Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONNET: 39 by THOMAS WYATT

Poet Analysis

First Line: I ABIDE AND ABIDE AND BETTER ABIDE
Last Line: "THAN TO SAY ""ABIDE' AND YET NOT OBTAIN."
Subject(s): LOVE;

I abide and abide and better abide
(And after the old proverb) the happy day;
And ever my lady to me doth say
"Let me alone and I will provide'.
I abide and abide and tarry the tide,
And with abiding speed well ye may!
Thus do I abide I wot alway
Not her obtaining nor yet denied.
Aye me! this long abiding
Seemeth to me as who sayeth
A prolonging of a dying death
Or a refusing of a desired thing.
Much were it better for to be plain
Than to say "abide' and yet not obtain.




Home: PoetryExplorer.net