Thomas Wyatt

Of the Pains and Sorrows caused by Love

WHAT meaneth this! when I lie alone  
I toss, I turn, I sigh, I groan;  
My bed me seems as hard as stone:  
       What means this?  
I sigh, I plain continually;
The clothes that on my bed do lie,  
Always me think they lie awry;  
       What means this?  
In slumbers oft for fear I quake;  
For heat and cold I burn and shake;
For lack of sleep my head doth ake;  
       What means this?  
A mornings then when I do rise,  
I turn unto my wonted guise,  
All day after muse and devise;
       What means this?  
And if perchance by me there pass,  
She, unto whom I sue for grace,  
The cold blood forsaketh my face;  
       What means this?
But if I sit near her by,  
With loud voice my heart doth cry,  
And yet my mouth is dumb and dry;  
       What means this?  
To ask for help no heart I have;
My tongue doth fail what I should crave;  
Yet inwardly I rage and rave;  
       What means this?  
Thus have I passed many a year,  
And many a day, though nought appear,
But most of that that most I fear;  
       What means this?
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