I : I - III Childe Harold Who?

In the opening stanza, Byron presented himself as a narrator character in the tale of Childe Harold, humbling himself as a bard (the literal meaning of the minstrel), playing a lyre which cannot serve as a sufficient praise to the Muse. Greece in the poet's words, is a sacred birthplace of arts.

All the gods mentioned in this first stanza has something to do with art, especially poetry and music, as Apollo practically designed the first lyre, and or course, the Nine. The name Delphi is linked to the the favourite oracle of Pythia, you know, the story where Apollo slain the dragon of Python and took over Gaia's shrine.

"Later lyre" in the third line: later here, means the infinite moments in the future. The songs of Muse, formed originally in Hellas, will be played by the humble wandering poet now, and forever more.

Once upon a time in the Great Britain lived a young fella who spent his days and nights doing nothing of much worth and have all the bad habits you can possibly think of. This is the main idea of the stanza. In just a few lines we see the nature of Childe Harold: the protagonist of our story is shamed with flaws...I mean, at this point, wouldn't YOU want to know how the things will turn out?

Albion is the oldest known name of the island of Great Britain. This sets the context of the story and origin of our hero's journey.

Wight: the poet used this word probably just to rhyme. It means living creature in medieval English.

Ear of Night: that's a personification used quite often in poetry. Into the ear of Night implies that the mirth of Harold continues into deepest nights that the night can HEAR the sound of it. In William Blake's Mad Song, similar examples can be seen: the eyes of Day can weep, the ears of Night can hear.

The poet now states that Childe Harold comes from a family of good name and heritage. Though he becomes the loser who ruins everything his ancestor built. The bard, as the poet calls himself, is in no position, nor is he able to sanctify Harold's deeds. We see a young man living off his elders' riches, and now condemned as the bad seed of the family. Of course he'll have to exile himself and rediscover his true path!

It seems that such an unlikely hero is a common play in modern literature, but think about it, this is the first time ever in literary world that a protagonist gets introduced as having done so many "bad things". At this point, the readers must have been hooked. Toss in here and there meticulously constructed words and elegant lines: Harold is now fleshed out on the paper. Now we are almost ready for the departure.