When We Two Parted gives us an insight into Lord Byron's most hidden feelings.
Byron's Psyche
Lord Byron’s When we Two Parted not only details the parting of two lovers, but gives us an awareness of the deeper emotions and insecurities that fuelled Byron’s writing. These four quotes from When We Two Parted show each stage of Byron’s emotional cycle reveals Byron’s hidden, underlying psyche.
awareness of knowledge of
emotions feelings of love, hate, fear, etc.
insecurities (sources of worry and stress)
reveals shows/tells about
underlying hidden (under)
psyche. mind.
The Poem
When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this.
The dew of the morning
Sank chill on my brow–
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame;
I hear thy name spoken,
And share in its shame.
They name thee before me,
A knell in mine ear;
A shudder come o’er me–
Why wert thou so dear?
They know not I knew thee,
Who knew thee too well–
Long, long shall I rue thee,
Too deeply to tell.
In secret we met–
In silence I grieve,
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee?–
With silence and tears.
sever cut
thy your
foretold predicted
Sorrow Sadness
Thy Your
vows promises
thee you
knell ringing
shudder shake
o’er over
wert were
thou you
thee, you,
shall will
rue regret
grieve, suffer,
deceive lie to/fool
thee? you?
Grief
“Half broken-hearted”
Usually, being broken hearted would suggest the end of a relationship. One, or both, partners are no longer in love.
However, Byron here tells us that they are only “half” broken hearted. This can suggest that they both still have feelings for each other, but are unable to be in a relationship.
Alternatively, if we imagine both lovers to share one “heart”, this shared heart cannot fully break, because one of them still loves the other. This would most likely be Byron, the author of the poem, still having lingering feelings for the subject of his poem.
Lady Frances Wedderburn Webster, the likely target of the poem, was a married woman at the time of her affair with Lord Byron. Therefore, as their relationship was illicit and would have caused a scandal, it could never succeed. Byron then, feels that due to external forces forcing them apart, their relationship is not fully broken, as they still have feelings for each other.
These persistent emotions set him up for emotional torment in the rest of the poem. But did Lady Webster feel the same way?
perspectives opinions
distinctly clearly
crafted created
Additionally, Also,
merely only
mythological (related to very old stories)
as though like
Betrayal
“Thy vows are all broken”
Lady Webster was now involved in a new affair, this time, with the national British hero of the Napoleonic Wars, Lord Wellington, who far outstripped Byron in rank. As she was still a married woman, Byron highlights that she is breaking her marital vows by being engaged in an affair.
It could also be inferred that Byron is feeling betrayed by the new path the woman has taken in her life. For Byron to point of that her marital vows are “all broken” only now, might suggest that he was not able to convince her to break them with him. If so, then Byron cuts a sulking, emasculated figure.
Although they are no longer in a relationship, the poet, Byron, is still clearly affected by the fact that his former lover has moved on. By evoking the image of marriage with the word “vows”, Byron presents a level of possessiveness over the unnamed woman he is addressing the poem to.
However, Byron’s uses of the word “vows” could also indicate that their relationship was so strong as to appear as if they were married. This would be strong indeed, as their relationship was entirely in secret. The secrecy of the relationship may have in fact, in Byron’s mind, made it stronger. The hidden nature inherently requiring a vow of secrecy.
However, of course, although Byron criticises her for breaking her vows, marital or otherwise, he happily engaged in repeated affairs over the course of his life, including when he himself was married – including one with his half sister!
marital marriage-related
vows promises
engaged in working at
inferred guessed
a sulk a bad mood
emasculated weakened
evoking bringing out
possessiveness (state of needing to closely watch and control another person)
addressing facing
indicate point to/show
indeed in fact
entirely completely
inherently basically and mostly
requiring needing/ordering
vow promise
Anger
“They name thee before me,/A knell in mine ear;/A shudder come o'er me…”
Byron’s feelings of loss and betrayal almost cause him to feel physical pain when the mere name of his former lover is mentioned. The sound of her name has now become the sound of a death “knell” to him, bringing up negative feelings and emotions that make him shudder. Additionally, a death knell sounds out for funerals, and now we can say that their relationship is well and truly dead.
This, and his “shudder” indicates that his emotions have gone through a shift since they were together, and from the start of the poem. The paramount emotion he feels here is not sadness, but anguish, and even anger.
mentioned talked about/said
knell ringing
emotions feelings of love, hate, fear, etc.
shudder shake
Additionally, Also,
indicates points to/shows
shift move/change
paramount most important
emotion feeling of love, hate, guilt, etc.
anguish stress
Acceptance
"In silence I grieve,/That thy heart could forget,/Thy spirit deceive.”
Byron displays an impotent anger. That he grieves in silence shows he is unable, or unwilling, to vocalise his feelings. Additionally, due to the social, and legal, ramifications of the affair, quietly grieving was all he could do. He is, therefore, coming to an acceptance.
Again, in this quote, we see that Byron still desires a level of possession over the woman. His characterisation of her as having a deceptive spirit almost casts her as a liar, and his grief is centres around his stance that it is incredulous that her heart has forgotten him, or that she could conduct an affair behind her husband’s back – with somebody that wasn’t him.
Evidently, he has not fully let go of his passionate feelings for Lady Webster, but he has tempered them. Just as their secret relationship ended in “silence and tears”, he has accepted the situation and has resigned himself to greeting her with the same “silence and tears” that marked their relationship’s end if they ever met again. This final quote from When We Two Parted makes Byron’s emotional cycle of grief, betrayal anger and acceptance complete.
impotent weak
grieves suffers
Additionally, Also,
ramifications results/consequences
His character His personality
deceptive dishonest
grief sadness
stance (way of standing/way of thinking)
incredulous shocked
Evidently (based on facts and other evidence)
passionate emotional
tempered reduced
resigned (accepted or gave in)
