Text of the Poem
[First published, Poems, 1816.]
1.
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.
2.
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.
3.
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.
4.
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.
-
— Allegra Keys, Owl Eyes Editor
The repetition of "thee” is the use of a diacope, a figure of speech that repeatedly uses the same word or phrase.
-
— Allegra Keys, Owl Eyes Editor
According to Oxford Languages, “knell” refers to “the sound of a bell, especially when rung solemnly for a death or a funeral.”
-
— Allegra Keys, Owl Eyes Editor
Enjambment—where a line in a poem doesn’t end with a full stop—is used throughout most of the poem. The breaking up of thoughts mid-line imitates the actual break-up being described.
-
— Allegra Keys, Owl Eyes Editor
This word, “silence,” requires a bit of historical context. When this poem was written, it is believed that the author had been having an affair with the married Lady Frances Wedderburn-Webster, and she had left him to have an affair with another man. While the writer and speaker of a poem are not the same for every poem, they appear to be the same for this poem.
-
— Allegra Keys, Owl Eyes Editor
The use of “we” is a poetic device called an apostrophe. An apostrophe describes when a speaker of a poem is speaking to something or someone who isn’t there and would be unable to respond. In the case of this poem, the “we” isn’t the collective we of a specific community (often seen in poetry) but rather a couple, the speaker, and the love interest that is not there.