RABE, JULFE T.
4Journalism
So We'll Go No More A-Roving
1 So we'll go no more a-roving
2 So late into the night,
3 Though the heart be still as loving,
4 And the moon be still as bright.
5 For the sword outwears its sheath,
6 And the soul wears out the breast,
7 And the heart must pause to breathe,
8 And Love itself have rest.
9 Though the night was made for loving,
10 And the day returns too soon,
11 Yet we'll go no more a-roving
12 By the light of the moon.
---Lord Byron
Life, pain, endurance, death. This is what Lord Byron's poem is all about. Unlike many other poets, Byron's creativity is outstanding: he uses the nature of life and its reality be transcribed in poetry. In his poem, So We'll Go No more A-Roving, a poem which depicts the almost endless journey, endurance and end of a miserable yet well-lived existence, he uses very simple words which magnifies the essential value of striving and resting; living and dying. The slow transformation and movement of words are piercing maybe because of the images' honesty in depicting life which is supported by journey, moon, night, soul, love, and rest. Though not clearly implied, he mentions that everything has its end, sooner or later, we too shall live and enjoy and pass and endure and resort to rest or death; stressing that even love itself blossoms and later fades away.
The way Byron wrote the poem may be understood as how he lived his life and therefore affected his general character of his mind and disposition which may be caused by his travel and adventure in which he had been.
Understanding the title itself, So We'll Go No More A-Roving, a reader can see that a man, just like Byron is opt to be in a journey, which is accepted as to be different but within the same destination. In can also be observed that
Byron, as the title stated is in a constant roving all his life: various places, different women, manifold experiences; a life that is meant for roving. Relating to Byron's life, he had his life's griefs indulged by writing melancholy poetry about the peculiraities of his childhood and adolescence, which intensified in him the normal trauma of his life. His ancestry, his incorrigible father, hi well-meaning but stupid
mother, his lameness, his precipitate and early elevation to the peerage, the parochialism of his early tutoring and schooling,
his inflammable yet warmly kaind and sensitive nature, his early exposure to sexual experience, his many youthful acquaintances
and few real friends all contribute to the formation of his character and the general contours of his life.
At a closer reading and interpreatation of the text, close reading of the text, it can be observed that all information essential to the interpretation of a work is found within the work itself.
Byron let the reader to spend time analyzing the irony, paradox, imagery, and metaphors present in the poem.Even the work's setting, characters, symbols, and point of view can be traced such as night, moon, sheath, sword, a-roving, etc.
which gives value because it affects the reader through
collection of objects, situations, or events that instantly evoke a particular emotion.
Byron also used rhyming scheme, meter, and good stanza form all throughout his work.
In line 1 and 2, So we'll go no more a-roving/So late into the night, the persona is implying that everybody has to accept the situation where they are now, no need to wander or roam thus be settled, and wait what the "night" or growing old will bring. No more a-roving here may imply contentment or rest, or eternal rest. Catching much attention here is the line so late into the night, "night" which signifies darkness, sadness, and death. It may befuddle the reader with the thought of using night as the symbol of death and concealment here; why night? Maybe, the persona involve has himself suffered in great pain and restless effort to survive despite the misfortunes in his early life (Byron's early life). In any case, his own experiences in the "day" served as an inspiration to others in facing life's
disappointments and his lameness, if not its utter darkness. Night here can also be understood as a place for his isolation, perhaps a symbol of the insurmountable obstacles to his fulfillment.
