By Jovan Stipić

Good day to you!

Passing by? Staying for drinks? Well why not both. Take the drink and leave.

For those who stayed and read our pretty grim retelling of Byron's behavior towards his wife, let me explain two things. I didn't go into some of the darker things he did as I did not want this to become a tragedy. Not to mention that I imagine you, dear reader, reading this with hot cocoa and a smile on your face. There's no reason to spoil the smile; it's lovely.

On the other hand, many things we mentioned are not written down as facts. So, it may be the case of him being incredibly abusive but with exaggerations from his enemies. And enemies he did have.

To put his horrific behavior towards his wife aside, any man or woman with wit, charm, and beauty will have enemies, and Byron had all three.

Annabella fled with her daughter a month after Ada was born, leaving Byron behind. It was then that rumors of domestic violence started spreading, but it wasn't that which would ruin Byron's social standing.

Seeing that the winds were shifting against her ex-lover, Caroline decided to do something about it. Remember us talking about women and them being scorned? Well, buckle up.

She would begin spreading her own stories of Byron's homosexual and incestual affairs. In no time, these rumors would turn Byron from a darling of English high society to an exile who would be forced to flee the country from fear of death.

During this period of heavy rumors of sodomy (homosexuality was sodomy at the time, and I will refrain from adding a joke here about backwater thinking today, just know that I could have said something about it, but I am playing a more mature role today, so I won't… mostly because I don't want to mention the church as well) against Byron. There was also a large crackdown on known gay bars of the time. Eight men were brought to trial on suspicion of being gay, six were sent to the stocks, and two were hanged.

In such an atmosphere, his friends begged him to leave the country, fearing that he would be lynched in the streets because of how hostile the atmosphere was. With no choice left, Byron ran from England in 1816.

That is not to say that he went like a refugee. Oh no, the man knew how to travel in style. He not only brought his physician, but his monkey and peacock. If he was leaving, he would leave with his head held high.

And that he did. However, on the 25th of April, when he boarded the ship, it would also mark the last time he saw England, for he would spend the remainder of his life in exile. A tragedy that truly marked him for the remainder of his days. Though, it did serve as the best thing that could have happened to him when it came to his poetry.

Let us not forget that the trashing of his first poems by critics catapulted him into stardom. That was his main motivation - proving others wrong. Well, last time, it was only a couple of critics. This time, it was far more personal.

He was shunned by the whole of the society that he had known. Ex-lovers and fake friends alike. Justified or not, this was not a black-and-white situation as we've seen in the previous chapters. A new fire burned inside Byron. Not only that, but he would also make friendships with other authors, which would shape literary history as we know it today.

But… but let us not jump ahead. That is a story for another time. I know, we were just getting to the good part, right? Well, I need you to look forward to something next week, where we will continue our little pilgrimage.

Until then, don’t do something I would.

Adieu.