From the public domain, via the Writer's Almanac and my email inbox: We have Lord Byron!I know very little of Lord Byron. Very Little. So to read this poem here -- of the heart, of departures, of grieving, of secret affairs. Well, it makes me wonder: What up?
Who was this guy?
Who did he love? Was it a woman? Could it have been a man? (Does it matter!? !) Why the secret?
Why in the opening stanza is he only half-broken hearted? (Is that simply his pre-cursory emotion to the final break, or realization of the finality of this love?)
How does one "rue" another? What does that sound like? Look like?
How much rue-ing is going on around the planet at this moment?
Hmmm.....Happy contemplating!
Melissa
Poem: "When We Two Parted" by Lord Byron. Public Domain.
When We Two Parted
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.
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