25-so we will go no more a roving Love Poems

So We'll Go No More a Roving

BY LORD BYRON (GEORGE GORDON)




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.
By the light of the moon.


So, we'll go no more a roving 
So late into the night, 


The speaker opens with some anaphora, repeating the same structure to begin each line: "so we'll go no more a roving / So late into the night." The word "rove" means "wander" or "roam." 

The speaker is saying that it's time stop wandering around aimlessly late into the night. It's also possible that he (and we just assume that it's a "he") is being metaphorical. 


There's a "we," so it's possible the speaker is talking to somebody else (a buddy, a girlfriend). He could also just be saying "we" to mean himself—people do that sometimes.

Though the heart be still as loving, 
And the moon be still as bright. 

The point is that even though the heart is very much alive, very much emotionally ready to go rove ("loving"), and even though the moon is still really bright (meaning they can wander around and still be able to see), it's time to stop.

Well why stop roving when the heart still wants to, and the bright moon is very inviting? Probably because there comes a time when you have to stop wandering and messing around.

For the sword outwears its sheath, 
And the soul wears out the breast, 

The speaker continues to explain the meaning of his decision to stop roving. A sword can only outwear its sheath (its holster or scabbard) after a long time. Eventually gets tired of the body and goes wherever souls go.


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

Well he is. The heart makes things a little tricky. He's probably thinking of the heart in a figurative sense as the source of motivation Sometimes, the heart needs a break from wanting to do things. If your heart is always obsessed with something, like roving, it can get tiresome.