"When We Two Parted" by Lord Byron

The first line that I found interesting was when he says "when we two parted in silence and tears." This line reminded me of my middle school. When I graduated from middle school, no one wanted to cry, but as soon as we walked out the doors to say goodbye to everyone for the last time, everyone broke down in tears. All the girls were crying and the guys were silent. The guys could not cry because it was not the "cool thing" to do at that time. Deep inside, everyone was sad and never wanted to part from eachother. When you are very close to people, it is hard to leave them and most people deal with it by either crying or trying to keep their emotions inside by being silent.

The line that stuck out to me the most was when he states that "they vows are all broken." My first thoughts were that she died and she broke the vows from marraige that say "til death do us part." I thought that the woman died because the poem says that her cheeks grow pale and cold. The only vow that I can think of that would fit in with this would be that because she died, she broke the vow that she made to him when they got married.

The last line of the poem, "If I should meet thee after long years, how should I greet thee?", reminds me or a reunion. The poem starts off talking about when people part ways and ends by talking about meeting again. I think that when you see someone for the first time after not seeing them for a long period of time, things between the two of you are awkward. Neither one of you know what to say to each other. Sometimes you feel that a person probably has changed since the last time that you have seen each other. The man doesn't know what to say to his wife again because he hasn't seen her in a very long time. So he says that he would greet ehr with silence and tears, just like the way that they left each other.