Tuesday 25 April 2017

The Tragic Love Story of Byron

Literature, and poetry in particular, is often met with mixed feelings by teenagers. Sometimes, they think it's an old-fashioned form of writing which doesn't have a lot in common with their lives. To challenge that misconception, we have faced students with poems written by some of the best English poets of all time, and we have challenged the students to find a connection between themselves and the poems. We have done this by identifying the themes in each poem, and then, by linking them to current aspects of people's lives.
The students were then required to produce a piece of writing based on or inspired by the classic poem of their choice.

The story below was inspired by the following poem by Lord Byron:

When we two parted 
   In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted 
   To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold, 
   Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold 
   Sorrow to this.

The dew of the morning 
   Sunk chill on my brow-- 
It felt like the warning
   Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken, 
   And light is thy fame;
I hear thy name spoken, 
   And share in its shame.

They name thee before me, 
   A knell to mine ear;
A shudder comes o’er me--
   Why wert thou so dear?
They know not I knew thee, 
   Who knew thee too well--
Long, long shall I rue thee, 
   Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met--
   In silence I grieve,
That thy heart could forget, 
   Thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee 
   After long years,
How should I greet thee?--
   With silence and tears.
This is the story:

The Tragic Love Story of Byron

By: Alicia Donoso, Andrea Muñoz, Loreto Niño and Marta Rubio

Byron was sitting at the bar of his favourite pub, which he was visiting too much. His glass was getting emptier and emptier, at the same time as his heart. It had become an iceberg- he didn’t think he was capable of feeling again. His lover was on her way to Australia, where she would meet her fiancé. She had abandoned him without even saying goodbye.

He was thinking about the moment of his return to his personal prison, where his wife would welcome him with her false and cold personality. Their marriage was bound for disaster right from the beginning. Divorce wasn’t an option as half of his company would be for his wife; and if he desired anything more than his own happiness, this would be making more money.

TWO YEARS LATER

Byron could no longer stand the situation. He had to get rid of the only thing that kept him attached to his wife-his company. He would sell it for the best price he could get and he would finally sign the divorce papers to be free, at last. He found the perfect buyer while on a business trip to Australia. Finally, the evening when he would buy his freedom had come. He had organised an event to celebrate the sale, he had invited some investors and the future owner of his company. He had to stay positive. It would be the last event in which he would have to pretend that his marriage was perfect.

Just as he arrived, he approached the buyer, who was accompanied by his wife. Just a few metres apart, he noticed something- that scent, that voice, that face wasn’t new to him. When he saw the look of perplexity on the face of the woman that had once been his lover, he realised he wasn’t living an amazing dream. The person who was just a few steps away was the woman who had stolen his heart and taken it to the end of the world, and now, by some dictation of destiny, had met him again that night.

He apologized with the excuse of going to the bathroom, and when he was there he wrote down the idea that had come to his mind on a paper napkin, which he slipped inside the bag of his beloved at the first opportunity. He watched her all night, aware of her every movement, until he saw her take the napkin out. Shortly after that she went out to the balcony to take some fresh air. That was his chance. He met her under the stars and both decided to run away, because they had never stopped loving each other.

At dawn, the couple took a flight bound for Menorca, where they would celebrate being able to be together in the end. However, a great threat loomed over them, as their spouses carefully planned their revenge.

Byron and his beloved were on the beach, celebrating their first month of freedom with an intimate, candlelit dinner. When they took the first bit, they lost consciousness… those who they had left had poisoned their food.


Their love had left them to disaster… and their short freedom could not be enjoyed. 



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