On January 22, just a few days after he landed in Missolonghi, Byron came from his bedroom into the public area to announce the composition of a poem to celebrate his birthday. It was called “On this Day I Complete my Thirty-Sixth Year” and according to Byron’s own words, it was better than what he usually wrote. The famous final stanza (Seek out—less often sought than found— / A Soldier's Grave, for thee the best; / Then look around, and choose thy Ground, / And take thy rest.) may be a reflection on his concerns about the effects of time on his own beauty; he was going bald, he had gained weight, and his teeth were decaying. Better to seek a glorious death than fade away in old age.