Fare Thee Well is an 1816

1816 in poetry

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* This year was known as the "Year Without a Summer" after Mount Tambora had erupted in the Dutch East Indies the previous year and cast enough ash in to the atmosphere to block out the sun and cause...

 poem by George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, FRS , commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement...

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Background

Lord Byron married and fathered a child with Annabella Milbanke in 1815, but they separated in 1816. In March of that year, Byron composed "Fare Thee Well" and enclosed a note that said, "Dearest Bell --- I send you the first verses that ever I attempted to write upon you, and perhaps the last that I may ever write at all."

In April he signed a Deed of Separation and added the following notation . . .

A year ago, you swore, fond she !

"To love, to honour," and so forth:

Such was the vow you pledged to me,

And here's exactly what 'tis worth.

Byron left England and never saw his wife or daughter again.