Lord Byron

A representative poet of the English Romantic period. Praised by Goethe as "the greatest genius of the century," his poetry had an impact throughout Europe.

He was born in London as the son of a notorious Captain of the Guard and a dissolute aristocrat. He lost his father at a young age and was raised in Aberdeen, Scotland by his haughty and moody mother who loved him with abnormal affection. He had an unhappy childhood due to a disability in his right ankle, but at the age of 10 he inherited the title from his great-uncle and moved to Newstead Abbey in Nottingham as the 6th Baron Byron. He went on to Cambridge University from Harrow School, but spent most of his time associating with bad friends and devoting himself to sports and reading. In 1807, he published a collection of short poems called "Lazy Days". He responded to the cold criticism of "The Edinburgh Review" with a satirical poem called "English Poets and Scottish Critics" (1809). After graduating, he sat in the Senate as a hereditary aristocrat, but to distract himself from his idle youth, he traveled with friends to various places in the Mediterranean, including Lisbon, Seville, Malta, Albania, and Athens, from 1809 to 1811. Driven by a strong desire to create in the free and bright scenery of southern Europe, he immediately wrote the long narrative poems Childe Harold's Wanderings, Parts 1 and 2 (1812), based on the information he gathered during his travels, upon returning home. This collection of poems, full of exotic atmosphere, was immediately met with great acclaim, and he wrote in his diary that "I woke up one morning to find myself the greatest poet in the world." Following this success, he published a series of narrative poems, including The Heretics (1813), The Bride of Abydos (1813), The Corsair (1814), Lara (1814), and The Siege of Corinth (1816). These immoral themes, such as incest, combined with the many negative publicity surrounding the private life of the handsome young aristocrat Byron, such as scandals with Caroline Lamb and his half-sister Augusta, and his marriage and subsequent breakup with Annabella (Ann Isabella) Milbanke, finally led to severe public criticism, and he finally left England forever in 1816.

He went to Geneva from the Rhine and became acquainted with the poet Shelley and his wife. After having a daughter with Shelley's sister-in-law, Claire Clairmont, who accompanied him (1817), he traveled to various places in Italy, including Venice, Rome, and Pisa. During this time, while deepening his friendship with Countess Teresa Guiccioli, he published many poetic dramas, including the third and fourth volumes of "Childe Harold's Wanderings" (1816, 1818), "Manfred" (1817), which depicts the suffering of the modern ego, "Beppo" (1818), "Mazeppa" (1819), "Marino Faliero" (1821), "Sardhanapallas" (1821), "Cane" (1821), and "Heaven and Earth" (1823), and from 1818 he continued to write the unfinished long poem "Don Juan" (1819-24). In 1822, with the help of his friend Leigh Hunt, who had come from England, he launched the magazine The Liberal. He was already under surveillance by the authorities for his involvement in the anti-Austrian and anti-papal movements of the Italian Carbonari Party, but in July 1823, he traveled to Greece with comrades including Edward John Trelawny (1792-1881) and joined the Greek independence army against Turkish oppression. He died of malarial fever on April 19 of the following year on the front lines at Missolonghi.

[Kazuo Ueda]

"The Complete Works of Byron," translated by Okamoto Seikei, Kumada Seika, Okamoto Takashi, and others (1995, Japan Library Center)" ▽ "A Journey of Love and Solitude: Byron's Letters and Diaries," translated by Nakano Yoshio and Ogawa Kazuo (Kadokawa Bunko)" ▽ "Byron's Poems," translated by Abe Tomoji (Shincho Bunko)" ▽ "Byron Studies," by Uesugi Fumiyo (1978, Kenkyusha Publishing)" ▽ "Byron, Shelley Memoirs," by E. J. Trilawney, translated by Watanabe Rikuzo (1988, Watanabe Masako)" ▽ "Byron's Early Satire Poems," by Higashinaka Ryodai (1989, Yamaguchi Shoten)" ▽ "Byron, the Eternal Pilgrim Poet," by Kusumoto Sekio (1991, Sanseido)" ▽ "Following in the footsteps of Byron's travels" by Yasuko Mukoyama (2002, Kindai Bungeisha)" ▽ "The Life of Byron" by Andre Maurois, translated by Shunichi Ohno (Kadokawa Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリス・ロマン派の代表的詩人。ゲーテに「今世紀最大の天才」と賞賛された彼の詩の影響は、全ヨーロッパに及んだ。

