I grieve and dare not show my discontent,
I love and yet am forced to seem to hate,
I do, yet dare not say I ever meant,
I seem stark mute but inwardly to prate.
I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned.
Since from myself another self I turned.
My care is like my shadow in the sun,
Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it,
Stands and lies by me, doth what I have done.
His too familiar care doth make me rue it.
No means I find to rid him from my breast,
Till by the end of things it be supprest.
Some gentler passion slide into my mind,
For I am soft and made of melting snow;
Or be more cruel, love, and so be kind.
Let me or float or sink, be high or low.
Or let me live with some more sweet content,
Or die and so forget what love ere meant.
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very good
I think that this poem is more what Elizabeth I was and what her life was at the time and I hope to learn from this and the writing is very well written during that time. I loved to read what the royals have written from the past and future. -
The paradox of being "frozen" and "burning are wonderful insights of this mighty monarch. A woman consumed with passion, and yet having to put aside so much in order to help re-establish her country. She felt she had to appear strong to her subjects, yet admits she is "soft and made of melting snow." Makes me wonder if Princess Diane ever wrote poetry.
This work is a wonderful reminder that those in power have feelings and are just as human as we are. -
From guest Alya (contact)
it is so confusing for the Queen had written this poem between 1568 and 1570. Her relationship with Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex,began when she was fifty-three which is in year 1587. so according to this information is wouldnt be possible that she had written it for the Earl of Essex
i hope that someone could clarify this for me
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It seems unlikely that Elizabeth was unaware of Robert's first marriage, to Amy Robsart, in 1550, as she attended the wedding!
He remarried either once or twice (depending who you believe), but not until after this poem was written. Douglas Howard, Lady Sheffield, claimed that he had married her in a secret ceremony (I'm not sure when this marriage is supposed to have taken place; even today it's a subject of controversy, but it would likely have been in the early 1570s). He denied this, although he did admit to being the father of her son (born in 1573 or '74) and was evidently a good father.
He married Elizabeth's cousin Lettice Knollys (Mary Boleyn's granddaughter, and the widow of Walter Devereaux, 1st Earl of Essex) in 1578. This did provoke Elizabeth's famous temper. -
Hey thanks Gwen, that was really helpful. I was doing an analysis on the poem and I kept finding different results, but your comment makes a lot of sense.
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being an elizabethian history major many think this poem was written for the duke of france it was not it was written for robert dudley the queens favorite when she found out he was married Elizabeth was an enigma even to herself it is said her dual nature helped her to rule a nation the when she inheritated the state of it was in so much disrepair there was no hope of it recovering and because she felt "married" to england she felt she could not think of her own personal feelings what a sad way to live I would suspect...but then again I can sympathize very much with this poem in my own life as well nothing is ever what other may see from you
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well, it's a piece of intricate details conformed with a hidden meanings everywhere.
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A very sad lyrical poem, with a well written lementing tone. Deeply moving and very sad. Fatastic.
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8/10
'Or die and so forget what love ere meant' That is a good last line, that is a good line period.
A good piece here.
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