Don Juan: Canto I

Lord Byron's Don Juan: Canto I subverts centuries of legend with biting wit and rollicking verse. Rather than portraying the infamous seducer as a cunning predator, Byron reimagines Don Juan as an innocent dupe, easily manipulated by the very women he's supposed to charm—a brilliant satirical inversion that upends everything readers think they know about literature's most notorious rake. This epic narrative poem introduces us to the young Juan in Seville at just sixteen, launching into a scandalous affair with an older woman. When her suspicious husband discovers their liaison, Juan must employ all his quick thinking to escape—famously hiding beneath the bed as angry citizens storm the bedroom. Told with comedic flair and social commentary, the episode perfectly captures Byron's irreverent tone: mixing farce with sharp observation about desire, morality, and human folly. Canto I is the opening movement of Byron's masterpiece, an unfinished work that sprawls across 16,000 lines written until the poet's death. Through ingenious wordplay and satirical verse, Byron crafts a meditation on passion, innocence, and the gap between reputation and reality. This foundational canto establishes the themes and humor that made the full poem a revolutionary work of Romantic literature. Perfect for readers seeking witty classical poetry, literary satire, or fresh perspectives on timeless legends, Don Juan: Canto I showcases Byron's genius for combining entertainment with incisive social critique.