Poetry for Students, Volume 29

of that phrase encapsulates the entire poem,
emphasizing the sense that the speaker is in a
way frozen within his own bitter emotions.
While his pain has intensified over the years, the
fact of the pain itself seems static: he was, is, and
will be remorseful.

STYLE

Lyric Form
‘‘When We Two Parted’’ is written as a short,
romantic lyric. Lyrics are designed to be expres-
sions of the poet’s thoughts and feelings, rather
than a narration of a story, and are typically
subjective and meditative. Often, romantic lyrics
are written in ballad form, with a rhyme pattern
ofabcb. Byron however chooses a longer, eight-
line stanza, with a correspondingly extended
rhyme pattern ofababcdcd, thereby distancing
his work from the standard form. The octave, or
eight-line stanza, is used often by Lord Byron
but with a different rhyme patternabababcc; this
type of octave, written in iambic pentameter, is
known asottava rima, and is often used for
narrative verse and for sonnets. The lines in
‘‘When We Two Parted’’ are shorter than in the
ottava rimaform, consisting primarily of two
accented syllables, or metrical feet, per line; this
keeps the work a concise, flowing lyric, and at
the same time, the use of long stanzas empha-
sizes the tangled and complicated nature of the
emotions the speaker is experiencing.

Romantic Sensibilities
In this poem, the reader hears the first-person
speaker’s thoughts as he ruminates over his for-
mer romantic entanglement. The grief and regret
are feelings the poet speaks of having experi-
enced at the time of the break up, and at the
time the poem was written; he projects these
feelings into his future as well. The collective
weight of these emotions colors the entire poem
in dark, foreboding terms. It is tangibly oppres-
sive in its depiction of the effects of lost love on
the speaker. Byron’s lyrics differ stylistically
from those of other Romantic poets, such as
William Wordsworth, in that Byron often uses
his poetry as a means of coping with emotional
difficulties, whereas other Romantic poets fre-
quently discuss, in their lyrics, their relationship
with nature, or their place in the universe.
Indeed, they often take a more philosophic,

rather than personally emotional stance. In

later, longer works, Byron would skillfully com-

bine the personal and the philosophical, as in

Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The French Revolution

Byron was writing during the burgeoning of the

Romantic movements in literature, art, and phi-

losophy. The specifics of romanticism differed

for each subject area. Romantic poetry generally

included a reverence for nature, intimate self-

revelations, and expressions of intense personal

emotions. Romanticism is also associated with

other characteristic traits, including individual-

ism, spontaneity, subjectivity, a freedom from

rules, and the elevation of imagination above

reason. The Romantic movements were gener-

ated to some degree by the social changes taking

Portrait of Annabella Anne Isabella known as

Lady Byron or Lady Noel Byron (ne ́e Milbanke),

estranged wife of the English poet(ÓLebrecht Music and

Arts Photo Library / Alamy)

When We Two Parted