Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONG: 8 by THOMAS WYATT

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHEN FIRST MINE EYES DID VIEW AND MARK
Last Line: OR ELSE THY HEART HAD BEEN AS MINE.
Subject(s): EYES; HEARTS; LIFE;

When first mine eyes did view and mark
Thy fair beauty to behold;
And when mine ears listened to hark
The pleasant words that thou me told,
I would as then I had been free
From ears to hear and eyes to see.

And when my lips gan first to move,
Whereby my heart to thee was known;
And when my tongue did talk of love
To thee that hast true love down thrown:
I would my lips and tongue also
Had then been dumb, no deal to go.

And when my hands have handled aught
That thee hath kept in memory;
And when my feet have gone, and sought
To find and get thy company,
I would each hand a foot had been,
And I each foot a hand had seen.

And when in mind I did consent
To follow this my fancy's will;
And when my heart did first relent
To taste such bait, my life to spill,
I would my heart had been as thine,
Or else thy heart had been as mine.



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