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by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)
Translation by Alexis Paulin Pâris (1800 - 1881)

When we two parted
Language: English 
Our translations:  CHI
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.

The dew of the morning
    Sunk chill on my brow -- 
It felt like the warning
    Of what I feel now. 
Thy vows are all broken,
    And light is thy fame; 
I hear thy name spoken,
    And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,
    A knell to mine ear; 
A shudder comes o'er me --
    Why wert thou so dear? 
They know not I knew thee,
    Who knew thee too well:-- 
Long, long shall I rue thee,
    Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met --
    In silence I grieve 
That thy heart could forget,
    Thy spirit deceive. 
If I should meet thee
    After long years, 
How should I greet thee? --
    With silence and tears.

J. Ellerton sets stanza 3 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), "When we two parted", appears in Poems, first published 1816 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by J. Alexander , "When we two parted", published 1909 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ], partsong [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Henry Robinson Allen (1809 - 1876), "When we two parted" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Frances Allitsen (1848 - 1912), "When we two parted", published 1897 [ voice and piano ], London & New York: Boosey & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Mark Andrews (1875 - 1939), "When we two parted", published 1925 [ men's chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Catherine Armstrong , "When we two parted", published 1875 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by A. Barlow, Miss , "When we two parted", published 1904 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by William Richard Bexfield (1824 - 1853), "When we two parted", op. 4, published 1848 [ low voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Ruth Fisher Braun , "When we two parted" [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Horace Cadogan , "When we two parted", published 1885 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Alfred James Caldicott (1842 - 1897), "Parted", published 1897 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "With silence and tears", 1941 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by (Harry) Wolseley Charles (1889 - 1962), "When we two parted", published 1899 [ alto or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by John Clarke-Whitfeld (1770 - 1836), "The parting", published 1816 [ voice and piano ], from Twelve Vocal Pieces [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Ambrose H. Comfort , "When we two parted", published 1884 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Cecil Dorling , "When we two parted", published 1910 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by George Vincent Duval , "When we two parted", published 1830? [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by John Lodge Ellerton (1801 - 1873), no title, 1824 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by John Lodge Ellerton (1801 - 1873), "They name thee before me", published 1826, stanza 3 [ voice and piano ], from Six Canzonets [sung text not yet checked]
  • by James William Elliott (1833 - 1915), "When we two parted", 1853 [ voice and piano ], first published in Vocalist, May 1902 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Roland Farley (1892 - 1932), "When we two parted", published 1924 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Horatia Feilding , "When last we parted", published 1830? [ chorus and piano ], from Six songs, no. 5, London : T. Boosey & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Horatia Fielding , "When last we parted", published 1843 [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs, note: text has been changed by composer; variants not shown [sung text not yet checked]
  • by R. Rashleigh Glendenning , "When we two parted", published 1897 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Four Lyrics [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Horton Harris (b. 1938), "When we two parted", 1961 [ voice and piano ], from Three Byron Songs [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Richard Frederick Harvey , "When we two parted", published 1863 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Maria Billington Hawes (1816 - 1886), "When we two parted", published 1856 [ duet for soprano and alto with piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Sophie E. Hudson , "When we two parted", published 1883 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by John Adam Hugo , "When we two parted", published 1919 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Philip Knapton (1788 - 1833), "When we two parted", published 1819 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Joseph Philip Knight (1812 - 1887), "When we two parted", published 1835? [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Henry James Lane-Wilson , "When we two parted", published 1912 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by George Linley (1798 - 1865), "When we two parted", published 1854 [ voice and piano ], from An Evening with Byron [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Somerset C. Lowry , "After long years", published 1879 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Clarence Lucas (1866 - 1947), "When we two parted", published 1894 [ baritone and piano ], from Album of 6 Baritone Songs [sung text not yet checked]
  • by George Alexander MacFarren (1813 - 1887), "When we two parted", published 1859 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Oskar Morawetz (b. 1917), "When we two parted", 1949 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Peter Nash , "When we two parted", published 1924 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Isaac Nathan (1790 - 1864), "When we two parted", published 1817 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Robert Owens (1925 - 2017), "When we two parted" [ tenor and piano ], from Stanzas for Music, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "When we two parted", 1895-6, published 1896 [ voice and piano ], from English Lyrics, Fourth Set, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Henry Hugo Pierson (1816 - 1873), "When we two parted", published 1839 [ voice and piano ], from Thoughts of Melody [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Percy Pitt (1870 - 1932), "When we two parted", <<1932 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Edmund Rogers (b. 1851), "When we two parted", published 1876 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by C. Rudolphus , "When we two parted", published 1835? [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Serge Saxe , "When we two parted", published 1944 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Georgina Schuyler , "When we two parted", published 1875 [ alto or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Charles Louis Seeger, Jr. (1886 - 1979), "When we two parted", published 1911 [ high voice and piano ], from Seven Songs [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Thomas Wilkinson Stephenson , "When we two parted", published 1920 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Cyril Thornton , "When we two parted", published 1869 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Denise Tolkowsky (1918 - 1991), "When we two parted", op. 36 no. 3 (1952), published 1952 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Three songs of parting, no. 3, Antwerp [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Wilbraham John Tollemache , "When we two parted", published 1887 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by George Tomling , "When we two parted", published 1904 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Bryceson Treharne (1879 - 1948), "When we two parted", published 1918 [ voice and piano ], from Five Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Fructuoso de Lima Vianna (1896 - 1976), "When we two parted", 1962 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810 - 1876), "When we two parted", published 1832 [ soprano or tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Chee Yean Wong (b. 1979), "When We Two Parted" [ voice and piano ], from Five Songs, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by J. H. Wood , "When we two parted", published 1914 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
  • by T. Wallace Southam , "We'll go no more a-roving", published 1966, stanza 1 of [ voice and piano ], from Poetry Set in Jazz
    • View the full text. [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Charles Bial.
    • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by André Viaud ; composed by Yüksel Koptagel.
    • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Franz Hermann Schneider (1860 - 1930) ; composed by Émile Antoine Bruguière.
    • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
  • Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by V. Mefodiev.
    • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CHI Chinese (中文) (Mei Foong Ang) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Alexis Paulin Pâris)


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-23
Line count: 32
Word count: 144

Quand nous nous séparâmes l'un de...
Language: French (Français)  after the English 
Quand nous nous séparâmes l'un de l'autre,
dans le silence et dans les larmes,
le cœur déchiré et mourant à demi,
pour une absence de longues années;
pâle et froide devint ta joue;
et plus froid ton baiser.
En vérité, cette heure du passé prédit
les chagrins à l'heure d'aujourd'hui.

La rosée du matin
tomba glacée sur mon front;--
elle me donna comme un pressentiment
de ce que je sens aujourd'hui.
Tes sermens sont tous rompus,
et ta renommée sans honneur.
J'entends prononcer ton nom,
et j'ai part à la honte qui s'y attache.

On te nomme devant moi,--
oh! supplice pour mon oreille!
Un frisson me parcourt:--
pourquoi me fus-tu si chère?
On ne sait pas que je t'ai connue;
moi qui, hélas, t'ai connue trop bien:--
long-tems, ah! long-tems, je te maudirai,--
trop profondément pour parler.

En secret, nous nous sommes vus:--
en silence, je m'afflige
que ton cœur ait pu oublier,
et ton esprit s'abaisser à la perfidie.
Si je te revoyais jamais
après longues années,
comment t'accueillerais-je?--
Avec le silence et les larmes.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Alexis Paulin Pâris (1800 - 1881) [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), "When we two parted", appears in Poems, first published 1816
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2012-01-15
Line count: 32
Word count: 177

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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