Lord Byron Childe Harold's Pilgrimage


In this episode of In Our Time, Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Byron's poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. This long narrative poem, published in four parts between 1812 and 1818, tells the story of an aristocrat on a grand tour of Europe.

The central character, Childe Harold, is the first Byronic hero, a flawed yet charismatic young man modeled on Byron himself. The poem not only serves as a self-portrait of Byron as a young man but also provides a fascinating snapshot of early nineteenth-century Europe, a continent marked by revolution and war.

Join Jonathan Bate, Jane Stabler, and Emily Bernhard Jackson as they explore the political and intellectual concerns reflected in Byron's work.


This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.