When We Two Parted
By Lord Byron
When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted,
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this!
The dew of the morning
Sunk chill on my brow
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame:
I hear thy name spoken
And share in its shame.
They name thee before me,
A knell to mine ear;
A shudder comes o'er me--
Why wert thou so dear?
They know not I knew thee,
Who knew thee too well:
Long, long shall I rue thee
Too deeply to tell.
In secret we met
In silence I grieve
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee?
With silence and tears.
When We Two Parted was published in 1813, in the Poetical Works of Byron.It is one of the best and most poignant of all ‘break up’ or ‘missing you’ love poetry.
Stanza 1
The first stanza sets up the parting of the two lovers. They parted in silence and tears. They felt very sad that they didn’t even exchange a single word to each other. Silence spoke volumes on the grief they shared. They were Half broken-hearted when they decided to part. Upon parting, the speaker’s beloved became physically cold and pale. When they kissed for the last time he felt her cheek cold. Her kiss was as cold as her cheek, a change fore shadowing later sorrow which the poet feels at present.
Stanza 2
The poet felt the chill of the morning dew on his brow. In a way, it was like a warning to him that their love also will grow cold and come to a sad end. The poet says that his beloved had broken all her promises. She had lost her fame and become a subject of gossip. He too heard those gossips and felt guilty and shame because he knew that he was also responsible for it.
Stanza3
People talk badly about her in his presence. He feels their words like a church bell tolling a funeral. He shudders to think of the tragic end of their relationship. He wonders why he loved her so dearly. Those who spread stories about her do not know that the poet loved her deeply. The poet regrets of his past actions. He can’t really express how he feels about it now.
Stanza 4
They met in secret. Now he grieves over it in silence. He wonders how she can forget everything so soon and throw away his love and trust. He even wonders how he should greet his beloved if he happens to meet her after many years. He concludes by saying may be ‘with silence and tears’.
Theme
1. Love
2. Betrayal
3. Grief and pain
4. Silence
5. Shame
1.How does the structure of the poem reflect the subject treated?
The poem tells about the parting of two lovers. The lover feels very sad that his beloved had left him by denying his love and trust. The poem consists of four stanza each with 8 lines with the rhyme scheme abab cdcd. The structure of the poem is in keeping with this subject matter.
2.What is the tone of the poem? Is the poet divided between love and hate for the lady who has betrayed him?
The tone of the poem is melancholic. The poet’s love is so deep and sincere that he felt extremely sad at the time of parting. At the same time, he blames his beloved for betraying his trust. Yes, the poem is divided between love and hate for the lady who has betrayed him.
3.What evidence do you find in the poem to support the idea that the relationship the poet had with the lady was platonic?Platonic love means an emotional and spiritual relationship between two lovers that does not involve sexual desire. We can find no evidence in the poem to support the idea that the relationship between the poet and his beloved was platonic.
4.Find out the different meanings that “half broken hearted”conveys. Does it, in anyway, tell you that the lady had no regrets?
The poet says that he and his beloved were half broken-hearted at the time of parting. ‘Broken-hearted’ means stricken with grief and sorrow. Here the lovers are only ‘half broken-hearted’ but also their grief is not uncontrollable. We can’t say that the lady had no regrets for she too felt sad at the time of parting.
5.How will the poet greet her if he happens to meet her after long years? Again “in silence and tears”?
The poet wonders how he should greet his beloved if he happens to meet her after long years. The poet himself is doubtful about it. May be he will greet her in silence and tears as he did at the time of their parting.
6.Do you think a detailed biography of Byron is necessary for a better understanding of the poem?
A detailed biography of Byron will help us to get a better understanding of the poem because the poem contains some personal elements of the poet.
