Siege of Corinth

In this moving poem, Byron recounts the final, desperate resistance of the Venetians on the day the Ottoman army stormed Acrocorinth: revealing the closing scenes of the conflict through the eyes of Lanciotto - a Venetian renegade fighting for the Ottomans - and Francesca - the beautiful maiden daughter of the governor of the Venetian garrison: Minotti. Lanciotto - whose impasioned suit for Francesca's hand had been previously refused by Minotti: had later fled the Venetian empire after being falsely denounced by anonymous accusers via the infamous "Lion's Mouth" at the Doge's palace. Enlisting under the Turkish flag, Lanciotto repudiates both his nationality and his religion: only to be ch…