Science Fair Project Encyclopedia George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron
Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (January 22, 1788 –
April 19, 1824), commonly known as Lord Byron, was the most
widely read English language poet of his day. His best-known
works are the narrative poems Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don
Juan. The latter remained incomplete on his death. Byron's fame
rests not only on his writings, but also on his life, which
featured extravagant living, debts, separation, allegations of
incest and his eventual death from fever after he travelled to
fight on the Greek side in the Greek War of Independence. Lord
Byron wrote prolifically. In 1833 his publisher, John Murray,
released the complete works in 17 octavo volumes, including a
life by Thomas Moore. His magnum opus, Don Juan, a poem spanning
17 cantos, arguably ranks as the most important poem published
in England since Milton's Paradise Lost. Don Juan, Byron's
masterpiece, often called the epic of its time, has roots deep
in literary tradition a