Lord Byron is without a doubt one of the most famous English poets of all time but apart from his incredible poetry he was also known for being a man full of adventure, who was proud, eccentric, cynical and loved women and men a bit too much for his own good…

As it was customary for English noble man during the 19^th and 18^th century, Lord Byron embarked on the ‘Grand Tour’, where English men used to travel all across Europe. As war was going on in continental Europe, he opted for the Mediterranean route.   

He obviously stopped over in Malta during this long tour and had quite a lot to say about our tiny island in his poem 'Farewell To Malta', written in 1811.

Lord Byron was travelling from Constantinople to Malta, when he was forced to quarantine at Lazzaretto on Manoel Island. It is here where the poem was contrived.

Nonetheless, he had already stopped to Malta on his way to Greece and Turkey in 1809 where he stayed in Valletta. Therefore, while in quarantine on Manoel island he was already quite familiar with the country.

During those 18 days of quarantine, Lord Byron was extremely frustrated which is why he wrote quite the cynical poem about the islands.

The poem starts off with the following verses, “Adieu, ye joys of La Valette/Adieu, sirocco, sun, and sweat!”. As one can see, he definitely was not a fan of the heat!

“Adieu, thou damned’st quarantine/ That gave me fever, and the spleen!”, he continued. While in quarantine he developed quite the fever, causing his spleen to start swelling, which definitely could not have been a pleasant experience.

Lord Byron did not really get on well with the British army stationed in Malta and he could not write this poem without a snide comment or two towards them

“Adieu, red coats, and redder faces!/ Adieu, the supercilious air/ Of all that strut ‘en militaire’!”

He was also not a big fan of Valletta and its stairs. “Adieu, ye cursed streets of stairs!/ (How surely he who mounts you swears!)”.

But when he originally visited in 1809 and could actually explore Malta outside the limits of quarantine, he visited many of Malta’s historical landmarks and attended many theatre productions at Teatru Manoel.

While in Malta, he made Constance Spencer Smith his official “companion”. She was married to the former British Minister to Stuttgart. He even declared his affection towards her in the poem ‘To Florence’ and called her the “New Calypso” in ‘Second Canto of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’.

Captain Carey passed quite an unfavourable remark to Lord Byron about his relationship with her which almost resulted in a full-blown duel in Floriana. Thankfully it never happened as the Captain apologised right on time.

What a character!