Athlete and hard worker

Chateaubriand wrote that it was a shame that Byron squandered his Venetian period indulging in the good life instead of writing. He was wrong. He lacked information. McCarthy's biography confirms that the poet, in addition to advancing his work, spent many afternoons studying the Armenian language on the island of Saint Lazarus and helping his spiritual tutor, Father Paschal, write a grammar of Armenian in English. He combined these afternoons of study with swimming, at which he was an adept practitioner.