Byron’s poetry is the epitome of inspiration.
And this poem – When We Two Parted – gives you a creepy feeling. The words sound as if they were written about you, as if they were addressed personally and directly to YOU. It’s amazing! Curiously enough, even obsolete "thou" or "thee" are not in the least disturbing.
And this poem – When We Two Parted – gives you a creepy feeling. The words sound as if they were written about you, as if they were addressed personally and directly to YOU. It’s amazing! Curiously enough, even obsolete "thou" or "thee" are not in the least disturbing.
There’re both the original and the Russian translation in the Poets’ Corner on the author's literary site. And this is a rare case when Marshak’s text lacks something in comparison to the original. That’s the way I hear it. And you?
WOW… Wonderful. I cannot imagine any other voice for this poem. Music behind is so good and fit with it perfectly. My favorite part is "in secret we met, in silence i greive. thy heart could fprget, thy spirit decieve"。
ОтветитьУдалитьIn secret we met, here Byron wants to transmit the passion of two lovers in their first secret encounter. And In silence I grieve symbolizes that nobody can help this man to come back to smile after having been left by the woman he loved. The two following verses, That thy heart could forget/ Thy spirit deceive say what she made him: she forgot him and she deceived him.
This is the sad story of a man who is double suffering: he suffers because he lost his love, and he suffers because she has forgotten him. So even if she is quite alive, her love for him is truly dead.
I can’t say that Marshak’s text lacks something in comparison to the original but to tell the truth you ‘re unlikely to find all the strength of the poem in Marshaks’s text. It’s Byron’s love story…It’s his own life poem and I think nobody can translate it in that way as Byron did. He lived in that poem..all his soul…feelings and emotions are there…It’s Byron’s own life story poem( Olga Nes-ko)
It`s fascinating! These thrilling voice and stirring tune go inseparably.When listening this poem I want to close my eyes...and imagine these two lovers, their love is forbidden, but it`s so deep! They have to part with each other, and You feel their sorrow which runs through the whole poem.
ОтветитьУдалить"When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this" - It`s my favorite part,because it better depicts their feelings, their state."Half broken-hearted/
To sever for years" I think it means that the lovers are unlikely to meet each other.And it`s really sad.
I don`t feel the same when reading Marshak’s text.His lines are not sensiferous for me. I think, it does not matter who translates the poem, the translation is sure to be worse than the original in this case. Byron put his heart and soul into this poem, and every poet will translate in the way he understand it.
In fact, I don't like poetry, but this poem is really amazing!!! I read it several times and I'm ready to read more and more... He writes about real love, using such wonderful metaphors. Of course, Byron's language is very difficult to read and understand but nevertheless I liked it.
ОтветитьУдалить"If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee?-
With silence and tears."
These lines I enjoyed most of all because it is so true to life...To be quite frank, after this poem I even found some of his poems in the internet and read it. And now I can say that Byron's style is close to me.(Sasha Kalinina)
Do you mean you’ve read or listened to it several times??? I wouldn't agree on the point of Byron's being complicated, he requires thoughtful reading, that's all. Yet, your final words inspire hope...
УдалитьIt goes without saying that in every country there are some poets whom the country may proud of... As for Russia there are rather many such people - Pushkin, Lermontov, Esenin and many others. And speaking about England, without doubt Byron and Shakespeare take the first place. But all these poets are connected by brilliant style and the feeling of rhythm. No doubt, their styles are different, with their own features. But it's evident that they were real talents, that they didn't trump up their poems, but they wrote them whole-heartedly...And that's why, I think, they are so popular and that's why their masterpieces are known all over the world. Yulia Melahova
ОтветитьУдалитьPersonally I didn't like that deterrent voice. In my opinion, the poetry is fascinating, the way of playing words – surpassing, the music - magnificent, the message of the poetry touches your heart, but that depressing voice… Though sad and painful, it is so romantic!!! Actually I like Byron’s poetry. When I was a freshman, I got under a charm by his poetry. During the course of phonetics, we were to read with proper intonation his poem "Twilight". Actually, I couldn't read in a good way. All my group mates did it much better than I, and I prayed not to have the exam card with this poem. I practiced it for million times, but still. Then, I tried to feel the poem, to open my heart to it. Nevertheless, I had that very card, and you won't believe! I succeed! I got excellent! So, since then, I like his poetry! I wrote the story of my passing the exam for the purpose to tell, that Byron's poetry is one of the best pieces of poetry, like Esenin. His poems are brilliant; from the very common occurrence he made absorbing poems, which inprint in your heart forever!
