The Prisoner Of Chillon
In June 1816, Byron sailed to Château de Chillon during a storm on Lake Geneva. He walked into the dungeon where François Bonivard had been chained to a pillar for four years. He looked through iron bars at that specific turquoise water. He carved his name into the stone column.
Then he wrote this poem in two days.
The Prisoner of Chillon is the story of a man stripped of everything — freedom, light, his brothers, and finally even his desire for liberty itself. It is one of the most devastating things Byron ever wrote, and one of the least read by anyone who didn’t study it in a classroom.
This special edition presents the complete poem with an introduction by Gabriel Ashworth — fictional curator of The Secret Library of Villa Diodati, created by novelist Cara Ravelli — who has his own complicated relationship with Chillon, with Byron, and with what it means to be imprisoned by something you chose.
Including photographs taken at Château de Chillon by Cara Ravelli, July 2026.
A Special Edition from The Secret Library of Villa Diodati.
In June 1816, Byron sailed to Château de Chillon during a storm on Lake Geneva. He walked into the dungeon where François Bonivard had been chained to a pillar for four years. He looked through iron bars at that specific turquoise water. He carved his name into the stone column.
Then he wrote this poem in two days.
The Prisoner of Chillon is the story of a man stripped of everything — freedom, light, his brothers, and finally even his desire for liberty itself. It is one of the most devastating things Byron ever wrote, and one of the least read by anyone who didn’t study it in a classroom.
This special edition presents the complete poem with an introduction by Gabriel Ashworth — fictional curator of The Secret Library of Villa Diodati, created by novelist Cara Ravelli — who has his own complicated relationship with Chillon, with Byron, and with what it means to be imprisoned by something you chose.
Including photographs taken at Château de Chillon by Cara Ravelli, July 2026.
A Special Edition from The Secret Library of Villa Diodati.
