quote · Legacy record
I grieve, and dare not show my discontent; I love, and yet am forced to seem to hate; I do, yet dare not say I ever meant, I seem stark mute, but inwardly do prate: I am, and not, I freeze, and yet am burn’d, Since from myself my other self I turn’d. My care is like my shadow in the sun— Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it; Stands and lies by me, does what I have done, This too-familiar care does make me rue it. No means I find to rid him from my breast, Till by the end of things it is suppress’d. Some gentler passions slide into my mind, For I am soft, and made of melting snow; Or be more cruel, love, and so be kind, Let me or float or sink, be high or low, Or let me live with some more sweet content, Or die, and so forget what love e’er meant.
I grieve, and dare not show my discontent; I love, and yet am forced to seem to hate; I do, yet dare not say I ever meant, I seem stark mute, but inwardly do prate: I am, and not, I freeze, and yet am burn’d, Since from myself my other self I turn’d. My care is like my shadow in the sun— Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it; Stands and lies by me, does what I have done, This too-familiar care does make me rue it. No means I find to rid him from my breast, Till by the end of things it is suppress’d. Some gentler passions slide into my mind, For I am soft, and made of melting snow; Or be more cruel, love, and so be kind, Let me or float or sink, be high or low, Or let me live with some more sweet content, Or die, and so forget what love e’er meant.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Queen Elizabeth (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 144 · printed citation: Queen Elizabeth · subject: CONTENT
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.