　悪名高い近衛(このえ)大尉の放蕩(ほうとう)貴族の子としてロンドンに生まれる。幼時に父を失い、スコットランドのアバディーンで、高慢でむら気な母親の異常な愛情のもとに育てられた。右足首に障害もあり、不幸な幼年期を送ったが、10歳で大伯父から爵位を継ぎ、第6代バイロン男爵6th Baron Byronとして、ノッティンガム州の居館ニューステッド・アベイに移る。ハロー校からケンブリッジ大学に進むが、もっぱら悪友と交わり、スポーツや読書にふけった。1807年、小詩集『懶惰(らんだ)の日々』を発表。『エジンバラ評論』誌の冷評に対し、風刺詩『イングランド詩人とスコットランド批評家』（1809）をもって一矢を報いた。卒業後、世襲貴族として上院に議席を占めるが、無為な青春を紛らわすため、1809～11年に、友人とともにリスボン、セビーリャ、マルタ、アルバニア、アテネなど地中海の諸地を旅行。南欧の自由な明るい風光に激しい創作欲を駆られて、帰国後ただちに、旅に取材した長編物語詩『チャイルド・ハロルドの遍歴』第1、2編（1812）を書いた。異国情調にあふれたこの詩集は、たちまち爆発的に迎えられ「一朝目覚めれば天下の詩人」と自ら日記に書く。この成功に引き続き『邪宗徒』（1813）、『アビュドスの花嫁』（1813）、『海賊』（1814）、『ララ』（1814）、『コリントの包囲』（1816）など、次々と物語詩を発表。近親相姦(そうかん)など、これらの背徳的主題は、キャロライン・ラムや異母姉オーガスタとの醜聞、あるいはまたアナベラ（アン・イザベラ）・ミルバンクとの結婚そして破局という、美貌(びぼう)の青年貴族バイロンの私生活をめぐる数々の悪評と相まって、ようやく世間の指弾も厳しく、ついに1816年、永久にイギリスを去った。

　ライン川からジュネーブに赴き、詩人シェリー夫妻と交遊する。そしてシェリーと同行の彼の義妹クレア・クレアモントとの間に一女をもうけた（1817）のち、ベネチア、ローマ、ピサなどイタリアの諸地を転々。この間、グィッチョーリ伯夫人テレーザと交情を深めつつ『チャイルド・ハロルドの遍歴』第3、4編（1816、18）をはじめ、近代的自我の苦悩を描いた『マンフレッド』（1817）以下、『ベッポ』（1818）、『マゼッパ』（1819）、『マリノ・ファリエロ』（1821）、『サーダナパラス』（1821）、『ケイン』（1821）、『天と地』（1823）など、詩劇を精力的に発表したほか、1818年からは未完の長詩『ドン・ジュアン』（1819～24）を書き続けた。22年には、イギリスからきた友人リー・ハントを助けて、『ザ・リベラル』誌を発刊。すでに彼は、イタリアのカルボナリ党の反オーストリア・反教皇運動に関与したため官憲の監視下にあったが、23年7月、トリローニEdward John Trelawny（1792―1881）ら同志とともにギリシアに渡り、トルコの圧制に抗するギリシア独立軍に参加。翌年4月19日、マラリア熱のため、ミソロンギの戦線で客死した。

［上田和夫］

『岡本成蹊・熊田精華・岡本隆他訳『バイロン全集』（1995・日本図書センター）』▽『中野好夫・小川和夫訳『愛と孤独の遍歴――バイロンの手紙と日記』（角川文庫）』▽『阿部知二訳『バイロン詩集』（新潮文庫）』▽『上杉文世著『バイロン研究』（1978・研究社出版）』▽『E・J・トリローニィ著、渡辺陸三訳『バイロン、シェリー追想記』（1988・渡辺まさ子）』▽『東中稜代著『バイロン初期の諷刺詩』（1989・山口書店）』▽『楠本晢夫著『永遠の巡礼詩人バイロン』（1991・三省堂）』▽『向山泰子著『バイロン巡歴の跡を辿りて』（2002・近代文芸社）』▽『アンドレ・モロア著、大野俊一訳『バイロン伝』（角川文庫）』

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