The term a-roving at first glance here can lead to confusion because of its awkward or unusual usage. Citing the explanation of The American Heritage®:
Our Living Language Prefixing a- to verb forms ending in -ing, as in a-hunting and a-fishing, was once fairly common in vernacular U.S. speech, particularly in the highland areas of the South and in the Southwest. Such verb forms derive from an Old English construction in which a preposition, usually on, was placed in front of a verbal noun
a verb to which -ing had been added to indicate that the action was extended or ongoing. Gradually such prepositions were shortened to a- by the common linguistic process that shortens or drops unaccented syllables. The -ing forms came to be regarded as present participles rather than verbal nouns, and the use of a- was extended to genuine present participles as well as to verbal nouns. Eventually a- disappeared from many dialects, including Standard English in the United States and Great Britain, although it is still retained today in some isolated dialect areas, particularly among older speakers. Today, speakers who use the a- prefix do not use it with all -ing words, nor do they use it randomly. Rather, a- is only used with -ing words that function as part of a verb phrase, as in She was a-running.
---The American Heritage® (Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition;Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.):
The number 3 and 4 lines: Though the heart be still as loving,/And the moon be still as bright. indicates that despite of the vulnerablity of Byron to continue his travel because of the "night", he still has the power to love or endure even in the verge of facing the new life called death, but time tells him so to rest.
The lines:
5 For the sword outwears its sheath,
6 And the soul wears out the breast,
7 And the heart must pause to breathe,
8 And Love itself have rest.
---are great images portraying powerlessness, adulthood, and surrender. The words which may support these images is the presence of outwears (carry on, carry through, endure); wears out (afflict, weaken), pause (meditate), and rest (surrender or die). In the fifth line, sword here may represent the ability of Byron to use his skills and wisdom to sustain life; which he accomplished by using his sheat, (a case for a blade, as of a sword) the courage and the determination he once needed in his early life.
The sixth line which uses the symbol of the soul wearing out the breast, Byron states that soul (as a faculty of thought, action, and emotion), weakens the breast (the seat of affection and emotion: “Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast” -Shakespeare). Thus, implying that what the soul wants can no longer be fulfilled by the heart--- for the heart must pause to breathe/And Love itself have rest because of its vulnerability.
In the ninth to twelveth lines,
9 Though the night was made for loving,
10 And the day returns too soon,
11 Yet we'll go no more a-roving
12 By the light of the moon.,
---it can be observed that even then, night is associated mainly as for loving. In the case of Byron, the poem stresses that though it is still possible for him to love or let live, he can no longer do it because the day returns too soon, which perhaps means that another "day" is to come, a new day, death, is coming. In the literal sense, it may state that it is important to rest as soon as possible because the new day, is near to come requiring him to rest to renew his strength.
The eleventh and twelveth line, Yet we'll go no more a-roving/By the light of the moon., it can be felt that Byron is though determined and dauntful is no longer powerful to continue the journey of his life, letting him decide to go no more a-roving.
True, there is no greater works than writing about one's own experiences or everyday encounter in the realities of life. Just like Lord Byron, we too shall love, be loved, and travel our world. And by then, we too shall pass and end this journey by saying, We'll Go No More A-Roving.
Lord Byron
George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron, was born 22 January 1788 in London and died 19 April 1824 in Missolonghi, Greece. He was among the most famous of the English 'Romantic' poets; his contemporaries included Percy Shelley and John Keats. He was also a satirist whose poetry and personality captured the imagination of Europe. His major works include Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812-18) and Don Juan (1819-24). He died of fever and exposure while engaged in the Greek struggle for independence.
The spring of 1824 was wet and miserable, and it unfortunately caught Byron while he was still weak from the convulsive fits of mid-February. He continued to carry out his duties and seemed on the path to certain recovery. But in early April he was caught outdoors in a rainstorm; though drenched and chilled, he did not hurry home. Unfortunately, he caught a violent cold which was soon aggravated by the bleeding insisted on by the doctors. Though he briefly rallied, the cold grew worse; he eventually slipped into a coma. Around six o'clock in the evening of 19 April 1824, he passed away.
Deeply mourned by the Greeks, he became a hero throughout their land. His body was embalmed; the heart was removed and buried in Missolonghi. His remains were then sent to England and, refused burial in Westminster Abbey, placed in the vault of his ancestors near Newstead. Ironically, 145 years after his death, in 1969, a memorial to Byron was finally placed on the floor of the Abbey.
