Date: Byron composed the first draft ‘Fare Thee Well’ on 18 March 1816. In April, he signed a deed of separation from his wife Annabella Milbanke. He enclosed the poem in a letter to his wife in later March 1816:

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.
This at such a moment may look like affectation, but it is not so. The language of all nations nearest to a state of nature is said to be Poetry. I know not how this may be; but this I know.
You know that the lover, the lunatic, and the poet are “of imagination all compact.” I am afraid you have hitherto seen me only as the two first, but I would fain hope there is nothing in the last to add to grievances you may have against the former.

Source:

• Lord Byron, Byron’s Letters and Journals: “So Late Into the Night”, ed. by Leslie A. Marchand (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1976), pp. 51-52

The essence of the poem is Byron’s attempt to retrieve his reputation. His former wife had strong moral standards and attracted sympathy rather than approbrium for leaving him. Byron attempted to redeem himself by reminding her of the positives in their relationship and their moments of intimacy. He presents himself as the victim, rather than the villain which — at least to the modern reader — doesn’t help his cause.

Structure
The poem comprises fifteen quatrains, that is stanzas of four lines each. There is a regular interlocking ABAB rhyme pattern. There is a gentle rhythm that suggests acceptance rather than anger.

Language and Imagery
The poet uses the first person singular pronoun, addressing his former wife with the archiac, intimate ‘thee’, which suggests continued affection, despite everything. The tone is apologetic, self-blaming, yet at the same time self-excusing. Stanza five is a good example, The effect is open to interpretation. Is this a man truly sorry that his marriage has failed?

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..