Byron personality’s impact after his death on others. Resulting in the effect of continuous influence that is passed on and should be attributed to all the seemingly insignificant.

49 8. Resumé

Účelem této práce je poskytnout přehled vybraných vlivů, které nějakým

způsobem ovlivnily vývoj osobnosti Lorda Byrona. Práce se zaměřuje na básníkovy

homosexuální aféry a jejich vyjádření v jeho práci, na pozadí tehdejší Anglie. Je

tedy důležité znát pozadí Byronova života, jelikož nese významné následky v rámci

básníkovy tvorby.

Mezi hlavní myšlenky práce patří snaha o poukázání na zdánlivě nedůležité

okolnosti, jejichž vliv a důležitost jsou následně dokázány. Jako takové jsou

označeny i osobnosti, které byly v určité době v Byronově životě a jejich význam

v tomto období je vyzdvižen a vysvětlen. William Beckford, jež je zmíněn jako

jeden z těchto vlivů, představuje také výjimku, jakožto pasivní činitel na rozdíl od

ostatních. Oproti tomu, Shelley je považován za osobu, jež se účastně participovala

na formování Byronovi osobnosti, v období jejich přátelství. Jako příklad, je uveden

překlad Platonova Symposia a k němu přiložená esej na téma Řeckého pojetí lásky a

s tím spojené poezie, což je vnímáno jako prostředek k vyjádření obrany a

pochopení druhého autora.

Poslední část práce se věnuje analýze vybraných básní, za účelem vyobrazení

autorových metod skrývání a utajení homo-erotických podtónů v jeho tvorbě.

K tomu se vztahuje i následné poukázání na paralely mezi básněmi a autorovým

životem a s tím spjatým výkladem možného dešifrování a následně výkladu jeho

tvorby. Báseň s názvem „Pro Thyrzu“ je zde také použita pro zdůraznění

Byronových přetrvávajících pocitů vůči Edlestonovi, dlouho po jejich rozchodu.

Na závěr jsou tyto vlivy zváženy spolu s vlivem Byronovi osobnosti po jeho smrti. Výsledkem čehož je nepřetržitý vliv, který je předáván dál, a který by měl být připsán i těm, jež se zdáli být nedůležitými, ale přispěli k formování osobnosti Byrona.

50