{"id":604,"date":"2021-06-15T19:33:31","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T19:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/?page_id=604"},"modified":"2025-02-28T03:01:45","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T03:01:45","slug":"darkness","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/","title":{"rendered":"<em> Darkness <\/em> (1816) by George Gordon Byron"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">During the dark, wet and unpleasant summer of 1816 in Europe, George Gordon Byron, also known as Lord Byron, penned the poem <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Darkness. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That summer Lord Byron spent time near Lake Geneva, Switzerland with Mary Shelley and John William Polidori who wrote <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/frankenstein-and-the-vampyre\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Frankenstein <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Vampyre<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, respectively.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Darkness <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">is post-apocalyptic, depicting many dire and terrible circumstances.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Earth is described as \u201cicy.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">People lose their motivation and become miserable, or as Byron writes \u201cmen forgot their passions in the dread \/ of this their desolation.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">People set fire to forests for light and warmth.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The population dwindles as famine sets in and people go to war.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Entire civilizations collapse.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How is this related to climate?<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nicknamed \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-year-without-a-summer-project\/\">The Year Without a Summer<\/a>,\u201d the year of 1816 was extremely cold, wet and miserable. Europe experienced heavy rain and parts of the US were covered in snow during summer months. This cold, wet climate was caused by several factors:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 1815, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-eruption-of-mount-tambora-1815-1818\/\">Mount Tambora<\/a> (pictured below), a volcano in Indonesia, erupted in the largest volcanic explosion in recorded history. Sulfur dioxide and volcanic ash were thrown into the air, blocking out the sun and causing a volcanic winter. Average global temperatures dropped by 3\u00b0C. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_605\" style=\"width: 1855px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-605\" class=\"size-full wp-image-605\" src=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Mount-Tambora.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1845\" height=\"1233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Mount-Tambora.png 1845w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Mount-Tambora-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Mount-Tambora-1024x684.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Mount-Tambora-768x513.png 768w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Mount-Tambora-1536x1026.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Mount-Tambora-624x417.png 624w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Mount-Tambora-272x182.png 272w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1845px) 100vw, 1845px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-605\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aerial photograph of Mount Tambora in Indonesia (from Pangburn, 2014).<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-effects-of-the-little-ice-age\/\">Little Ice Age<\/a>, a period of widespread cooling and a drop in average global temperatures, was just coming to a close.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lord Byron writes of a world that has been destroyed by a change in climate. Although modern climate change will hopefully not result in the horror that Lord Byron describes, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Darkness <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">does shed light on what may happen if nothing is done to mitigate it. After all, there has already been an increase in wildfires, famine and unrest due to climate changes. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><em>Darkness\u00a0<\/em>by George Gordon Byron<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I had a dream, which was not all a dream.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The bright sun was extinguish&#8217;d, and the stars<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did wander darkling in the eternal space,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Morn came and went\u2014and came, and brought no day,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And men forgot their passions in the dread<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Of this their desolation; and all hearts<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Were chill&#8217;d into a selfish prayer for light:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And they did live by watchfires\u2014and the thrones,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The palaces of crowned kings\u2014the huts,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The habitations of all things which dwell,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Were burnt for beacons; cities were consum&#8217;d,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And men were gather&#8217;d round their blazing homes<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">To look once more into each other&#8217;s face;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Happy were those who dwelt within the eye<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Of the volcanos, and their mountain-torch:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A fearful hope was all the world contain&#8217;d;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Forests were set on fire\u2014but hour by hour<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">They fell and faded\u2014and the crackling trunks<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Extinguish&#8217;d with a crash\u2014and all was black.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The brows of men by the despairing light<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wore an unearthly aspect, as by fits<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The flashes fell upon them; some lay down<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And hid their eyes and wept; and some did rest<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their chins upon their clenched hands, and smil&#8217;d;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And others hurried to and fro, and fed<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their funeral piles with fuel, and look&#8217;d up<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With mad disquietude on the dull sky,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The pall of a past world; and then again<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With curses cast them down upon the dust,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And gnash&#8217;d their teeth and howl&#8217;d: the wild birds shriek&#8217;d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And, terrified, did flutter on the ground,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And flap their useless wings; the wildest brutes<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Came tame and tremulous; and vipers crawl&#8217;d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And twin&#8217;d themselves among the multitude,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hissing, but stingless\u2014they were slain for food.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And War, which for a moment was no more,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did glut himself again: a meal was bought<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With blood, and each sate sullenly apart<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gorging himself in gloom: no love was left;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">All earth was but one thought\u2014and that was death<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Immediate and inglorious; and the pang<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Of famine fed upon all entrails\u2014men<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The meagre by the meagre were devour&#8217;d,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even dogs assail&#8217;d their masters, all save one,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And he was faithful to a corse, and kept<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The birds and beasts and famish&#8217;d men at bay,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Till hunger clung them, or the dropping dead<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lur&#8217;d their lank jaws; himself sought out no food,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But with a piteous and perpetual moan,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And a quick desolate cry, licking the hand<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Which answer&#8217;d not with a caress\u2014he died.