Lord Byron

Lord Byron woke one morning in 1812 and found himself famous, published his way through scandal, separation and exile from England, and died at thirty-six of fever at Missolonghi, where he had gone to fight for Greek independence. Manfred and The Prisoner of Chillon are the Romantic hero at his most brooding; Don Juan, left unfinished at sixteen cantos, is the comic epic in which he found his true voice, digressive, worldly and unillusioned. He was the most famous poet in Europe and the model for a century of heroes who wear their guilt like a cloak.