When We Two Parted

• This video is about GCSE poetry on the theme of love and relationships, focusing on the poem "When We Two Parted" by Lord Byron
• The video provides an annotated version of the poem, with analysis of the context, language, structure, and form
• The video also suggests other poems to compare "When We Two Parted" to, such as "Winter Swans" and "Neutral Tones"
• Sibilance


  The use of repeated 's' sounds to create an uncomfortable, restless tone
• Alliteration


  The repetition of initial consonant sounds to create a particular effect
• Synesthesia


  The combination of two different senses, such as sound and touch
• Lord Byron


  • A notorious Romantic poet who was frequently embroiled in public scandals and was a notorious womanizer
  • Lived from 1788 to 1824
  • Spent time with Mary Shelley and her husband in 1816
• Cyclical narrative


  A narrative structure that shows no progression or resolution, reflecting the repetitive and ongoing nature of the speaker's sadness
• Sensual verse


  A consistent number of stresses per line, common in Old English, suggesting a traditional relationship
• Rhyme scheme


  A repetitive rhyme scheme that demonstrates the regularity of the speaker's sadness and its seemingly endless nature
• Irregular line lengths


  Providing a conversational tone and adding to the authenticity of the speaker's sadness
• Semantic field of death

  The use of lexis from the semantic field of death to emphasize the significance of the speaker's suffering and the mourning of his relationship
• Tactile imagery


  Metaphors comparing the speaker's former lover to a dead body, showing how she is no longer warm and in love with him
• Auditory imagery


  The use of the image of a "nail in mine ear" to provide connotations of a bell announcing someone's death
• Despair


  The tone of despair created by the semantic field of death and the absence in the speaker's life that he has not been able to fill
• Similarities between "When We Two Parted" and other poems

  Both explore the difficulties encountered within a relationship and attribute some of the difficulties to a lack of communication
• Differences between "When We Two Parted" and other poems

  In "Winter Swans", the couple reunites, while in "When We Two Parted" and "Neutral Tones", the speakers use morbid references to death to express their sadness