AQA GCSE English Literature Love & Relationships Poetry Anthology
When We Two Parted Lord Byron
Context
- Byron was a leading Romantic poet in the romantic era, the poem was written in 1816
- this poem is thought to be based upon one of the many scandalous relationships Byron was
involved in during his lifetime, he had numerous love affairs with both men and women
- he was notorious and labelled as mad, bad and dangerous to know’
- he travelled excessively, self-exiled for being too outspoken of his views
- the poem was inspired by and written about Lady Fraces Webster
- as she was involved in an affair with the Duke of Wellington
- Byron is said to have written out of jealousy for his friend, Lady Webster’s partner
- claimed that Byron falsely stated the poem was written in 1808 to protect her reputation
Title: When We Two Parted
- refers to the painful moment the relationship ended, speaking directly to the woman
- this can be seen as a way for the poet to confess his reactions & responses to that day
Stanza 1
- ‘silence’ suggests many unspoken feelings, either because this is not a mutual parting
- or because there is a forbidden, secret aspect to the relationship
- this is further indicated by the poet being ‘half-broken hearted’
- that he will be scarred by the experience for years - ‘sever’
- the woman is described as becoming ‘cold’ and emotionless
- all the warmth they may have shared is now dead
Stanza 2
- pathetic fallacy used to further explore the cold atmosphere ‘dew of the morning’
- the woman’s reputation is now ‘light’, possibly as the result of another or even this scandal
- the poet, due to his secret involvement with the woman ‘shares in the shame’
- the unnamed people of the society of the time are gossiping and criticising the woman
Stanza 3
- the pressure of public opinion and reputation continues
- the rhetorical question suggests that the poet is emotionally traumatized by the affair
- even though he has escaped with his anonymity intact
Stanza 4
- the tone begins to turn to anger and bitterness
- as the poet acknowledges he is left with deep emotional wounds ‘long shall I rue thee’
Stanza 5
- the poet confesses the secret nature of the relationship
- the tone change continues as the poet feels he has been deceived and forgotten by her
- the poem returns to the beginning, in silence and in tears
- as he has been unable to move forward since the parting
- and does not see himself being able to move on in the future
,Themes
- about the painful end of a relationship, with suggestions it was a secret & forbidden love
- told from the viewpoint of the poet who is struck by grief in a bitter and melancholic tone
- focuses on the sadness of the end of the relationship, loss of a chance of love
- rather than the joy of being in love, a disappointed love, sense of bitterness
- beneath the sorrow & mild bitterness, the speaker expresses the woman of his affections
- it is clear there was (or still is) an enduring love between the two from one way
- there is also the theme of secrecy with this forbidden love between the two
- the feelings of grief and regret, death, pain and loss lighting a sense of anger within him
- how the speaker feels as if a part of him is dead from the death of their affair
Literary techniques with effect and reader
Alliteration
- ‘Pale grew thy cheek and cold, colder thy kiss’ (fricative alliteration)
1. The harsh sounds places emphasis on the hurt turning into anger from her betrayal
- ‘I hear thy name spoken, and share in its shame’ (assonance, sibilance)
2. The hissing sounds creates the effect of whispering, highlights their scandalous acts
3. The hissing sounds also brings out the feeling of judgement and animosity
- ‘Long, long shall I rue thee, too deeply to tell’ (plosive alliteration, repetition)
1. The liquid-like sounds presents the idea that Byron is wallowing in his sadness, tears
- replicating particular sounds and patterns emphasises on the ideas and feelings presented
- this makes the reader sympathises him, subconsciously believing his side of the story
Rhetorical Question
- ‘Why wert thou so dear?’
2. This presents a strong sense of regret and melancholy as Byron reminisces his loss
- ‘How should I greet thee?– with silence and tears’ (Hypophora)
3. This reinforces the idea of unrequited love as the poet knows that she will not reply
4. This also creates a feeling of hopelessness as Byron’s dejection shines through
- this creates a dramatic effect and dives deeper into the swirls of pain and sorrow
Pathetic Fallacy
- ‘colder thy kiss’
1. The cold signifies death of the relationship and the feeling of emptiness he now feels
- ‘The dew of the morning sunk chill on my brow’
2. As if nature opposes their relationship together, everything is against them together
- the personified climatic features is as if the whole world revolves around the speaker
- even the weather changes to mirror his feelings of grief and bitterness
- directs the reader’s attention strictly to his feelings, creating more vivid imaginations
- places emphasis on the loss of the warmth and love between the couple
Rhyme
- the rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD
- ‘parted’, ‘hearted’ , ‘morning’, ‘warning’ , ‘ear’, ‘dear’, ‘grieve’, ‘deceive’
- there is always an obstacle between each couplet so they cannot reach each other
- suggests a one-sided love where the other does not even acknowledge the poet
- creates an echo effect which is easily imprinted in the readers’ minds
, Cyclical Structure
- ‘… In silence and tears,’ , ‘… With silence and tears.’
- this creates a never-ending cycle of pain and sadness, also highlights the sense of secrecy
- this can be interpreted as the couples’ own secret between themselves, a hidden aspect of
themselves that they have only showed to one another
- or that their whole relationship is revolved around secrecy, keeping secrets from each
other which then resulted in the downfall of their relationship
- the use of pathos elicits the feeling of pity and desolation for the poet
Semantic Field
- the poem is riddled with references to death and loss
- ‘silence’ , ‘tears’ , ‘broken’ , ‘pale’ , ‘cold’ , ‘colder’ , ‘hour’ , ‘sorrow’ , ‘light’ , ‘knell’
- a semantic field of death and despair, highlights the death of their relationship
- it is as if the woman he loves is dead and he can only see an empty shell of her
- it can also be seen that the woman has finally revealed her true self after betraying him
- he finally realised that the woman he fell in love with is never alive, she was a façade
- the death of this relationship is also the death of his happiness, emotions and his future
- his only focus is to mourn the loss of his love and he has no ability to move on from it
- this manipulates the reader’s emotions, evoking empathy for the poet
Foreshadow
- the poem used sophisticated language to foreshadow the inevitable end of the relationship
- part of his bitterness comes from the signs around him, telling him his love is doomed
- ‘cold’, ‘the hour foretold’, ‘warning’, ‘knell’, ‘deceive’
- he was too consumed by his love for her that he ignored the signs
- there is a sense of anger that he gave so much love and yet was ultimately rejected
Antithesis
- the poet’s relationship of silence and secrecy juxtaposes to the knowledge and logic
‘They know not I knew thee’
- there is a clear contrast between the knowledge the poet holds and others have
- in the same way there is a sharp contrast between the silence of the couple and the
gossiping voices of others
-’They name thee before me’
Structure and form
- this is a piece of monologue, hints on the underlying sense that this is not the full picture
- the poem follows a regular, highly controlled rhythm and alternate rhyme scheme
- stanzas are separated into distinct ideas, the poem has four stanzas of eight lines each
- this signifies a sense of deep reflection, as if Byron has considered it very carefully
- the poem moves between time frames but the repetition of silence and tears at both the
beginning and the end creates a circular structure, illustrating a sense of timeless lament
- this conveys that he is unable to move forward and is stuck in his despair
- the poem could be read as dactylic diameter, but the lines vary in both length and syllables
- making the poem awkward and uncomfortable, effectively representing the subject matter
