Love through the ages

G
Romantic Period – 1785-1830


eorge Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824)

Byron, like Shelley and Keats, is regarded as one of the Second Generation Romantic Poets. He is known for his brief poems and the narrative poems, ‘Don Juan’ and ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’. Byron is as well known for his private life as he is for his poetry. At the centre of many scandals, including an alleged affair with his half sister, Byron was somewhat of a celebrity in his time.

She Walks in Beauty (1814)

SHE walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies,

And all that's best of dark and bright

Meets in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellow'd to that tender light

Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impair'd the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress

Or softly lightens o'er her face,

Where thoughts serenely sweet express

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

— A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent.

So We’ll Go No More A-Roving (1817)

So late into the night,

Though the heart be still as loving,

And the moon be still as bright.

And the soul wears out the breast,

And the heart must pause to breathe,

And love itself have rest.

And the day returns too soon,

Yet we'll go no more a-roving

By the light of the moon.

Romantic Period – 1785-1830

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

S

Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,

Romantic Period - 1785 - 1830