When We Two Parted Flashcards
Written by
Lord Byron
Published in
1816
Written in
1808 - published late to conceal women’s identity
Byron personality
well known for scandalous affairs
About
Possibly Lady Frances Webster who later dated Duke of Wellington
Stanzas
Four octaves
Significance of stanzas
No change in size or grief
Rhyme scheme
ABAB - regular, no change in grief
Interesting rhymes
Rhymes ‘thee’ four times - still preoccupied - words before ‘thee’ like ‘rue’ and ‘knew’ rhyme highlighting his lack of control
Regular rhythm significance
Puts emphasis on words like ‘chill’ and ‘cold’ - highlights pain
Structure
Moves from past to present to future
Example of link between time periods
‘That hour foretold sorrow to this’ - enjambment emphasises link - conveys ongoing sorrow
Repetition
‘Long, long’ - duration of regret emphasised
Extent of grief quote
‘Sunk’
Death imagery
Relationship ending compared to death - highlights trauma
Imagery in stanza 1
‘Sever’, ‘pale’, ‘cold’ - all negative and relate to death - conveys pain
Metaphor of death
‘Knell’ - her name is like a death knell
‘Grieve’
Mourns - highlights true extent of pain
Negative senses significance
Used instead of typical pleasing senses of love poems
Negative senses imagery examples
‘Cold’, ‘chill’, ‘pale’ - emphasises the coldness
Consonance
‘Cheek and cold, colder thy kiss’ - repetition of harsh ‘k’ sound
‘Grew’
Growth - highlights death instead of usual usage as life in nature
Silence theme
‘Silence’ repeated to highlight secrecy and her lack of respect
‘Silence’ contrasts…
Voices in stanza 2/3 - ‘they name thee’ - highlights difficulty staying quiet
Special bond
‘We two’ - contrasts ‘they’ - their bond is special compared to others
Sibilance
‘Share in its shame’ - emphasises silence
Extent of pain
‘Too deeply to tell’ - must be secret, though pain is so heavy he cannot express it
Cyclic structure
‘Silence and tears’ - repeated at beginning and end - unable to move on after so many years
‘Half broken-hearted’
Only he is upset/she was half interested
Rhetorical question
‘Why wert thou so dear?’ - emphasises his deep emotion
Enjambment + comparative
‘Cold/Colder’ - emphasises heartlessness
Accusatory language
‘Forget’, ‘deceive’ - he is not only grieving but also blaming
extended metaphor of time
‘Hours’, ‘years’, ‘long’ - constantly highlighting duration of pain
