When We Two Parted

Most scholars believe, given the content of George Gordon Byron’s 1823 letter to Lady Anne Hardy, that the speaker in this poem is Byron himself. While this biographical reading is accepted, “When We Two Parted” can also be read as a more generalized account of how difficult it can be to process gossip regarding a former lover. In this poem, the shocking news that Byron’s former lover—Lady Frances Wedderburn Webster, who is never named in the poem but is called by a nickname, Fanny, in an excised stanza of the poem (See: Background)—now has a new lover causes Byron to reflect on the past relationship. The lyric poem is fueled by feelings of betrayal, anger, and sadness.

In the first stanza, Byron seeks to come to terms with his current feelings about a former passionate relationship. He acknowledges he has been “sever[ed] for years” (Line 4) from Frances. He recollects their parting in which they could not speak—either words of love or recrimination—and instead left each other “[i]n silence and tears” (Line 2). Byron suggests they were “[h]alf broken-hearted” (Line 3) over the break-up. This is an early indication that the feelings between the two were lop-sided at that time and that he cared more for Frances than she did for him.