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Review and Comments

This document provides a review and commentary on Lord Byron's poem "When We Two Parted". It summarizes the poem as describing a relationship that ended in silence and tears, with either nothing left to say or futile arguments. The poem expresses sentiments of unrequited love from the speaker directed at his partner, with accusations of her affection growing cold. The review analyzes the complex emotions conveyed in the poem regarding guilt, infidelity, and the lingering pain of loss that the speaker will continue to suffer from. It notes that unrequited love and cautious infidelity would not have been unfamiliar themes to Lord Byron based on accounts of his own lifestyle and relationships.

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TANBIR RAHAMAN
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47 views2 pages

Review and Comments

This document provides a review and commentary on Lord Byron's poem "When We Two Parted". It summarizes the poem as describing a relationship that ended in silence and tears, with either nothing left to say or futile arguments. The poem expresses sentiments of unrequited love from the speaker directed at his partner, with accusations of her affection growing cold. The review analyzes the complex emotions conveyed in the poem regarding guilt, infidelity, and the lingering pain of loss that the speaker will continue to suffer from. It notes that unrequited love and cautious infidelity would not have been unfamiliar themes to Lord Byron based on accounts of his own lifestyle and relationships.

Uploaded by

TANBIR RAHAMAN
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Review and Comments: When we Two parted George

Gordon Byron, Lord Byron.


:
When we Two parted
- George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron. 17881824
The relationship between this poems couple at once suggests a love torn apart in a moment of
silence and tears, where there is either nothing left to say or futile arguments to keep them
together. The poem speaks through his voice, directed specifically at her, with declared
sentiments of unrequited feelings and the lingering notion of a couple who parted ways only
Half-broken hearted. This suggests either a light-hearted affair or disparate devotions to each
other. The poem leans toward the latter with an accusatory allusion to her waning satisfaction;
Pale grew thy cheek and cold, Colder they kiss, and continues its bitter indictment, albeit with
some shared shamefulness, with the admonishment; Thy vows are all broken. The careful
selection of the word all in line 13 denies her the dignity of one forgivable mistake and instead
applies an all encompassing rebuke of her dishonor.
The poem leaves the reader to assume that the couple must have earlier come together willingly
and experienced an unknown period of happiness before she either began to lose interest or could
no longer bear the guilt for her own perceived wrongs. For all the sense of infidelity, They name
thee before me implies strongly that the two shared complicity in their relationship, justifying
his shame, not simply an unpleasant thought to him, but a knell to his ear, a grieving, deathlike
toll of sorrow and regret.
Although Long, long shall I rue thee leaves no doubt of his bitterness, he has not resolved the
loss and will forever suffer the conflict. The twisting of his heart in the air is no more evident
than in the antithetical image in the final stanza where he grieves the loss of her love, That thy
heart could forget, and in the same breath bemoans the fact that Thy spirit deceive. This isnt
possible. The two are mutually exclusive. If she did indeed deceive him, then her heart had little
to forget. Likewise, if she did not deceive him, her heart hasnt so much forgotten as it has
sacrificed the relationship in deference to the reality of their infidelity.
Sadly he will continue this internal struggle and when the two finally meet again, he has no
choice but to do so in silence and tears.
The mystery of unrequited love wrapped in a shroud of cautious infidelity, by all historical
accounts would not seem a stranger to Lord George Gordon Byron, whose life out of bounds
lifestyle included countless reported love affairs, episodes of bisexuality, and even strong rumors
of an incestuous relationship with his half-sister, Augusta Leigh during his stay in Newstead in
1802. This poem allegedly was written about Lady Frances Wedderburn Webster, the wife
Byrons friend, James Wedderburn Webster.

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