ОтветитьУдалитьOh, It's wonderful!This is the story of a real love, a man who is suffering, he suffers because he lost his love, and because she has forgotten him. The poetry fulls of feelings,emotionals, we see the main caracter real feelings,his love to her,she is everything to him and he can't foget her.We can feel the atmosphere of the poetry,listening it.This poetry helps us to uderstand that nowadays there are a lot of such events like that, one person loves but another not.There is no mutuality,and it's terrible, indifference makes a peson suffer and it destroys him from within!(Makarova E)
ОтветитьУдалитьWhile listening to this poem I really had creepy felling!!! The poem is amazing. The voice of this man sounds perfectly and music behind touches the spirit. I read the poems but I’ve never listened to them that’s why I’d like to say that when you listen to the poem you’re getting more excited than you read it. Fascinating!!! You can close your eyes and imagine that picture that was described by the narrator. It’s touching (but I didn’t burst into tears))).(Tsiganov Ivan)
ОтветитьУдалитьI paid special attention that a lot of obsolete words were used. So, I think that this poem requires a thoughtful reading. This is not the first of his poems I read, I can say that his poems are inspirational.)))
It is touching, really. Music is perfect, it might sound sad, somehow, but it fits to the content. You are absorbed in that atmosphere.
ОтветитьУдалить«When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years…» It makes me feel creepy….They haven’t any quarrel, excuse….just a broken heart. Of course, if a person has experienced in love, he can imagine that tense and atmosphere as it really was. No doubt it makes a reader think over smth, we involuntarily begin to search the answer of his last question in our souls. «How should I greet thee - with silence and tears?»
Anzhelika K.
Byron is a genius! He touched upon the themes that are popular nowadays.My groupmates are right,the music is majestic, the verse is brilliant. The style doesn't need to be described, because everything is perfect in it. So, I enjoyed myself while listening to it)))
ОтветитьУдалитьWow..I just couldn’t utter a word. To say that I’m impressed - to say nothing. I listened to it before reading the poem itself and from the first very seconds I felt as if bitterness and pain rushed on me at once. It’s smth impossible, I’ve never been impressed to such an extent by LISTENING to the poem. I’d like to point out, that being able to reveal your feelings, emotions in a lyric way is a great talent, it’s undisputable, but… Being able to reproduce the poem understanding the depth of the feelings, especially feelings conveying the most intimate, secret and fragile parts of our souls in an accurate way is beyond my imagination. It is more rare talent, I think. Then I’ve read the poem “When we parted” both in the original and the interpretation of Marshak and I can’t say for sure that I liked it very much. Of course, the language is perfect, the rhythm but smth was really missed. In my opinion, only the person who experienced that parting on his own skin, who has been there will succeed in reproducing the poem without missing any details. The poem touches you, every piece of your body. The narrator’s voice rushes through your veins and drag out all panful moments in your life. It’s really addressed to you personally and everyone feels it.
ОтветитьУдалитьSpeaking about the author, I’ve read the article about him and found out that he had a secret affair with Lady Frances Wedderburn Webster and she was linked to the Duke of Wellington in a scandalous relationship. Besides, the poem is considered to be highly autobiographical. So, I came to the conclusion that the author had been bewildered by unfaithfulness, betrayal of his beloved. But what impressed me most was the fact that it was a secret “In secret we met - in silence I grieve”. Nobody knows about their love, their relationships. The author might be feeling unfair, because it was he who had been deceived, he wanted to scream, to shout about his pain, sorrow, but he had nothing to do but to grieve in silence, otherwise he would betray his lover, he loved her too much, but suffered too much to tell about it. That’s why he expressed it through the poetry.
“Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame;
I hear thy name spoken,
And share in its shame.”
All he believed, all he loved and the whole his world broke at once in shame.
“They name thee before me, a knell to mine ear” makes me shiver, it sounds so desperate, I couldn’t bear it.
Byron ends the poem predicting his reaction at some future meeting years later: how would he greet her? Again there would be silence, but also sadness: “silence and tears”. His pain will not diminish, nor his sense of being wronged by her actions, even after many years.
The parallel of “silence and tears” at the beginning and end of the poem denotes the poet’s inability to leave his moment of pain behind. He is trapped in a state of grieving a lost love but all he can do just grieving alone.
