When we two parted by Lord Byron’s Poem

 

"Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey"

Life 

Lord Byron full Name is George Gordon Byron. He was 6th Baron Byron. Byron was born on 22 January 1788, on Holles Street in London, England and died on April 19, 1824, Missolonghi, Greece, Known as Lord Byron. He was an English peer, and politician, British Romantic poet and satirist. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement and is regarded as one of the greatest English poets. Byron was known for his numerous affairs with women. Byron’s first published volume of poetry, Hours of Idleness, appeared in 1807. 

About poem 

When We Two Parted was published in 1816. When We Two Parted is  a bitter poem about pain ( disillusionment )   of a breakup  and about the end of a relationship (affairs ). The poem is written by Lord Byron in melancholy ( Sorrowful ) tone. When We Two Parted is a Lyric poem, each stanza having the rhyme scheme ABABCDCD. It is one of the anthology favourites of Poet and It is better known for his life than for his work. Poet addresses the poem to an ex-lover (  Lady Frances Wedderburn Webster ). The poet is a jilted lover, he does not show any feeling of hatred towards his lover . The poet is very sad and Heartbreaking , he was  deceived ( betrayed ) by his beloved. 

  

Poem 

In the first stanza, The poem begins by describing the actual Parted, actual breakup. Poet describes the pain of the ending of the romance. In first two line poet says about his separation with his lover. When you and I broke up, we were silent and tearful. In next two line, Our hearts were broken as we separate ourselves from each other for years to come. the phrase half-broken hearted indicates that poet love was not perfect because the lady was not sad or broken hearted and may suggest that they was not fully heart broken, only the poet was heart broken. During the break-up, your cheek became pale and cold to the touch and your kiss was even colder. It's mean that Kiss was not as hot as before. a cold kiss that shows the end of their relationship.  It lacked the pure feeling of love. It seems to me that the way we split up, predicted the pain, sorrow and sadness that was to come in the succeeding years I feel now. 

In the second stanza, poet says about his feelings and her promises. He say that The morning dew was cold and sunk into my forehead with a chilling effect, as if foreshadowing the emotional coldness and desolate feeling I experience, Sense Now. The dew was warning, and a pointer the poet felt right now. poets lover conveniently broke all the vows, We can say that her love for him was based on the Platonic Love, not soul love (true love) because the poet says that her vows are all broken. She had a secret affair with another man. your fame and reputation was getting weak now. Her fame was light as compared to the shame. The poet shares in this shame of having affair with her. people gossip about you. he was shocked because he had such deep love for her. When I hear someone say your name, I feel embarrassed. And it was a shame to me. 

In The third stanza, poet says that People gossip about you and I hear your Name in front of me, and (  This poem  about Byron's relationship with Lady Frances Wedderburn Webster, and after, an affair with the Duke of Wellington ) Hearing your name is like a funeral bell ringing in my ear. In the second line, " knell "sounds like a his lover's name to poet.  It was a death bell to his ear. And it makes me shiver. Poet says that still shudders to hear the name of his lover and wonder why you meant so much to me? Poet asks himself why he cared for his lover so much ( The line why wert you so dear ? is a powerful one, here wert mean where and thou mean you ). Poet says that it was his lover's fault that the relationship ended and These people who mention you they don’t know how well I knew you, that in fact I knew you too well because our affair, they don't know about our relationship. Byron addresses his lover as 'thee', not using a name or giving any details. I will regret that for long time being involved with you, more deeply than I can say. Here rue means sorrow as well as regret. 

In final stanza, We can say that a (poet and his love ) lover used to meet secretly and so the poet must grieve alone over their affairs. he could never express his sorrow openly and not telling anybody because their love affair was secret. And next two line poet say that she, On the contrary, she could effortlessly forget and her soul deceive without any remorse. Poet realize that if We meet each other after a long gap , the moment will be colored with silence and tears again. At this juncture (time), The silence will possess a different meaning. Here poet means If I ever met you again, I know how I would greet you, the same way we parted with silence and tears. there would be nothing to say, and nothing to do except to cry. Which is why, even after years have passed, this relationship still brings tears to the poet. 

Other 

Critics point out that The last stanza was deliberately kept from being published because it contained the identity of the woman. The last stanza was eventually discovered in a letter.