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The crowd was famish&#8217;d by degrees; but two<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Of an enormous city did survive,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And they were enemies: they met beside<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The dying embers of an altar-place<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Where had been heap&#8217;d a mass of holy things<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For an unholy usage; they rak&#8217;d up,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And shivering scrap&#8217;d with their cold skeleton hands<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The feeble ashes, and their feeble breath<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Blew for a little life, and made a flame<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Which was a mockery; then they lifted up<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their eyes as it grew lighter, and beheld<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Each other&#8217;s aspects\u2014saw, and shriek&#8217;d, and died\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even of their mutual hideousness they died,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Unknowing who he was upon whose brow<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Famine had written Fiend. The world was void,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The populous and the powerful was a lump,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A lump of death\u2014a chaos of hard clay.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The rivers, lakes and ocean all stood still,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And nothing stirr&#8217;d within their silent depths;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ships sailorless lay rotting on the sea,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And their masts fell down piecemeal: as they dropp&#8217;d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">They slept on the abyss without a surge\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The moon, their mistress, had expir&#8217;d before;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The winds were wither&#8217;d in the stagnant air,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the clouds perish&#8217;d; Darkness had no need<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Of aid from them\u2014She was the Universe.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>References and additional resources<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Andrews, E. \u201cWhat Was the \u2018Year Without a Summer\u2019?\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">History. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2015. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.history.com\/news\/what-was-the-year-without-a-summer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">www.history.com\/news\/what-was-the-year-without-a-summer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cDarkness.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Academy of American Poets. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">n.d. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/poets.org\/poem\/darkness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/poets.org\/poem\/darkness<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lanchester, J. \u201cHow the Little Ice Age Changed History.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The New Yorker<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. 2019. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2019\/04\/01\/how-the-little-ice-age-changed-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2019\/04\/01\/how-the-little-ice-age-changed-history<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pangburn, D. J. \u201cLord Byron\u2019s \u2018Darkness\u2019: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale of Climate Change.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vice. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2014. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/8qx8zb\/lord-byrons-darkness-a-post-apocalyptic-tale-of-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/8qx8zb\/lord-byrons-darkness-a-post-apocalyptic-tale-of-climate-change<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. \u201cMount Tambora and the Year Without a Summer.\u201d <i style=\"font-size: 1rem\">UCAR Center for Science Education<\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. n.d.\u00a0 <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 1rem\" href=\"http:\/\/www.scied.ucar.edu\/shortcontent\/mount-tambora-and-year-without-summer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.scied.ucar.edu\/shortcontent\/mount-tambora-and-year-without-summer<\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How to cite this page<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem\"><em>Darkness (1816) by George Gordon Byron<\/em>. (2024, June 10). Climate in Global Cultures and Histories: Promoting Climate Literacy Across Disciplines. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 1rem\" href=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/\">https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the dark, wet and unpleasant summer of 1816 in Europe, George Gordon Byron, also known as Lord Byron, penned the poem Darkness. That summer Lord Byron spent time near [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":308,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-604","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Darkness  (1816) by George Gordon Byron - Climate in Arts and History<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Darkness  (1816) by George Gordon Byron - Climate in Arts and History\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During the dark, wet and unpleasant summer of 1816 in Europe, George Gordon Byron, also known as Lord Byron, penned the poem Darkness. That summer Lord Byron spent time near [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate in Arts and History\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-28T03:01:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Mount-Tambora.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/darkness\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/darkness\\\/\",\"name\":\"Darkness (1816) by George Gordon Byron - Climate in Arts and History\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/darkness\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/darkness\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/97\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/Mount-Tambora.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-15T19:33:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-28T03:01:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/darkness\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/darkness\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/darkness\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/97\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/Mount-Tambora.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/97\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/Mount-Tambora.png\",\"width\":1845,\"height\":1233,\"caption\":\"Aerial photograph of Mount Tambora in Indonesia (from Pangburn, 2014).\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/darkness\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Darkness (1816) by George Gordon Byron\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/\",\"name\":\"Climate in Arts and History\",\"description\":\"Promoting Climate Literacy Across Disciplines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Darkness  (1816) by George Gordon Byron - Climate in Arts and History","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Darkness  (1816) by George Gordon Byron - Climate in Arts and History","og_description":"During the dark, wet and unpleasant summer of 1816 in Europe, George Gordon Byron, also known as Lord Byron, penned the poem Darkness. That summer Lord Byron spent time near [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/","og_site_name":"Climate in Arts and History","article_modified_time":"2025-02-28T03:01:45+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Mount-Tambora.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/","url":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/","name":"Darkness (1816) by George Gordon Byron - Climate in Arts and History","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Mount-Tambora.png","datePublished":"2021-06-15T19:33:31+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-28T03:01:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Mount-Tambora.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Mount-Tambora.png","width":1845,"height":1233,"caption":"Aerial photograph of Mount Tambora in Indonesia (from Pangburn, 2014)."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/darkness\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Darkness (1816) by George Gordon Byron"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/","name":"Climate in Arts and History","description":"Promoting Climate Literacy Across Disciplines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/308"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2906,"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/604\/revisions\/2906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}