Poem of the Day: Since There’s No help by Michael Drayton

The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland)

Byline: Lesley Duncan

MUCH of the love poetry of the 16th and 17th centuries seems to deal with artificial sentiment. But I have always thought that this sonnet by Michael Drayton (1563-1631), in spite of its formalities, springs from real feelings and real hurt, particularly in the last lines where his philosophical stance in the face of his loss is shown to be so fragile (and reversible).

SINCE THERE’S NO HELP

Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part,

Nay, I have done; You get no more of Me,

And I am glad, yea glad with all my heart,

That thus so cleanly I my self can free.

Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows,

And when we meet at any time again,

Be it not seen in either of our brows,

That we one jot of former love retain;

Now at the last gasp, of Love’s latest breath,

When his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies,

When Faith is kneeling by his bed of Death,

And Innocence is closing up his eyes,

Now if thou woulds’t, when all have given him over,

From Death to Life, thou mights’t him still recover.

Source Citation:

Duncan, Lesley. “Poem of the Day: Since There’s No help by Michael Drayton.” Herald [Glasgow, Scotland] 1 Oct. 2016. Business Insights: Global. Web. 23 Aug. 2021.

URL
http://bi.gale.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/global/article/GALEA535161431?u=ashford

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