When We Two Parted

“Go—Triumph securely” by Lord Byron (1814, published 1870)

This poem, published posthumously in Australia in 1870, is a reprint of George Gordon Byron’s rant at another lover, Caroline Lamb, with whom he had a tumultuous relationship. The poem is angry and does not hold the same level of regret that “When We Two Parted” does. However, several sentiments are similar, including “Go—triumph securely—the treacherous vow / Thou hast broken, I keep” (Lines 1-2) and “never again shall thou be to my heart / What thou wert—what I fear for a moment thou art” (Lines 3-4). Byron also includes lines identical to the excised fifth stanza of “When We Two Parted” (Lines 14-16). The poem was unpublished in Byron’s lifetime. The newspaper that published the poem notes the error in dictation of lines from another source but misses that the date of composition is incorrect. The original sources said the poem was written in “autumn 1814 before the second proposal to Miss Millbanke, and after he had been thrown over by Lady F. W. W. in favour of an illustrious warrior.” This reference to Frances perpetuates the idea that she threw Byron over, mistaking her involvement with Wellington as occurring a year earlier than it did.