So, We’ll Go No More a-Roving

by Lord Byron

"So, we'll go no more a roving
So late into the night,
Though the heart be still as loving,
And the moon be still as bright."

So, We’ll Go No More a-Roving is a short poem that was included in a letter to Thomas Moore on February 28, 1817. Moore published the poem in 1830 as part of Letters and Journals of Lord Byron.

Lord Byron, or George Gordon Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in Romanticism. Amongst Byron's best-known works are the brief poems She Walks in Beauty, When We Two Parted, and So, We'll Go No More a-Roving, in addition to the narrative poems Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don Juan. He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets, and remains widely read and influential, both in the English-speaking world and beyond.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, British Literature, Literature, Romance

1 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 16, 2012

About the author

George Gordon Byron (invariably known as Lord Byron), later Noel, 6th Baron Byron of Rochdale FRS was a British poet and a leading figure in Romanticism. Amongst Byron's best-known works are the brief poems She Walks in Beauty, When We Two Parted, and So, we'll go no more a roving, in addition to the narrative poems Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don Juan. He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential, both in the English-speaking world and beyond.

Byron's notabilty rests not only on his writings but also on his life, which featured upper-class living, numerous love affairs, debts, and separation. He was notably described by Lady Caroline Lamb as "mad, bad, and dangerous to know". Byron served as a regional leader of Italy's revolutionary organization, the Carbonari, in its struggle against Austria. He later travelled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died from a fever contracted while in Messolonghi in Greece.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Lord Byron (1788-1824) sent his poem ‘So, we’ll go no more a roving’ to his friend Thomas Moore in a letter of 1817. Byron prefaced the poem with a few words: ‘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… Though I did not dissipate much upon the whole, yet I find 'the sword wearing out the scabbard,' though I have but just turned the corner of twenty nine.’ 'So, we’ll go no more a roving’ is about world-weariness and disillusionment: a quintessential theme of Byron’s poetry." https://interestingliterature.com/201...

[Emma]

"So, we'll go no more a roving
   So late into the night,
Though the heart be still as loving,
   And the moon be still as bright.

For the sword outwears its sheath,
   And the soul wears out the breast,
And the heart must pause to breathe,
   And love itself have rest.

Though the night was made for loving,
   And the day returns too soon,
Yet we'll go no more a roving
   By the light of the moon"

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Byron's simple style. To me this is a fresh contrast compared to the more complex Romantic poets.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 5 out of 5]

So We'll Go No More a Roving, by Lord Byron.
Simple and yet full of nostalgic longing and the reality of grief.
Reminds me of the Elves leaving the shores of Middle-Earth.
"For the sword outwears its sheath,
And the soul wears out the breast.."
How good is that!?
5/5 for the power of heartache.

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a bit of an odd poem, because I'm not quite sure if it's a love poem or a poem about a couple breaking off their love. It's pretty nonetheless, but it's odd.

[Beth Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful 🙏❤🍃

[jupman kaur · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK LOOK i understand what he was trying to say but he did not say it!

[Allyson Kling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably one of my favorite poems ever

[kat]

“And the heart must pause to breathe,
And love itself have rest.”

[Michaela Vajdová · Rating 5 out of 5]

And I 100% love the Leonard Cohen´s version!