While Byron is a Regency hero, other great works of literature were available for the upper class to read such as that of Donne, Burns, and Blake. Poetry was a respectable profession, and long poems such as Prisoner of Chillon, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and The Lady of the Lake were popular. Writing novels as a profession was looked down upon, but they were immensely favored by the ladies of the Ton and secretly coveted by the beaus.
Popular Novels of the time: (S=Summary; W=Whole Text)
By Ann Radcliffe
The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) S W
The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne (1789) S W
The Romance of the Forest (1791) S W
By Henry Fielding
The History of Tom Jones, a foundling (1749) S W
Sense and Sensibility (1811) S W
Pride and Prejudice (1813) S W
Mansfield Park (1814) S W
Emma (1815) S W
Northanger Abbey (1817) S W
Persuasion by Jane Austen (1817) S W
By Sir Walter Scott
Waverly (1814) S W
Ivanhoe (1819) S W
Wonderful poets and authors were available to the Regency reader, that is, if they could get their hands on a book.
John Blunt - Bar the Door
John Blunt -Bar the Door II
In the Throes of Love
Critique of Northanger Abbey
Poets from 1700 to 1799
Poems of John Donne
The Flea
Love Infiniteness
Secret Notes on Lord Byron
Lovers' Vows by Elizabeth Inchbald
Summary of Lovers' Vows