Seared in heart

In Fare thee well there is much talk by the poet of hearts, both his and his estranged wife?s. The language is radically different from the "Dedication" to Don Juan in that is often highly evocative, particularly of "hearts". For example: ?Gainst thee shall my heart rebel.? And: ?Hearts can thus be torn away.? Further: ?Still, must mine, most bleeding beat;? The very meter of the poem often seems meant to evoke the stead beating of a heart. And yet, the most crucial appearance of ?heart? occurs in the last stanza. Byron writes, ?Seared in heart, and lone, and blighted,/More than this I scarce can die.? The Oxford English Dictionary defines seared as ?Dried up, parched, or withered.? This seems appropriate, considering the short, seemingly aborted lines that compose the poem. The second definition given is ?cauterized . . . (figuratively) rendered incapable of feeling.? This is the essential point, that this is a sentimental poem written by a man incapable of sentiment. Knowing this, we can reconcile stanzas such as two, which opens with an image of a lover lying her head on the breast of the poet, and closes with the prediction that the (now ex-) lover will never sleep so well again. The poet's feelings are stunted and immature, and his contention is that this is a result of the estrangement from his wife.