When We Two Parted- Lord Byron

Question 1

What is it about?

Answer 1

Lover mourns the breakup of a secret affair. Since it was a secret, he can only grieve in secret and fears that he wont ever recover.
Byronic hero

Question 2

“half broken-hearted”

Answer 2

Only he is heartbroken

Question 3

“Pale grew thy cheek and cold, colder thy kiss”

Answer 3

Death imagery
The love is dead to her
The parting was inevitable the moment the warmth left the relationship

Question 4

“The dew of the morning”

Answer 4

Pathetic fallacy reflects the emotions of the speaker,
Moisture represents his tears- Byron compares himself to the most famous literary courtly lover Romeo

Question 5

“The vows are all broken”

Answer 5

Links to the affair that was immoral and she might have been leading him on

Question 6

“A knell in mine ear”

Answer 6

Funeral bell metaphor
He is grieving her
Death imagery

Question 7

“In secret we met-In silence I grieve-“

Answer 7

Past-present
Pronouns show separation
Dash at the end implies Byron holding back his emotions

Question 8

Form and structure

Answer 8

Cyclical structure- no hope of improvement- being trapped in the past and grieving in silence
Tenses- past-present-future
Rhyme scheme is similar to a sonnet but without a rhyming couplet
Caesura and repetition may suggest anger or disbelief
The formal tone masks the bitterness