Lord Byron, one of the most important poets of the Romantic era, influenced literature by not only influencing the poetry of the time, but also changing the views and values ​​of society and how they understood the meaning of love, life and death. Lord Byron and his poems reflect the times and were transformed from his struggles and challenges during his childhood. Each of Lord Byron's poems is linked not only to his life, but also to the Romantic era. Three of his most inspiring poems are “Childe Harold's Pilgrimage,” “Darkness,” and “On This Day I Complete My Thirty-sixth Year.” Lord Byron's life from the beginning was different from most other childhoods. He was born on January 22, 1788 in London. Born with a unique club foot, he moved with his mother to Scotland. This disability caused Lord Byron to view himself as different, which gave him fragile self-esteem, making him susceptible to criticism (Noel). At the age of 10 he was given an estate called Newstead Abbey and decided to go to Trinity College, but this quickly led him into debt. That summer, he fell in love with his distant cousin Mary Chaworth but she grew tired of him. Byron was greatly affected by the breakup and this led him to write melancholy poetry with her as a symbol of an idealized and unattainable love for him (Moore). He quickly became one of the best-known English Romantic poets, becoming friends with other poets, for example Percy Shelley and John Keats. Lord Byron was a satirist and knew how to use poetry and his personality to capture the imagination of Europe (Sherwood). Some of his most famous works include “The Pilgrimage of Childe Harold” (1812-18) and “Don Juan” (1819-24) (Poetry Foundation). After a successful life writing literature, a...... middle of paper ......ion, nd Sunday March 23, 2014Priestman, Martin. Romantic Atheism: Poetry and Free Thought, 1780-1830. Cambridge, England: Cambridge UP, 1999. Questia School. Sun. March 23, 2014.Moore, Thomas and George Gordon Byron. The works of Lord Byron: with his letters, his diaries and his life. Flight. 1. London: John Murray, 1835. Questia School. Internet. April 6, 2014. Noel, Roden. Life of Lord Byron. London: Walter Scott, 1890. Questia School. Sun. March 23, 2014 Rutherford, Andrew. Byron: A Critical Study. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1961. Questia School. Sun. March 23, 2014. Sherwood, Margaret. Undercurrents of Influence in English Romantic Poetry. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1934. Questia School. Sat. March 1, 2014. Tobin, James E. Eighteenth-century English literature and its cultural context: a bibliography. New York: Biblo and Tannen, 1967. Questia School. Sun. March 23 2014.