By Lord Byron (1816)
Fare thee well! and if for ever,
Still for ever, fare thee well —
Even though unforgiving, never
’Gainst thee shall my heart rebel.
Would that breast were bared before thee
Where thy head so oft hath lain,
While that placid sleep came o’er thee
Which thou ne’er canst know again:
…
Fare thee well! thus disunited,
Torn from every nearer tie,
Seared in heart, and lone, and blighted —
More than this I scarce can die.
Originally published in Poems (1816) by Lord Byron. Public domain.
Analysis
Composed during the collapse of Byron’s marriage, this public farewell strains to sound private. The refrain promises magnanimity while the imagery confesses wound and spectacle. The lyric’s tenderness is genuine, but so is its theater — a performance of hurt in a world eager to watch.
Formally the poem uses repetition to simulate steadiness, as if saying “fare thee well” often enough could make it true. Byron’s candor here is risky and human: he will not disguise the ache, yet he refuses revenge. What remains is a posture of injured grace — sorrow speaking in complete sentences.