Everyone has their own stories, feelings, and secrets. Sometimes we share them with other people. Sometimes we hide them. But those secrets and memories are still with us, and a name, a photo, a face in the crowd can sometimes bring them rushing back.
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.
So, this poem is called "When We Two Parted," and it's by George Gordon, better known as Lord Byron. He was someone who was focused on being free, doing whatever he wanted to do. He lived a very, very exciting, vibrant life. So, he was a rock-star poet basically? Yeah. Mad, bad, and dangerous to know. He very much would write about universal things, things that we could really connect with. A lot of his writing would be about his own life. He'd be like a very, very popular YouTube vlogger, or someone who would be talking at length about everything that's going on in their daily life. At this time, he's a celebrity not just for his writing but for the lifestyle that went with it.
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.
Talk to me a little about who the poem is about. Many think it was written about Lady Frances Webster. It was not unusual for him to get together with married women. Now, he met Lady Webster and he was really into her, but she then got together with Lord Wellington. And Lord Wellington had just kicked Napoleon into touch. Yeah. He was one of the few men who probably was, like, a bigger deal than Byron.
Yeah.
He then writes this whole piece. When he wrote it, he didn't want everybody to know that it was about her. He doesn't feature her name. It also looks as though he lied about when it was published. So, he said he'd published it five years earlier, so people couldn't totally link it with her. Yeah. But it's essentially about this idea of losing the one you want to the bigger guy, basically. Yeah. He talks about it in really final terms - a death knell. Yeah, there's several references to, kind of, death throughout. He mentions things like her being cold. He also mentions her voice sounding like a knell, a word we associate with bells at funerals. And, so, we really get this impression of this end of this relationship being like the mourning of a loved one, the life that could've been, I suppose.
Even the title itself. There's so many references to separation. Also, they're severed at one point. To sever something is particularly painful and particularly violent. And, also, it suggests that maybe it's the wrong thing to do, almost. The thing was part of itself. Yes. To sever is to take away from something that is whole. Byron's always very good at kind of using just one or two words, to really, really suggest this kind of emotional state that he's in.
The poem flirts with different tenses as well.
Yeah.
In many ways the poem is kind of in three parts. We've got the past, the moment when they're breaking up. It then moves into this present situation of this dinner party. And then kind of coming to terms with hearing this news about his partner being with someone else. And then we move in towards the end, into this kind of consideration of the future and what would happen if they were to meet each other again. And the fact that this is going to go on forever. I think Byron's kind of resolved to the idea that this pain is always going to be there.
Yeah.
The kind of circular structure of it as well where he starts with "When we two parted in silence and tears" and he ends with "How should I greet thee?–With silence and tears." They walked away from each other in silence. But at the end it's a lot more bitter. He's had a think about it and he's like, "I want to be proud." "But it's going to hurt." Do you know? "But I'm still here."
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.
We have this idea at the end, from silence and tears that he is hurt but that he is also quite resigned to it.
Resigned or resentful?
I couldn't figure which… I think he's definitely resentful… he knows he's got to just carry on, just keep going. And it's going to keep finding its way back in.
In the end, Byron left London and fled to the Continent, running from fame, scandal, debt and the media, he never came back.
Silence descends at the end of this poem, feelings and the relationship itself remain secret. But Byron's poem helps us to understand that silence. Our past memories and past loves never leave us. And Byron recognised that, better than most!
Hip-Hop star Akala discusses the ideas and emotions in Byron’s poem, ‘When We Two Parted’ with battle rapper Mark Grist.
They discuss Byron’s celebrity-like status, and his feelings of bitterness and sorrow towards his former partner are explored.
Young poets discuss and respond to the language of the poem and its themes and structure.
This clip is from the series Between the Lines: The Romantics.
Teacher Notes
Discuss the poem’s content, ideas, language and structure. What emotions are evoked?
Pupils could look into context, compare alternative interpretations and explore Byron’s world, and the influences behind his poem/poetry.
Curriculum Notes
Romantic poetry is a key requirement on the new English Literature GCSE syllabus being taught from 2015 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
