Darkness " is a poem written by Lord Byron in July 1816 . That year was known as the Year Without a Summer , because Mount Tambora had erupted in the Dutch East Indies the previous year , casting enough sulphur into the atmosphere to reduce global temperatures and cause abnormal weather across much of north-east America and northern Europe . This pall of darkness inspired Byron to write his poem . Literary critics were initially content to classify it as a " last man " poem , telling the apocalyptic story of the last man on earth . More recent critics have focused on the poem 's historical context , as well as the anti-biblical nature of the poem , despite its many references to the Bible . The poem was written only months after the end of Byron 's marriage to Anne Isabella Milbanke
Year Without a Summer
Year Without a Summer
Darkness (poem)