Summary Of When We Two Parted And Neutral Tones

Both “When We Two Parted” and “Neutral Tones” present the challenges faced by the breakdown of a relationship- whether it be due to another affair, or simply the loss of love. In spite of this similarity, the sole purpose of the two poets and their feelings toward the situation can be widely debated- with, as seen later, “When We Two Parted” displaying greater disdain for damage to the narrator’s ego than heartache at the departure of his lover.

“When We Two Parted” makes the once ardent love between the narrator and subject far clearer, whereas in “Neutral Tones” it is merely hinted at. In spite of the differences in tone- with “Neutral Tones” more subdued than the exasperation of “When We Two Parted”- both poets use various aspects of form and structure to depict their ongoing suffering. “When We Two Parted” showcases a clear cyclical structure- describing how the two parted “in silence and tears” in the first stanza, before closing the fourth stanza by commenting that, if the two should meet again in the future, the narrator will greet her again “with silence and tears”. Byron’s repetition of “silence and tears” illustrates the narrator’s never ending agony of the breakup. Much like the entirety of the poem, however, there is a sense of ambiguity with the use of nouns ‘silence’ and ‘tears’- which could symbolise the narrator’s ever-growing anger as they do his heartbreak. Similarly, “Neutral Tones” too has a cyclical structure- shown when the narrator first describes