When We Two Parted
When we two partedIn silence and tears,Half broken-heartedTo sever for years,Pale grew thy cheek and cold,Colder thy kiss;Truly that hour foretoldmrSorrow to this.
The dew of the morningmsSunk chill on my brow--It felt like the warningOf what I feel now.Thy vows are all broken,mtAnd 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 theemvAfter long years,How should I greet thee?--With silence and tears.
I cannot talk of Love to thee,Though thou art young and free and fair!There is a spell thou dost not see,That bids a genuine love despair.
And yet that spell invites each youth,For thee to sigh, or seem to sigh;Makes falsehood wear the garb of truth,And Truth itself appear a lie.
If ever Doubt a place possestIn woman's heart, 'twere wise in thine:Admit not Love into thy breast,Doubt others' love, nor trust in mine.
Perchance 'tis feigned, perchance sincere,But false or true thou canst not tell;So much hast thou from all to fear,In that unconquerable spell.
Of all the herd that throng around,Thy simpering or thy sighing train,Come tell me who to thee is boundBy Love's or Plutus' heavier chain.
In some 'tis Nature, some 'tis ArtThat bids them worship at thy shrine;But thou deserv'st a better heart,Than they or I can give for thine.
For thee, and such as thee, behold,Is Fortune painted truly--blind!Who doomed thee to be bought or sold,Has proved too bounteous to be kind.
Each day some tempter's crafty suitWould woo thee to a loveless bed:I see thee to the altar's footA decorated victim led.
Adieu, dear maid! I must not speakWhate'er my secret thoughts may be;Though thou art all that man can reckI dare not talk of Love to thee.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- garb n.
- External appearance, as expressive of the feelings or character; looks; fashion or manner, as of speech. [OF. garbe looks, countenance, grace, ornament, fr. OHG. garawi, garwi, ornament, dress. akin to E. gear. See Gear, n.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- unconquerable a.
- Not conquerable; indomitable.
- simpering a.
- from Simper, v.
- bounteous a.
- Liberal in charity; disposed to give freely; generously liberal; munificent; beneficent; free in bestowing gifts; as, bounteous production. [OE. bountevous, fr. bounte bounty.]
- loveless a.
- Void of love; void of tenderness or kindness. Milton. Shelton.
- reck v. t.
- To make account of; to care for; to heed; to regard. [AS. reccan, remccan, to care for; akin to OS. rokian, OHG. ruochan, G. geruhen, Icel. rækja, also to E. reckon, rake an implement. See Rake, and cf. Reckon.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
When We Two Parted is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3, Project Gutenberg ebook #21811; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lord Byron, When We Two Parted, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/when-we-two-parted.html, id L23969.
Form and metre
When We Two Parted is 68 lines in 13 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB-C-C partedA · tearsB · heartedA · yearsB · cold · kissC · foretoldmr · thisC
- 2 -A-A-B-B morningms · browA · warning · nowA · broken,mt · fameB · spoken · shameB
- 3 ABABACAC meA · earB · meA · dearB · theeA · wellC · theeA · tellC
- 4 ABAB-C-C metA · grieveB · forgetA · deceiveB · theemv · yearsC · thee · tearsC
- 5 ABAB theeA · fairB · seeA · despairB
- 6 ABAB youthA · sighB · truthA · lieB
- 7 ABAB possestA · thineB · breastA · mineB
- 8 ABAB sincereA · tellB · fearA · spellB
- 9 ABAB aroundA · trainB · boundA · chainB
- 10 ABAB artA · shrineB · heartA · thineB
- 11 ABAB beholdA · blindB · soldA · kindB
- 12 -A-A suit · bedA · foot · ledA
- 13 -A-A speak · beA · reck · theeA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When we two parted | 5 | ···/˘ |
| In silence and tears, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Half broken-hearted | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| To sever for years, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Pale grew thy cheek and cold, | 6 | ······ |
| Colder thy kiss; | 4 | /˘·· |
| Truly that hour foretoldmr | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Sorrow to this. | 4 | /˘·· |
| The dew of the morningms | 6 | ······ |
| Sunk chill on my brow-- | 5 | ····· |
| It felt like the warning | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Of what I feel now. | 5 | ····· |
| Thy vows are all broken,mt | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And light is thy fame: | 5 | ····· |
| I hear thy name spoken, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And share in its shame. | 5 | ····· |
| They name thee before me, | 6 | ······ |
| A knell to mine ear; | 5 | ····· |
| A shudder comes o'er me-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Why wert thou so dear? | 5 | ····· |
| They know not I knew thee, | 6 | ······ |
| Who knew thee too well:-- | 5 | ····· |
| Long, long shall I rue thee, | 6 | ······ |
| Too deeply to tell. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| In secret we met-- | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| In silence I grieve. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| That thy heart could forget, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Thy spirit deceive. | 5 | ·/˘˘/ |
| If I should meet theemv | 5 | ····· |
| After long years, | 4 | ···· |
| How should I greet thee?-- | 5 | ····· |
| With silence and tears. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| I cannot talk of Love to thee, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Though thou art young and free and fair! | 8 | ········ |
| There is a spell thou dost not see, | 8 | ········ |
| That bids a genuine love despair. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And yet that spell invites each youth, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| For thee to sigh, or seem to sigh; | 8 | ········ |
| Makes falsehood wear the garb of truth, | 8 | ·/······ |
| And Truth itself appear a lie. | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| If ever Doubt a place possest | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| In woman's heart, 'twere wise in thine: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Admit not Love into thy breast, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Doubt others' love, nor trust in mine. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Perchance 'tis feigned, perchance sincere, | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘/ |
| But false or true thou canst not tell; | 8 | ········ |
| So much hast thou from all to fear, | 8 | ········ |
| In that unconquerable spell. | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘· |
| Of all the herd that throng around, | 8 | ········ |
| Thy simpering or thy sighing train, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Come tell me who to thee is bound | 8 | ········ |
| By Love's or Plutus' heavier chain. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In some 'tis Nature, some 'tis Art | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That bids them worship at thy shrine; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But thou deserv'st a better heart, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Than they or I can give for thine. | 8 | ········ |
| For thee, and such as thee, behold, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Is Fortune painted truly--blind! | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Who doomed thee to be bought or sold, | 8 | ········ |
| Has proved too bounteous to be kind. | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Each day some tempter's crafty suit | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Would woo thee to a loveless bed: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I see thee to the altar's foot | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A decorated victim led. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Adieu, dear maid! I must not speak | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Whate'er my secret thoughts may be; | 9 | ˘˘/·/˘··· |
| Though thou art all that man can reck | 8 | ········ |
| I dare not talk of Love to thee. | 8 | ········ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.