When We Two Parted-lord byron Flashcards
Background information
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
form
8 line stanzas
ABAB rhyming scheme + reguler rhythm
rhythm emphasise certain syllables (eg ‘cold’ ‘kiss’) highlights speakers pain
structure
moves through time constantly, shorts from past present future
juxtaposition of past and present emphasise theres no change in his feelings
‘that hour for told’ l ‘sorrow to this’
enjambement emphasise link between past and present, Shows his sorrow is on going
’ i feel know’
poem switch to talk about present (line 12)
‘vows are all broken’
links into stanza 1
‘if i should meet thee’
poem switches to talking about future
if he meets her again he’ll act like he did before they parted
Language about death
feels like end of relationship is like death
emphisies his former lovers lack of feelings for him.
‘a knell to mine ear’
metaphor suggests her name sounds like a death ‘knell’. symbolises relationship is dead
‘pale…..cold’
negative verbs, connotes he describes lover like corpse. suggests feelings have died
‘in silence i grive’
he mourns there relationship like death
language of the senses
not like typical love poem, uses negative descriptions, to emphasise how he’s lost love and is hurt by it
‘cheek…colder…kiss’
repetition of harsh phones (‘k’ sound) emphasises her coldness
‘due of morning…sunken chill’
emphasise and reflects coldness between them by using pathetic fallacy
‘hear thy name spoken…name thy before me’
hears people talk about her affairs, painful for him. follows onto next stanza showing pain is continues
language about silence and secrecy
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
‘we two parted’
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
‘in silence and tears’
‘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
‘share in its shame’
repetition of sibilance (‘s’ sound) links into shame and silence
‘too deep to tell’
hes silent because he’s incapable of expressing his pain- not just beaches of the need for secrecy
‘in silence i grive’
no on knows there lovers, cant talk to anyone
‘grieve’ mourns relationship like death
‘silence and tears’
repetition from stanza 1 emphasises secrecy and sorrow - still hurting unable to move on
attitudes: grief
mons end of relationship like death
attitudes: anger
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
attitudes: regret
regrets relationship because of the way thing turned out - he suffered a lot
‘half broken hearted’
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
‘sever for years’
verb, violent imagery suggests parting was painful and traumatic
‘light is thy flame’
her reputation is destroyed coms people know of her affairs.
‘light’ suggests weak and flimsy
‘why wert thou so dear’
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
‘thee…thee..thee’
repetition, repeatedly adresses former lover directly. creating impression that he’s still pre occupied by her
show how actions continue to effect him
‘long, long shall i rue thee’
doesn’t feel sadness also regrets relationship
repetition emphasise how long hell fell regret
‘heart could forget..spirit decives’
accusatory language suggests he is angry with her
or
angry for not trying hard enough
