Poetry for Students, Volume 29

CRITICISM

Catherine Dominic
Dominic is an author and freelance editor. In this
essay, Dominic analyzes Byron’s Genevra sonnets
(which feature Lady Frances Wedderburn Web-
ster as their subject) as a means of accessing and
understanding the complex array of emotions
present in ‘‘When We Two Parted.’’ She asserts
that an understanding of these sonnets is essential
to a full appreciation of ‘‘When We Two Parted.’’

Byron’s ‘‘When We Two Parted,’’ is an ach-
ingly beautiful poem, at once tender and pessi-
mistic. Like many of his autobiographical lyrics,
it is often critically disregarded as a self-indul-
gent set of stanzas, dashed off as a means of
purging despair and disappointment.

Byron writes in ‘‘Sonnet, to Genevra,’’ and

‘‘Sonnet, to the Same,’’ of his feelings for a

woman known through Byron’s personal corre-

spondence to be Lady Frances Wedderburn

Webster, the wife of Byron’s friend, Sir James

Wedderburn Webster. Biographers have sug-

gested that the relationship between Lady Fran-

ces and Byron was an infatuation, but was never

a physical affair. In his 1965Byron’s Poetry: A

Critical Introduction, Leslie Marchand describes

Lady Frances as ‘‘the woman who got away

or whom [Byron] ‘spared.’’’ Marchand also

observes that in the sonnets Byron composed to

Lady Frances, Byron was moved by her inno-

cence. In the first of the sonnets, the poet speaks

lovingly of the lady’s blue eyes, her fair hair, her

soft, serene appearance. He goes on to observe

WHAT

DO I READ

NEXT?

 Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, written by

Byron over a period of several years and

published by the canto from 1812 through

1818, is widely considered to be his best

work. The narrative poem is inspired by

Byron’s travels throughout Europe, and

the persona of the narrator is often indistin-

guishable from Byron himself. It is an emo-

tionally intense quest poem, the object of the

quest being a kind of natural spirituality, a

sense of moral and intellectual certitude.

 Lord Byron at Harrow School: Speaking Out,

Talking Back, Acting Up, Bowing Out(2000),

by Paul Elledge, is a book-length biograph-

ical account of Byron’s years at Harrow.

The study offers insights into how the school

curriculum and atmosphere helped shaped

Byron’s poetry and his public persona.

 Byron: A Self-Portrait: Letters and Diaries,

1798–1824(1990), edited by Peter Quennell,

includes a full reprinting of Byron’s jour-

nals. The book also pieces together a biog-

raphy of Byron through a selection of his

correspondence.

 Prometheus Unboundwas written by Percy

Bysshe Shelley and published in 1820. Shel-

ley was Byron’s friend and traveling com-

panion in Europe, and they had in common

the fact that they were both exiled from

England due to sexual scandals. Shelley’s

closet drama (meaning that it was never

intended to be performed) concerns the

mythical Prometheus and an abstract, ideal-

ized notion of revolution.

 The Greek War of Independence: The Strug-

gle for Freedom from Ottoman Oppression

and the Birth of the Modern Greek Nation

(2003), by David Brewer, focuses on the

cause that Lord Byron died for: Greek Inde-

pendence. Brewer draws analogies between

modern political and military conflicts and

describes the military campaigns and politi-

cal factors that shaped the outcome of the

war. The book includes an examination of

the key role played by England, France, and

Russia in forcing the Ottomans to end the

war and accept Greek independence.

When We Two Parted