Newstead Abbey fell out badly. In 1808, Lord Grey left at the end of his lease and Byron returned to live at Newstead and began extensive and expensive renovations. His works were mainly decorative, however, rather than structural, so that rain and damp obscured his changes within just a few years. Byron had a beloved Newfoundland dog named Boatswain, who died of rabies in 1808. Boatswain was buried at Newstead Abbey and has a monument larger than his master's. The inscription, from Byron's poem "Epitaph to a Dog", has become one of his best-known works: Near this Spot Are deposited the Remains
English Romantic sonnets were influenced by all their famous predecessors, when writing sonnets, but the most important single influence was Milton, who had written less than 30 sonnets himself. In the 17th century Milton kept the sonnet form alive while also expanding the subject matter – which hitherto had mainly been love – by writing about ideas, events, history, and contemporary issues. Like Milton, the Romantics wrote relatively few love sonnets and the sonnet of the Romantic era include politics, nature, friendship, art, history, religion, life and death. In fact some of the Romantic poets even wrote sonnets about sonnets. Wordsworth’s "Scorn not