Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part
A brief analysis of the sonnet by Michael Drayton
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 myself 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 wouldst, when all have given him over,
From death to life thou might'st him yet recover.
Michael Drayton’s sonnet, “Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part”, follows the basic Shakespearian sonnet structure, consisting of fourteen lines of verse broken into an octave followed by a sestet. The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. It is written as iambic pentameter - ten syllables per line and five stresses on alternating syllables. The turn is clearly identifiable at the start of line nine by the use of the word “Now” and becomes more evident through the change in tone and speaker.
It’s possible that the octave is spoken by a man to the woman who he has loved on the termination of their relationship. Line one is fairly gentle suggesting that they could have been the actual words which he used. The use of caesura - the dash at the end of this line - causes the reader to pause as the remaining seven lines spiral towards vitriol and near bitterness. This tone here suggests that these lines may be his thoughts rather than his words to her. He has clearly found the relationship oppressive or unsatisfactory in some sense. The one incidence of enjambment occurs between lines seven and eight increasing the pace at the end of the octave and allowing the speaker to almost spit out his words.
The sestet is spoken by someone who is a friend of the man - who is now on his deathbed or gravely ill - and takes the form of a plea to the woman to come and see her former lover with the objective of reviving him. The sestet makes greater use of imagery, suggesting that “Love”, “Passion”, “Faith”, and “Innocence” have physical rather than emotional values. Caesura is used again at the beginning of line 13. The indentation coupled with the dash slows the reader down and let’s us imagine the friend speaking slowly and sincerely in in a final plea for reconciliation.
A brief analysis of the sonnet by Michael Drayton
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 myself 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 wouldst, when all have given him over,
From death to life thou might'st him yet recover.
Michael Drayton’s sonnet, “Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part”, follows the basic Shakespearian sonnet structure, consisting of fourteen lines of verse broken into an octave followed by a sestet. The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. It is written as iambic pentameter - ten syllables per line and five stresses on alternating syllables. The turn is clearly identifiable at the start of line nine by the use of the word “Now” and becomes more evident through the change in tone and speaker.
It’s possible that the octave is spoken by a man to the woman who he has loved on the termination of their relationship. Line one is fairly gentle suggesting that they could have been the actual words which he used. The use of caesura - the dash at the end of this line - causes the reader to pause as the remaining seven lines spiral towards vitriol and near bitterness. This tone here suggests that these lines may be his thoughts rather than his words to her. He has clearly found the relationship oppressive or unsatisfactory in some sense. The one incidence of enjambment occurs between lines seven and eight increasing the pace at the end of the octave and allowing the speaker to almost spit out his words.
The sestet is spoken by someone who is a friend of the man - who is now on his deathbed or gravely ill - and takes the form of a plea to the woman to come and see her former lover with the objective of reviving him. The sestet makes greater use of imagery, suggesting that “Love”, “Passion”, “Faith”, and “Innocence” have physical rather than emotional values. Caesura is used again at the beginning of line 13. The indentation coupled with the dash slows the reader down and let’s us imagine the friend speaking slowly and sincerely in in a final plea for reconciliation.
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