Paragraph question
1. What do you feel about the poet’s love to his beloved?
The poet’s love to his beloved is deep and sincere. That is why he felt very disappointed at the time of their parting. The poet says that his beloved had broken all her promises. His beloved had lost her fame and became a subject of gossip. The poet too felt very guilty because he knew very well that he was also responsible for it . people talked badly about his beloved in his presence and he felt their words like a church bell tolling a funeral. Only a man who loved his beloved sincerely could have such a feeling. He says that those who spread stories about her do not know how deeply he loved her. He even wonders how she can so soon forget everything and throw away his trust and love. He still longs to meet his beloved and wonders how greet her if he happens to meet her after many years.
Essay
1. Write a critical appreciation of the poem The poem When We Two Parted
When We Two Parted is written by the famous romantic poet Lord Byron and it is taken from the Poetical Works of Byron ‘missing you’ love poetry. It is one of the best of all ‘break up’ or missing you love poetry.
The first stanza sets up the parting of the two lovers. They parted in silence and tears . They felt very sad at the time of parting and they didn’t tell anything to each other. Silence spoke volumes on the grief they shared. They were half broken hearted. Upon parting, the poet's beloved felt physically cold and pale when she kissed him last time.
The second stanza continues the sense of foreboding as he felt the chill of the morning dew on his brow. It was like a warning to him that their love also will grow cold and come to a sad end. The poet laments that his beloved had broken all her promises. She had lost her fame and thus became a subject of gossip. The poet too heard those gossips and felt guilty and ashamed because he knew that he was also responsible for it.
The poet loved her sincerely and deeply , but people talked badly about his beloved in his presence. He feels their words like a church bell tolling a funeral. He shudders to think of the tragic end of their relationship. He wonders why she was so dear to him. The people who spread stories about her do not know how deeply he loved her. The poet regrets of words fail him to express his true feelings.
The last stanza gives an expression to the poet’s grief. They met in secret and now he grieves over it in silence. He wonders how she can forget everything so soon and give up his trust and love. He also expresses his wish to see his beloved and even wonders how greet her if he happens to meet her after many years. May be he should greet again her with silence and tears as he did it at the time of parting.
2.Analysis of the poem When We Two Parted :
When We Two Parted is written in rhyming format, typical of much of Byron’s work . His choice of words throughout are evocative of sadness — the “silence and tears” imagery, as well as making more of the paleness and coldness of the lover’s face. The idea that the parting of the two left the narrator “half broken-hearted” is another deeply saddening idea, followed by the point that the fullness of separation is a severance that takes and lasts for years.
In the second half of the verse, an element of fate is entwined within the poem; the narrator remembers a time when the two kissed, and the kiss was cold, devoid of emotion, and realizes that the parting of the two was always inevitable; that the moment the warmth left the relationship, the separation and sorrow had been foretold.
The second verse carries on much like the first, maintaining the sobriety of the poem, and continuing the theme of looking back and thinking about the many warning signs throughout the relationship that suggested the parting was doomed to happen one way or the other. Saying “the vows are all broken” could be a reference to the promises a typical couple makes to each other, or it could be a more literal vow, a saddening realization that a marriage has ended. The second half of the verse further suggests that some kind of infidelity may have been the final break in the relationship; suggesting that there is a shame in the name of the other person, as well as the idea of breaking a marital vow could be a reference to a scandal that involved an affair.
The narrator finds himself discussing the apparently publicized figure they’ve recently split up with. The narrator finds himself worried when he hear his lover’s name , referencing the solemn toll of a funeral bell. The line “why wert you so dear?” is a powerful one; despite the scandal and the evident betrayal, the narrator still shudders to hear the name of their lover, and realizes that their pain is going to last for a very long time, and such pain is inexplicably deep; they won’t be able to talk about it, nor will they be able to move on.
The words of this verse largely speak for themselves, carrying the sorrowful theme of the poem to its close by repeating the earlier theme of silence and tears. We learn that the lovers met in secret and so the narrator must grieve alone, feeling as though they have been forgotten and betrayed by their former lover. They realize that if they were to meet their lover again, there would be nothing to say, and nothing to do except to cry, and that would be all there could ever again be.
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