When We Two Parted

“When We Two Parted” is an autobiographical lyric written by British poet George Gordon Byron, commonly known as Lord Byron, during the middle period of his career. The poem was originally published in Poems, 1816 at the height of Byron’s popularity. The poem deals with Byron’s feelings of betrayal upon learning of a former lover’s supposed affair. Byron tried to conceal the original date and subject by claiming he composed it in 1808 when it was actually written in 1816. In an 1823 letter written to Lady Anne Hardy, Byron clarified that 1808 was a false date and revealed that the poem was an address to Lady Frances Wedderburn Webster, a married woman, with whom he had a youthful romance when they were in their twenties (See: Further Reading & Resources). While he wrote short lyrics like this one, he is better known for his epic closet dramas such as Manfred (1819) and Don Juan (1821). Byron was also an English Lord, but his political career was surpassed by his success and celebrity as a best-selling author, beginning with the publication of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage in 1812. He also became infamous for his romantic relationships, as many of his love affairs were the subject of great gossip. In 1817, estranged from his wife because of infidelity and scandal, he left England for good, dying in Greece in 1824, helping in Greece’s fight for independence. “When We Two Parted” is one of the most anthologized poems in Byron’s canon due to its themes of heartbreak, betrayal, and regret.

Poet Biography

George Gordon Byron was born on January 22, 1788, to Captain John Byron and his second wife, Catherine Gordon, a Scottish heiress. In debt, and having depleted his wife’s funds, John Byron traveled to France and died there in 1791. Seven years later, Byron’s great-uncle died, making him, at the age of 10, the sixth Baron Byron of Rochdale.

In 1801, at age 13, he was sent to Harrow School, which he enjoyed—although more socially than academically. At Harrow, he discovered exercise and met classmates Mary Chaworth and John Edleston, both of whom he likely was sexually intimate with. He also met his lifelong friend John Cam Hobhouse. After graduating, Byron attended Trinity College at Cambridge. During this time, he wrote and published his first volume of poetry, Fugitive Pieces (1806). Byron quickly recalled it after objections to its eroticism and reworked it as Hours of Idleness. The volume received a horrible review in the Edinburgh Review, but Byron responded with a satirical essay, which people admired.

After finishing school, Byron went on a Grand Tour, visiting Portugal, Albania, and then Greece. He returned to England in 1811 to the unfortunate deaths of both his mother and John Edleston. In 1812, he took his seat in the House of Lords and published parts of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, which became a bestseller. He was then invited to fashionable London venues and began encounters with starstruck admirers. Long verse tales, The Giaour (1813), The Bride of Abydos (1813), The Corsair (1814), and Lara (1814), were published next, in quick succession, adding to his acclaim. During this time, Byron also had a string of love affairs, including an obsessive affair with Caroline Lamb, an incestuous liaison with his half-sister Augusta Leigh (whom he never knew as child), and a flirtation with Frances Wedderburn Webster, which inspired “When We Two Parted.” Friends encouraged him to find a suitable wife. In 1815, he married Annabella Millbanke. The couple had one child, Ada Lovelace. A year later, Millbanke left Byron due to his probable infidelity with Augusta, which had produced a child. The ensuing scandal caused Byron to leave England forever.

In 1816, Byron travelled to Lake Geneva, Switzerland. There, he befriended fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and his fiancée Mary Godwin. Mary’s half-sister, Claire Clairmont, had previously been involved with Byron in London. At their villa, the group was kept indoors due to bad weather, and Byron suggested a writing challenge, which resulted in Shelley’s long poem Christabel, more of Childe Harold for Byron, and Mary’s novel, Frankenstein. In August, Hobhouse arrived, and the Shelley party returned to England, where Claire gave birth to Byron’s child, Clara Allegra. Byron toured Italy with Hobhouse, studied the Armenian culture in Venice, learned its language, and eventually co-authored books about its grammar and definitions. After a brief trip to Rome in 1817, Byron returned to Venice. He sold Newstead Abbey and published his closet drama Manfred (1816-1817). In 1818, the Shelley party returned to Italy with Clara Allegra, and Byron agreed to support and educate her in a convent.

In 1818, Byron met Teresa, Countess Guiccioli, who was married to a man almost 40 years her senior, and he moved to Ravenna from 1819 to 1821 to be close to her while he wrote his epic poem Don Juan. In 1821, Byron and Teresa relocated to Pisa, where they were visited by Shelley, Edward Ellerker Williams, and poet Leigh Hunt who wanted to start a newspaper. However, Shelley, along with Williams, died in a boating accident. While Hunt and Byron started The Liberal anyway, it only lasted four issues. Afterward, Byron and Teresa moved to Genoa. Several cantos from Don Juan were published in 1823, and critics considered them some of Byron’s finest writing despite his exile.

At this time, Byron became intrigued by the growing unrest in Greece over the Ottman Empire’s rule. Determined to help the cause, he went to Greece while Teresa returned to her father’s house. Byron sold his home in Rochdale to help support the resistance and develop fighters. By March 1824, he had a brigade of men, which he funded and led personally. On the way to attack an important fortress held by the Turkish, Byron fell ill. He died of complications at Missolonghi, Greece, on April 19, 1824. He was 36. Byron was honored by the Greeks for his bravery but was refused burial at Westminster Abbey due to moral qualms over his sexual behavior. It wasn’t until 1969 that he was honored there with a memorial.

Poem Text

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 

   Sunk 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 to mine ear;

A shudder comes 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.

Byron, George Gordon. “When We Two Parted.” 1816. Poets.org.

Summary

The speaker addresses someone with whom they were once intimate, recalling the time their relationship ended. When they separated, there was crying, but no words were exchanged. While the speaker felt heartbroken, they suggest that the lover was less affected, even “cold” (Line 5). Looking back, the speaker feels this past parting was a foreshadowing event, predicting the sadness they feel now when they receive news of the lover. When the couple parted ways, the early hour was chilly and damp after the evening, and the speaker feels the weather acted as advance notice of what was to come. The lover is revealed as someone who has broken promises of fidelity and is currently being gossiped about in a negative way. The speaker regrets their prior connection, especially when their acquaintances report that the former lover is infamous as an unfaithful person. The speaker can no longer understand what they ever saw in their former beloved and is repulsed. For the foreseeable future, they will regret their liaison, which was clandestine and unknown by others. The speaker mourns this privately, thinking of the lover’s fickleness and lies toward them. They claim that if they should ever meet the lover again that they will not speak, but merely cry.