Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONG: 7 by THOMAS WYATT

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHAT MEANETH THIS? WHEN I LIE ALONE?
Last Line: WHAT MEANETH THIS?
Subject(s): SLEEP;

What meaneth this? When I lie alone,
I toss, I turn, I sigh, I groan;
My bed me seems as hard as stone.
What meaneth this?

I sigh, I plain continually;
The clothes that on my bed do lie
Always methinks they lie awry:
What meaneth this?

In slumbers oft for fear I quake;
For heat and cold I burn and shake;
For lack of sleep my head doth ache:
What meaneth this?

A mornings then when I do rise
I turn unto my wonted guise;
All day after muse and devise
What meaneth this?

And if perchance by me there pass
She unto whom I sue for grace,
The cold blood forsaketh my face:
What meaneth this?

But if I sit near her by,
With loud voice my heart doth cry,
And yet my mouth is dumb and dry.
What meaneth this?

To ask for help no heart I have,
My tongue doth fail what I should crave,
Yet inwardly I rage and rave:
What meaneth this?

Thus have I passed many a year
And many a day, though naught appear;
But most of that that most I fear:
What meaneth this?



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