This poem is truly awesome! While reading it, I couldn’t help feeling goosy. I kept asking myself: is that about me? How do they know my broken-heart story? I guess this kind of story has happened to everyone, especially at the young age, when you don’t know what love is, when you believe that your first love story is going to last forever. When your heart is broken and you don’t believe anyone who tells you that you will think about it with a smile on your face. Well, that’s what I was thinking of while listening to the poem and watching the video. The story is obviously typical, but the language of George Gordon Byron is unique and touching. I guess that “heart-broken” feeling is one the strongest one among all of them. I can only guess what happened to a couple that they decided to break up. From the very beginning with such words: “When we two parted in silence and tears…” I became sad and curious about what could have happened to them… But the point was to imagine and feel that man’s sorrow. Actually I did, this poem is definitely touching. When I was reading the poem, I imagined myself being at the author’s place, trying to overcome the sorrow of breaking up with the love of my life. I guess this is a real talent of George Byron- touch the bottom of the heart. This poem is definitely worth being one of the favorite.
ОтветитьУдалитьAs it was mentioned in the task, first of all, I’ve listened to Byron's poem in Your Blog, and only then I’ve read it in original, and then translated version. When I’ve been listening to the poem, I was gripped of strong feelings and, perhaps, it was a feeling of fear. Same as you mentioned in your blog, when I was listening to the poem, I got a feeling that the words were addressed directly to me. For a few seconds, I felt shame for the pain inflicted on the speaker. It is impossible to reproduce in words what feelings were inside me. When I’ve been reading the poem in original, it seemed to me that I have experienced all those feelings with Byron. I am sure, that such a sensual and touching poem can be written only by one, who has felt such a breakup on himself. And when I’ve been reading the poem, translated by Marshak, it seemed to me too simple and calm, not reproduce all the pain of a person.
ОтветитьУдалитьThis poem contains a subtle connection between the past, present and future, which shows the stability and immutability of the person’s feelings. The poem reveals a love story, that has happened secretly. And finally, the feelings of the man are betrayed and in his own words he blames his lover for this. He foresaw the outcome of this relationship. And now he is gripped by a terrible feeling of sadness, because he has strong feelings for a woman and knows her like no other does. He is forced to remain silent about his feelings and pain, so as not to betray their secret relationship, he also wants to forget her. But from the poem it is clear that this is impossible, since the author already mentions a future meeting with her, when he will experience the same feelings. The last lines confirm the sincerity and eternity of his love, moreover this woman will forever remain in his heart.
During listening to and reading this poem, you unintentionally begin to think about the full story of this love. Especially, why the man did nothing when he had a foreboding of fading feelings, or how long they continued their secret meetings and how they spent them and why it was impossible to make this relationship official. Questions may be stupid, but each love story is different in its own way.
The poem, that Byron wrote is very sensual and permeates to the core. It’s common knowledge that Byron by himself went through difficult love relationships and it was those feelings that prompted him to write this poem in the difficult time of his life.
This poem is worth reading, as well as memorizing it. I’ve listened to and read it in original many times in order to thoroughly feel every line of the poem. And I did not regret it at all.
Чернышук Елена 401ан
After listening to the poem, I caught myself thinking that I had heard these words earlier, and in a female version. And I just could not remember where and when I could hear it. As it turned out, I heard a song based on the words of this poem. It's interesting that having many songs in our playlist, we sometimes don’t think about the fact that some songs have lyrics written by well-known writers a long time ago.
ОтветитьУдалитьThis poem prompts me to think about what could happen to people and what made them leave each other. Were these people truly happy together? What joyful moments did they experience? And the main question: did this woman love him the way he loved her? The poem speaks more about unrequited love, about how it hurts the man to lose the beloved woman, that even the mention of her name causes pain. I have the impression that the woman did not love him as much as the character of the poem loved her. And now the couple is going through a period of “silence and tears,” when they have nothing to say to each other, when so many offensive and terrible words and reproaches were said to each other that shame and possibly pride make it impossible to rectify the situation. The end of the poem shows that the man’s pain is so strong that he believes that it will remain in his heart after many years.
Speaking about the translation of the original text, I want to note that it is always difficult to translate a poem so as to preserve its rhythm and melody and show the features of the language and style of the author. Marshak, in my opinion, created an excellent version of the translation, but it is, in my opinion, more authorial, and I understand why. Literal translation would be quite difficult for the Russian language.
The poem made an incredible impression on me. How amazing that this little poem can contribute to so many thoughts. As for the performance itself, the voice of a man reading a poem is appropriate for this poem, that is even difficult to imagine that another actor is reading it.
Худякова Дарья 401 ан
Елене Ч.
