When We Two Parted-lord byron

Question 1

Background information

Answer 1

narrator recalls day he and his lover parted - she didn’t have any affection for him. Believes sadness he felt them foreshadows the sadness he will feel in the present

Question 2

form

Answer 2

8 line stanzas
ABAB rhyming scheme + reguler rhythm
rhythm emphasise certain syllables (eg ‘cold’ ‘kiss’) highlights speakers pain

Question 3

structure

Answer 3

moves through time constantly, shorts from past present future
juxtaposition of past and present emphasise theres no change in his feelings

Question 4

‘that hour for told’ l ‘sorrow to this’

Answer 4

enjambement emphasise link between past and present, Shows his sorrow is on going

Question 5

’ i feel know’

Answer 5

poem switch to talk about present (line 12)

Question 6

‘vows are all broken’

Answer 6

links into stanza 1

Question 7

‘if i should meet thee’

Answer 7

poem switches to talking about future

if he meets her again he’ll act like he did before they parted

Question 8

Language about death

Answer 8

feels like end of relationship is like death

emphisies his former lovers lack of feelings for him.

Question 9

‘a knell to mine ear’

Answer 9

metaphor suggests her name sounds like a death ‘knell’. symbolises relationship is dead

Question 10

‘pale…..cold’

Answer 10

negative verbs, connotes he describes lover like corpse. suggests feelings have died

Question 11

‘in silence i grive’

Answer 11

he mourns there relationship like death

Question 12

language of the senses

Answer 12

not like typical love poem, uses negative descriptions, to emphasise how he’s lost love and is hurt by it

Question 13

‘cheek…colder…kiss’

Answer 13

repetition of harsh phones (‘k’ sound) emphasises her coldness

Question 14

‘due of morning…sunken chill’

Answer 14

emphasise and reflects coldness between them by using pathetic fallacy

Question 15

‘hear thy name spoken…name thy before me’

Answer 15

hears people talk about her affairs, painful for him. follows onto next stanza showing pain is continues

Question 16

language about silence and secrecy

Answer 16

silence used to reflect how relationship was a secret. cant talk about affair to anyone contrasts with what he hears about her in stanza 3 (‘i hear thy name spoken’) which draws attention to to the fact he is unable to express how he feels

Question 17

‘we two parted’

Answer 17

adresses former lover directly - feels more personal

contrasts with ‘They’ in stanza 3 hints at bond between narrator and lover, keeps them separate from others

Question 18

‘in silence and tears’

Answer 18

‘tears’ emphasises hurt and pain upset

ambiguos ‘silence’ nothing to say to each other anymore or hints relationship was a secret, cant talk to anyone

Question 19

‘share in its shame’

Answer 19

repetition of sibilance (‘s’ sound) links into shame and silence

Question 20

‘too deep to tell’

Answer 20

hes silent because he’s incapable of expressing his pain- not just beaches of the need for secrecy

Question 21

‘in silence i grive’

Answer 21

no on knows there lovers, cant talk to anyone

‘grieve’ mourns relationship like death

Question 22

‘silence and tears’

Answer 22

repetition from stanza 1 emphasises secrecy and sorrow - still hurting unable to move on

Question 23

attitudes: grief

Answer 23

mons end of relationship like death

Question 24

attitudes: anger

Answer 24

angry with lover for braking promises and having affairs with other men. images greeting her with silence and tear, suggesting he wants her to see how hurt he is

Question 25

attitudes: regret

Answer 25

regrets relationship because of the way thing turned out - he suffered a lot

Question 26

‘half broken hearted’

Answer 26

suggests they wont in love with each other, however its clear narrator was deeply effected, so accusing her of only being half in love with her
or
referring to himself as ‘half’ of the couple meaning he’s broken hearted and his former lover isn’t

Question 27

‘sever for years’

Answer 27

verb, violent imagery suggests parting was painful and traumatic

Question 28

‘light is thy flame’

Answer 28

her reputation is destroyed coms people know of her affairs.

‘light’ suggests weak and flimsy

Question 29

‘why wert thou so dear’

Answer 29

retorical question emphasise hoe deeply he felt for her he cant bear to hear about her other affairs
‘thou’ pro-noun personal almost like speaking

Question 30

‘thee…thee..thee’

Answer 30

repetition, repeatedly adresses former lover directly. creating impression that he’s still pre occupied by her
show how actions continue to effect him

Question 31

‘long, long shall i rue thee’

Answer 31

doesn’t feel sadness also regrets relationship

repetition emphasise how long hell fell regret

Question 32

‘heart could forget..spirit decives’

Answer 32

accusatory language suggests he is angry with her
or
angry for not trying hard enough