When We Two Parted Flashcards
Author:
Byron (he)
‘When we two parted’
- DISTANCE
Addresses former lover directly - more personal poem.
Contrasts with ‘they’ in stanza 3 - hints at bond between lovers.
‘We’ and ‘two’ - suggests break-up was a mutual decision.
Past tense - still pains speaker to talk about it.
‘In silence and tears’
- LOSS
Repetition of line 2: ‘Silence’ could mean they had nothing to say to each other anymore, also hints relationship was secret.
‘Half-broken hearted’
- LOSS
Weren’t properly in love?
Narrator deeply affected by parting, perhaps accusing lover of only being ‘half’ in love with him.
Could refer himself as ‘half’ of couple, meaning he’s ‘broken hearted’ but former lover isn’t.
‘Cold’ and ‘pale’
- DISTANCE
- DEATH
Physical description of her cheek hints at sickness.
Also ‘colder’ kiss implies an emotional detachment growing from the very moment of their parting, which Byron finds unbearable.
‘Dew of the morning’
- DISTANCE
Imagery of coldness:
Suggests his own emotional detachment. Also signifying cold sweat from which one might wake after a particularly harrowing nightmare.
He awakens into a world still as desolate as the one he ended the previous night.
‘Light is thy fame’
- DISTANCE
Fame is now “light” -without weight or guilt and easily blown about - his reputation is damaged by something so weak and flimsy because everyone knows about his former lover’s affairs.
‘Knell’
- DEATH
Compares her name ‘knell’ of a heavy bell - like a church bell tolling a funeral.
He shudders when he hears her name, indicating that he cannot shake the power of their relationship.
‘Silence and tears’
- LOSS
Repetition of line 2:
His pain will not diminish, nor his sense of being wronged by her actions, even after many years.
Nonetheless, he will maintain silence forever to prevent further scandal being attached to her name.
Compare with:
Neutral Tones - painful memory of losing lover (death)
Walking Away - comes to terms with a painful memory
