George Gordon, Lord Byron - Apostrophe to his Daughter

It was rumored that Lord Byron fathered a child with his half sister Augusta. It plays to light with his writings from the Apostrophe to His Daughter. Despite the wrongness of the nature, one might feel the intense emotions that he felt about not being able to share the life of his daughter. "I see the not, - I hear the not, -- but none can be so wrapt in thee; thou art the friend to whom the shadows of far years extend:" (pg 361, lines 1069 - 1071). He is saying that, although he isn't with her, he couldn't love her more. He felt as if they weren't going to spend any future time together.

To aid thy mind's development, - to watch
Thy dawn of little joys, - to sit and see
Almost thy very growth, - to view the catch
Knowledge of objects, - wonders yet to thee!
And print on the soft cheek a parent's kiss, -
This, it should seem, was not reserved for me;
Yet this was in my nature - as it is,
I know not what is there, yet something like to this.
(pg 362, lines 1076 - 1084)

I think that the extracted lines from above tells the story of what he knows he will miss out on as a parent. He will not be able to watch her grow up and learn the ways of the world and nurture her as a father. Byron feels as if he is perfectly capable of being a good father but it will never come to be. He further expresses that if he could undo what was done in vain and make things right, he knows that she would accept him as her father. She was conceived in love, despite the sinful nature of the act. He could only imagine what could have been.

I would take away from the poem that he was reaching out and trying to apologize. Byron didn't want his actions to die with him. I think that he written it for his daughter to see how much pain he was in and that he did regret that things were the way it was. He didn't want to take this agony to his grave. Maybe he was hoping that she would forgive him and that they could somehow gain a more personal relationship. Who knows?