Comparing and Contrasting "Darkness" and "The Prisoner Of Chillon" by Lord Byron

Introduction
In this essay I will be discussing the similarities and differences between two poems written by Lord Byron in 1816, “Darkness” and “The Prisoner Of Chillon”.
I expect the poems will be very similar, as Lord Byron was inspired to write both of them on real events. “Darkness” was inspired by three volcanic explosions in different parts of the world in 1814 and 1815, which threw up masses of dust into the upper atmosphere, which made the summer of 1816 one of the darkest and wettest on record. This fact led Byron to imagine what might happen if the sun was blotted out permanently, and he wrote “Darkness”.
Another time he went for a trip around Lake Geneva, Switzerland where he was staying with a close friend to escape London society’s hatred. Whilst on his trip he discovered the Castle of Chillon, in which, between 1526 and 1532, a famous Genevan writer called François Bonnivard had been imprisoned. Byron hated the idea of anyone being impriso...