When We Two Parted And Sonnet 29

Question 1

When we two parted

The basics

• Narrator remembers the day he parted from his lover , ‘in silence and tears’
• time has passed but he still feels hurt by her affairs with others and people’s gossip
• Narrator thinks he’ll free the pain of this parting . If he met her again he’d feel the same as when they parted

Context
-Poem is 1816 was not a conservative person /liked to explore risk/danger/excitment/claimed that he published the poem later than he did to hide her identity as he was groupie her other man who had higher status than him
Impression of end of relationship-death
-‘serving’-shows parting /violent/unnatural and painful
-ending-bitter
-lyric poem /express his emotions /speaker is heartbroken and can’t get over it
Overall tone :
Is he resigned/resentful?
He’s bitter

Answer 1

What are the basics of when we two parted

What is the context of when we two parted

Question 2

When we two parted  
Key themes:
Loss of love
Memory/time
Death of relationship 
Distance 

Sonnet 29
Distance

Answer 2

What are the key themes of when we two parted

Question 3

When we two parted
Key quotes
Quote 1:’silence and tears’
1. Silence suggests no more talking/relationship was secret(Byron was famous for affairs
2.phrase is repeated in last line-narrator is unable to move on circular structure -still feels pain deeply
3.abstract nouns-shows depth of pain at relationship ending
Quote 2: ‘colder thy kiss’
1.harsh consonance of ‘k’ sounds emphasises coldness of their relationship

2.narrator makes lover sound like a corpse -as If she’s dead/dying , like relationship +feelings
3.reflected in cold dew in next stanza-pathetic fallacy to highlight extent of pain
4.cold moment foreshadows future sadness we should experience
Quote 3:’A knell to mine ear’
1.’knell’-bell rung when there’s a death
2.Metaphor for death of their relationship
3.morbid tone/lexical field of death throughout poem

Answer 3

What are the key quotes of when we two parted

What does the quote ‘silence and tears’ show

What does the quotes ‘colder thy kiss’show

What does the quote ‘a knell to mine ear’ show

Question 4

When we two parted
Structure
-shifts between past-present -future
Throughout poem .mirrors narrators inability to move on .like narrators , it really doesn’t move on
-last line -repetition of 1st cyclical structure reflects his constant pain/lacks ability to move on

Answer 4

What is the structure of when we two parted?

Question 5

Sonnet 29
The basics
-Asonnet in which narrator addresses her lover when they are apart; her thoughts change what he’s really like
-she wants to be with him , not just think about him . The reality of his presence is much more powerful than her thoughts
Context:
Barrett browning wrote a poem for her husband to be part of series of sonnets (Robert Browning)
She lived on a quiet/very shut up existence before she met him: reflected in poems. Theme of lover thinking vs reality

Answer 5

What are the basics of sonnet 29

What is the context of sonnet 29
What is the overall tone?

Question 6

Sonnet 29
Key quotes:
Quote 1:’I think of thee!’
1.direct address of ‘thee’-also repeated poem a dedicated to lover
2.’thee’- repeated throughout - sense of obsession -reaches a crescendo(climate at top/peace) at the end
3.exclamation mark showed passionate enthusiasm/pleasure in her thinking about him
Quote 2:’as wild vines , about a tree’
1.natural simile -start of organic , green imagery throughout poem to describe their love : constantly growing , developing
2.she vines ; he’s the tree.her passion -‘wild -sense of being out of control
3.suggests her love may suffocate/obscure him /his reality .shes dependant on him
Quote 3:’set thy trunk all bare’
1.metaphor of man as tree:strong , solid , masculine presence
2.Adjective ‘bare’ - when she sees him , his reality is revealed -not obscured by her thoughts
3.erotic undertone -she wants to see all of him -excitement increases at the end

Answer 6

What are the he quotes of sonnet 29 ?

What does the quote ‘I think of thee’ show

What does the quote ‘as wild vines , about a tree ‘ show

What does the ‘set thy trunk all bare ‘

Question 7

Sonnet 29
Structure:
-sonnet structure : presented in octave (8 lines ) (problem) then seset (solution) typical for Love poetry but then subverted as the solution come mid
-line 7 .to show narrators impatience/enthusiasm to see her lover
-last line -reversal of first. Presence of his lover takes away all thoughts of him . Poem has moved on

Answer 7

What is the structure of sonnet 29?