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About

Genius Annotation

“We’ll go no more a-roving” is a poem included in a letter Byron wrote to his friend Thomas Moore (February 28, 1817), explaining that “I find ‘the sword wearing out the scabbard,’ though I have but just turned the corner of twenty nine.” Byron was a very famous socialite, present at parties throughout “the season.” This poem is about his breaking off all such activities because:

At present, I am on the invalid regimen myself. The Carnival–that is, the latter part of it, and sitting up late o' nights–had knocked me up a little. But it is over–and it is now Lent, with all its abstinence and sacred music…

[Thomas Moore, Letters and Journals of Lord Byron (1830)]

Byron appears to have based the poem’s refrain on the Scottish ballad “The Jolly Beggar,”.

Structure
The poem is made up of three quatrains or four-lined stanzas. There is a regular interlocking ABAB rhyme scheme in each stanza. The metrical rythm is a mix of anapests — two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable —and imabs — one unstressed followed by a stressed syllable. The effect is light and jaunty, appropriate for a poem about over-indulgent and later half-hearted regret.

Language and Imagery
The voice is that of a speaker who is probebly the poet, using the first person plural pronoun ‘we’. The identity of the second person is unknown. The tone is somewhat sardonic, regretful, so the reaeder is unsure how seriously to take what is said.

The dominant image is that of night and moonlight, represntating the time when the speaker indulges in drink and the pursuit of women. The ‘sword’ that ‘outwears its sheath’ is a memorable image with erotic undertones.

About the Romantic Poets
Byron was one of the ‘big six’ Romantic Poets, the others being Shelley, Worsdsworh, Coleridge, Blake and Keats.

A tenet of Romantic poetry is its focus on nature. The use of the word ‘wild’ evokes the supernatural and man’s insignificance in comparison to the natural world. It was a turbulent time when the Napoleonic Wars had not long ended and Europe was in a state of flux and unrest. In England the infamous Peterloo Massacre had occurred in August 1819, when cavalry charged into a crowd demonstrating against poor economic conditions and lack of parliamentary representation in the north of England..

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Credits
Written By
Release Date
February 28, 1817
Songs That Interpolate So, we’ll go no more a-roving
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