ОтветитьУдалитьYes, each love story is unique. Yet, the feelings that overwhelm you when you lose your second half (as you thought) are similar. A bitter sense of loss, emptiness, vacuum that nothing can refill. There’s just one thing I wouldn’t agree - he doesn’t blame her. Jealous maybe, suffering definitely, but blaming?
Дарье Х.
Both the voice and visual representation are great, a rare case of absolute congruence with the text. They really make a lasting impression. Speaking about translations, I’d partially agree. Marshak is a genius in the realm of translators. Here he tried to preserve the number of syllables in a line and he rendered the meanig close to the original. You know what? Might it be the video that creates this impact? Beautifully done!
Have a look at this, ladies:
Не только Ромео и Джульетте посвящается https://irina-alicelovers.blogspot.com/2019/02/blog-post_13.html Any emotional response?
In a four stanza poem, Lord Byron was able to thoroughly elucidate the range of emotions that a person can feel at the onset of break up from a secret relationship, and after the separation has occurred.Before that, I had never heard these lines. When I first turned on the video, I thought that the author would only talk about one thought and it would be boring. However, the reader took me with him into the world of broken feelings.
ОтветитьУдалить"It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now."
At that moment, goose bumps went. Although the reader did not use loud intonations and did not raise his voice. But nevertheless, he conveyed all the sadness of parting. And the lines that are repeated, I did not take seriously the first time, but the second time they already had a deep meaning.
Love has existed at all times and it always manifests itself in different ways, so the topic of love is always relevant and capable of reviving different emotions.
Касьянова И. 401ан
Making a video in a modern setting is a great way to make young people interested in the English poetry of the 18th century :)
ОтветитьУдалитьWhat in your opinion is missing in the Russian translation?
If only young people were open to listening (a sigh).
УдалитьWhat‘s missing? A lot. The rhythm is upset as the number of syllables in a line is different. Marshak’s version sounds simpler due to the choice of words. To sever for years – надолго с тобой. ! The comparative analysis can be longer. The point is the atmosphere is gone! That abyss of despair in the original turns to meek acceptance in Russian text. What do you think?
while reading the poem, I closed my eyes and presented the picture that the narrator described, I cried .. . I paid particular attention to the fact that many obsolete words were used. So, I think this poem requires a thoughtful reading. This is not the first of his poems that I read, I can say that his poems are inspiring.
ОтветитьУдалитьБурик К.С.
The poem opens with a stark, almost clinical declaration: "When we two parted / In silence and tears." Boom. No flowery introductions, no romantic preludes. We're dropped straight into the aftermath, a battlefield of shattered emotions. Byron doesn't offer excuses or explanations, just the blunt reality of separation, emphasized by the haunting "silence and tears."
ОтветитьУдалитьBut it's the lines about shame that truly resonate: "Pale grew thy cheek and cold, / Colder thy kiss." The physical details paint a vivid picture of a dying love. The "colder thy kiss" is a brutal betrayal, a chilling rejection that cuts deeper than any shouted accusation.
As the poem progresses, the present tense intrudes with agonizing clarity: "How should I greet thee? - / With silence and tears." The past echoes in the present, the initial parting forever casting a shadow on any future encounter. The question is rhetorical, of course. There is no greeting possible, only the same "silence and tears" that marked the beginning of the end. The cyclical nature of the grief is relentless.
I think it's not just a poem about love and loss; it's a deep exploration of human emotions that remains relevant and resonates with readers of all times.
You did read it, Liza, in a profound way, and analyzed, too. I didn't offer any analysis in the post writing it with another intention, you probably understand. But I expressed my emotions. I hope. you suffered together with the rejected lover.
УдалитьByron's poem cuts to the depths of the soul. The reader conveyed all the emotions with such precision that I felt as if these lines were written for me. Byron conveys to readers a sense of loss and the pain of separation.
ОтветитьУдалитьEach line carries its own significance and describes the breakup as a great mental pain.
From the very first lines, I felt an atmosphere of deep sadness: "In silence and tears".
The broken heart: "Half broken-hearted to sever for years" that the hero is talking about is the wound that the breakup caused.
"In secret we met / In silence I grieve"- It was with deep pain in my soul that I read these lines, because there is nothing harder than seeing someone you loved and pretending that you don't know each other.
In this poem, Byron masterfully conveys the painful feeling of loss and betrayal through sensual images: cold, pallor, tears, trembling. He shows how love gradually fades away, leaving behind only painful silence and deep sorrow. This poetic work reveals the universal theme of suffering from a broken heart, which makes it relevant and touching for readers of different eras.
Пасько Валерия 401ан