A disillusioned young man leaves his country behind to journey the world in search of beauty and excitement. Inspired by Byron’s own experiences, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage is a narrative poem that not only defined the Romantic hero in literature, but expressed the feelings of a generation raised in a time of political upheaval and widespread war.

Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812-1818) is a book length poem by British Romantic Lord Byron. Published in cantos, the narrative poem is arranged in four parts, each following the journey of Harold, a character based on Byron himself. Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage established Byron’s reputation as a leading poet of his era, laying the foundation for many of the elements of Romantic poetry—melancholy, sublime and beautiful landscapes, a wandering hero—that would inspire generations of writers, artists, and musicians to come.

Harold, a young and deeply unsatisfied man, wanders across a Europe divided by war. In Spain and Portugal, he observes the horrible aftermath of French occupation. While in Greece, though inspired by its classical architecture and immense beauty, he is overcome with grief by the daily realities of life under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Harold makes his way to Belgium, where he visits the battlefield at Waterloo before departing for Switzerland by way of the Rhine. Toward the end of his pilgrimage, Harold travels from Venice throughout Italy, observing its natural wonders and musing on its storied history. Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage—part fictional narrative, part autobiography—is a moving map of a young man’s mind and a continent’s historical experience. It is both a record of Romanticism’s influence on literature and psychology and a testament to the profound influence of trauma and conflict on the individuals and cultures of nineteenth century Europe.

With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Lord Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage is a classic of English literature and Romanticism reimagined for modern readers.