Jerome McGann discusses the life and writings of British poet Lord Byron (George Gordon), who refused to write for money and characterized his poetry as the lava of the imagination. McGann notes Byron’s attraction to lost causes and cites his Lara: A Tale and Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage as examples of critiques of his society. McGann characterizes the masterpiece Don Juan as a bitter attack on the poetry and ideology of the Romantic poets Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Southey. At [20:28] McGann reads excerpts from Byron’s letters to publishers, one refusing entreaties to make changes to Don Juan, and another describing his amorous relations with Margherita Cogni, the wife of a Venetian baker.
At the time of this interview, McGann was professor of humanities at the California Institute of Technology; he is the author of books and articles about Byron.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
