What does it mean to say that poetry is dark How does the presence of darkness give meaning to literary works Such questions sit at the centre of this study of Lord Byron a man who has been characterised as intrinsically dark by generations of scholars. This is the first book to offer a comprehensive survey of Byrons darkness producing new and innovative readings of his poetry by exploring how darkness both literal and figurative helps to structure his works ideological topography and facilitates the exchange of ideas between its different ideological systems. Canvassing a variety of issues relevant to a number of different manifestations of darkness the study explores such diverse topics as the relationship between sublime aesthetics and the gendering of desire the connection between darkness and Byrons Scottish nationalism and the influence of blackness on his engagement with the Orient.