When we two parted

In responding to/explicating this poem, do so with the assumption (supported by the statement "pale grew thy cheek") that the male speaker is addressing a female ex-lover. Focus in your explication on the speaker's tone and mood. In explicating what went on between these two, STICK to what we can tell FROM THE TEXT of the POEM.

We see that the speaker and this woman have had some sort of relationship that had ended, "When we two parted//In silence and tears" This wasn't a good end either, with both sides left distraught. "Half broken-hearted//To sever for years," so they've been separated for years at this time. The past relationship was secret if not from all, than at least from certain people who knew them both, "They know not I knew thee,//Who knew thee too well" I'm unsure about this last line. Does he mean that he knew her too well, or that her family or dear friends who knew her too well didn't know about their relationship? I'm leaning toward the latter. It seems like an awful sort of torture to socialize with those people after the relationship they didn't know about ended, but it would have been unacceptable not to were they still in the same social circle.

To me, this seems more like an outreach than a later meeting, especially considering the ending, "If I should meet thee//After long years" so they have not seen each other since they last parted. This man knows that his lover had grown cold to him back then, "Pale grew the cheek and cold,//Cold thy kiss" Perhaps their love wasn't just secret, but forbidden, "Thy vows are all broken,//And light is thy fame;//I hear thy name spoken,//And share in its shame." I feel this implies she was married during the time these two were lovers. He feels shame because he assisted in her breaking her vows. He still feels strongly about this woman or in the very least about their separation, "How should I greet thee!-//With silence and tears." He is pained by her name, her memory, but he still mourns the loss of her. "They name thee before me,//A knell to mine ear;//A shudder comes o'er me-//Why wert thou so dear?" This speaker is a man still much distressed by the affair with this woman. He is mournful and sorrowful, but not angry. I don't feel like there is even a hint of anger.