LOVE’S FAREWELL
BY MICHAEL DRAYTON
3 quatrains, rhyming couplet – each quatrain deals with a different theme (but they all focus on the
idea that love has come to an end).
This sonnet deals with two lovers who are apparently on the verge of permanent separation. The poet is
determined that, should they ever meet again, they will show no sign of their former love.
In the rhyming couplet, however, the poet reconsiders and makes a final plea to his love to reconcile .
STANZA 1:
The speaker is glad the relationship is over.
Pronouns: suggest he is speaking to someone – his emotions are intense, feels strongly agitated.
Dash: intensifies.
‘Nay’: shows that he has made up his mind, determined.
‘Glad, yea, glad’: repetition shows intensity of his feelings, trying to convince himself that he no longer
cares – highlights the idea that ending the relationship is painful.
‘Cleanly’: ironic, he maintains that he is glad to end it ‘cleanly’ without emotion – he will walk away
unaffected, but then contradicts himself.
STANZA 2:
Nothing can be done to revive the love – it is over.
Tone is assertive, confident, certain he wants to end it.
‘We’/’our’: symbolises the relationship.
‘Shake hands’/’cancel’: commanding or instructing her to forget the promises they made to each
other – one-sided conversation; not waiting for response from other person – he is making the decisions,
formal actions, taking out the emotion.
‘That we one jot of former love retain’: theme of love; there must be no acknowledgement of their
relationship should they meet, pretend they don’t know each other.
STANZA 3:
Love is compared to a person on a deathbed who is about to take the last breath.
Pronoun changes to ‘his’: third person, less personal.
‘Now’: emphasizes specific time.
‘Pulse failing’: hyperbole, love is ending, pulse is slowly dying.
‘Bed of death’: no longer any hope for the relationship.
STANZA 4:
Change of thought – speaker reconsiders and makes a final plea with his partner to possibly try revive
their love.
Dash: draws attention to the suggestion.
‘Him’: love, offering an alternative to the end of the relationship.
‘Might’st’: tentative suggestion, exploring the idea.
Even though they are at a point in the relationship where it is about to end, he is hopeful that she will
bring their love back from the brink of death.
BY MICHAEL DRAYTON
3 quatrains, rhyming couplet – each quatrain deals with a different theme (but they all focus on the
idea that love has come to an end).
This sonnet deals with two lovers who are apparently on the verge of permanent separation. The poet is
determined that, should they ever meet again, they will show no sign of their former love.
In the rhyming couplet, however, the poet reconsiders and makes a final plea to his love to reconcile .
STANZA 1:
The speaker is glad the relationship is over.
Pronouns: suggest he is speaking to someone – his emotions are intense, feels strongly agitated.
Dash: intensifies.
‘Nay’: shows that he has made up his mind, determined.
‘Glad, yea, glad’: repetition shows intensity of his feelings, trying to convince himself that he no longer
cares – highlights the idea that ending the relationship is painful.
‘Cleanly’: ironic, he maintains that he is glad to end it ‘cleanly’ without emotion – he will walk away
unaffected, but then contradicts himself.
STANZA 2:
Nothing can be done to revive the love – it is over.
Tone is assertive, confident, certain he wants to end it.
‘We’/’our’: symbolises the relationship.
‘Shake hands’/’cancel’: commanding or instructing her to forget the promises they made to each
other – one-sided conversation; not waiting for response from other person – he is making the decisions,
formal actions, taking out the emotion.
‘That we one jot of former love retain’: theme of love; there must be no acknowledgement of their
relationship should they meet, pretend they don’t know each other.
STANZA 3:
Love is compared to a person on a deathbed who is about to take the last breath.
Pronoun changes to ‘his’: third person, less personal.
‘Now’: emphasizes specific time.
‘Pulse failing’: hyperbole, love is ending, pulse is slowly dying.
‘Bed of death’: no longer any hope for the relationship.
STANZA 4:
Change of thought – speaker reconsiders and makes a final plea with his partner to possibly try revive
their love.
Dash: draws attention to the suggestion.
‘Him’: love, offering an alternative to the end of the relationship.
‘Might’st’: tentative suggestion, exploring the idea.
Even though they are at a point in the relationship where it is about to end, he is hopeful that she will
bring their love back from the brink of death.
