Poetry of Lord Byron

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.

The legend is that Byron dashed off "So we'll go no more a-roving" one night in Venice, during his exile from England after his divorce, after a drinking party. I can believe it because he was enough of a genius to be able to spin out sometrhing so perfect with total facility!

Well, I'm sure the man revised it after getting some rest and shaking off the hangover. :wink:

BYRON ON HIS AGE
"One of my notions, different from that of my contemporaries, is, that the present is not a high age of English Poetry: there are MORE poets (soi-disant) than ever there were, and proportionally LESS poetry."

---Lord Byron, "random notes", Oct. 1821

Stanzas for Music

There be none of Beauty's daughters
With a magic like thee;
And like music on the waters
Is thy sweet voice to me:
When, as if its sound were causing
The charmed ocean's pausing,
The waves lie still and gleaming,
And the lulled winds seem dreaming;

And the midnight moon is weaving
Her bright chain o'er the deep,
Whose breast is gently heaving
As an infant's asleep:
So the spirit bows before thee,
To listen and adore thee,
With a full but soft emotion,
Like the swell of Summer's ocean.

(1815)


I don't really get the last half of the second stanza... Is it the spirit that listens and adores the woman, adores her with a full but soft emotion, like the swell of summer's ocean??


Lol, in each and every thread I've posted in so far (3), I've almost started a new thread instead of replying... Maybe it'll become tradition

Hey, viv. Welcome to A2K. It's easy to make that mistake--or misstep.

I haven't read that Byron piece, but it is in keeping with his love of the ocean. I would imagine his music IS the ocean.

One of my favorite stanzas from Byron, I think Child Herald's Pilgrimage is:

Roll on thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll.
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain.
Man marks the shore with ruin,
His control stops at the shore.

Guess Byron never heard of oil rigs, though.

That was the piece..

Thank you, Letty

Guess not

I'm with Tell Me Why, I love She Walks in Beauty.

I gather that "She" was Mrs Wilmot, Byron's cousin, who was wearing a mourning dress of spangled black when he met her at a party.

Tarah, er, that should have been "....man marks the earth with ruin..."

THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB, first published in 1815
The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

George Gordon Byron. Hmmmm. If it weren't for the "Lord" that would be a mundane name.

She Walks in Beauty is a sentimental favourite of mine as well. There is also this:

"The stars are forth, the moon above the tops
Of the snow-shining mountains--
Beautiful! I linger yet with Nature, for the night
Hath been to me a more familiar face
Than that of man; and in her starry shade
Of dim and solitary loveliness
I learn'd the language of another world."

This one resonates with me as night time is magical. The sky, a wonderful kaleidoscope of deep brilliant blues & violets of the destined night and possibilities and promises hang imminently in the air.

I didn't know that poem, Voodoo. I looked it up and see it's from Manfred. Just shows how much beautiful work he wrote.

I've got a DVD of Byron's life that I was given for Christmas. You've inspired me to sit down this afternoon and watch it.

Help understanding "She walks in Beauty" and &quot
Hi all, I'm new to this site. I have an English final coming up, and was looking for insites and backround on two Byron poems. I've included what I've come up with for critiquing.

1: She walks in beauty, like the night:

To the best of my knowledge, he is describing the beauty of a woman he knows. I think that in lines 5-6, he is saying that she is so beautiful that heaven itself is jealous. Also, it seems that lines 7-8 are saying that she is basically perfect (one shade the more, one ray the less / have half impared her nameless grace). I take it to mean that any change to her would make her much less beautiful.

2: So we'll go no more a roving
I've heard multiple explanations for this. One is simply that we should enjoy life as it comes, since soon it will end. Another is based on the fact that Byron was notoriously promiscuous, and that he is saying that at one point we all have to settle down.

If you could give me your thoughts and comments on my interpretations, it woudl be very much appreciated. Thank you so very much.

~JB

Jackb--

"Insights" is the preferred spelling.

Can you Copy&Paste the poems you cite? My memory is not what it was.