So, we’ll go no more a-roving By Lord Byron

Background Knowledge George Gordon Byron, (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), commonly known as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in Romanticism. Lord Byron’s talents for poetry were not only thing he was well known for. He was also widely know for his extravagant lifestyle, numerous love affairs, debts, separations and allegations of incest with his half sister. When the rumours started to rise of his incest and debts were accumulating, Byron left England in 1816, to live in exile. He travelled through Europe writing many poems and settled in Venice and in February 1917 he wrote this poem Byron was living in Venice, in one of the palaces. It was described by one of his friends as a cross between a brothel and a zoo, since, as well as numerous prostitutes, Byron also kept many exotic animals. While staying in Venice Byron proudly claimed he had different woman on 200 consecutive evenings He used to go almost everyday at night just to drink, dance, have fun and stay late with girls. It was during the famous Carnivale of Venice, when people roam the streets in masks and party for four days, that Byron wrote this poem and sent it to a friend of his, Thomas Moore who published it in the “Letters and Journals of Lord Byron”, in 1830 There are two different interpretations of this poem-one more literal of wearing his body out and one more abstract of mourning his loss on breaking a relationship

Stanza 1 We’ll-personalises the poem and is ambiguous on who he is addressing, it could be a plea to Thomas for them to stop their life style or a reference to a love that he could not see any more. So, we’ll go no more a roving-the slow o sounds is an example of assonance. Complements the feelings of the poet as it produces a moaning effect. The poet either longs to be with his lover, or is complaining about his physical body. So late into the night-suggests that Byron’s regret on not being able to love his lover, and has been pondering about it through the night. However despite his sadness, in the next line Byron claims that he will still love “her” in his heart, even without her physical presence. The last line “And the moon be still as bright” adds to his self-comfort as he notices that this is not the end of the world and that the loss will have no lasting effect on him and there is light at the end of the tunnel. The last two lines can also be also interpreted as showing his regret that although he still wants to party his body can no longer keep up with him. So, we’ll go no more a roving So late into the night, Though the heart be still as loving, And the moon be still as bright.

Stanza 2 “For the sword outwears its sheath, and the soul wears out the breast,” suggest further the idea of the body not being able keep up with the mind and he has lived so wildly and abused his body so much that his body is getting old before its time. “And the heart must pause to breathe, and love itself have rest.” says that although his mind wants to go out and party but for the sake of his body he has to take a rest. The soft sounds of “sword”, “sheath” and “rest”, portrays Byron’s weariness. For the sword outwears its sheath, and the soul wears out the breast, can also mean that his love for her is fading as he cannot love someone without physically being with them. in “And the heart must pause to breathe, and love itself have rest.” he acknowledges that his love for her cannot last forever and it will eventually end some day. For the sword outwears its sheath, And the soul wears out the breast, And the heart must pause to breathe, And love itself have rest.

Stanza 3 The last stanza can be interpreted as a last good bye from Lord Byron. Though the night was made for loving- shows his regret that she is not here for him to love and that the night symbolises his love for her. This is contrasted with the next line “and the day returns too soon,” which day which symbolises the end of his love is soon approaching. Yet we’ll go no more a roving By the light of the moon. the “yet” and the restating of the first line of the poem shows his acknowledgement that he must move on and the moon is repeated to show that he also knows that he cannot go back to the nights of loving her. The poem ends with a reversal of the beginning. The end-rhymes of lines one and three in the first stanza — a-roving/loving — are flipped and become, in the first and third lines of the third and last stanza, loving/a-roving. Each line from the first undergoes some transformation in the third. The moon/bright in line four of the first stanza becomes light/moon in the last line of the last stanza, night in the second line of the first stanza becomes day in the third and so in the first line of the first stanza because yet in the third line of the last stanza. The many reversals and inversions, all can be read as stand-ins for the reversal of fortune for the poet and his relationship, or the final retirement of the once active rovers. Though the night was made for loving, And the day returns too soon, Yet we’ll go no more a roving By the light of the moon.

Themes Age/mortality- poet regrets having spent his youth partying so hard and now his body is paying the price. He can no longer go out to party as his body can not keep up with him which is reflected in the lines "for the sword outwears its sheath, and the soul wears out the breast," Although he still wants to party which is shown in the lines “Though the heart be still as loving, And the moon be still as bright.” He acknowledges for the sake of his health he must rest and he can rove “no more” Moving on-in the poems other the interpretation of the poem there is a clear theme of moving on after breaking a relationship. It is shown that the poet is struggling to move on and is thinking about her “late into the night” in the 1 st stanza but as progresses in the 2 nd stanza as he begins to acknowledge that his love for her won’t last forever and he will eventually move on when he says “love itself have rest”. In third stanza while he still wants to return to the nights loving her he remarks “the day returns too soon” showing that he is beginning to move on with his life.

Exam Questions Comment on the writer’s feelings on the passage of time Comment on the writer’s feelings on love in the poem Explore how the writer vividly creates the tone and mood of the poem