Since There’s No Help, Come Let Us Kiss and Part by Michael Drayton

Song Meaning

This poem opens with a stark declaration of finality: "Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part." The speaker immediately asserts control, proclaiming "you get no more of me," and expresses a surprising, almost defiant, joy in this liberation. This isn't a mournful farewell; it's a clean break, a conscious effort to "myself can free" from the entanglement of a relationship that has clearly run its course. The initial tone is one of resolute closure, a determined shedding of past commitments. The central tension arises from the speaker's insistence on severing ties versus the dramatic, almost theatrical, depiction of Love's demise. While the speaker claims to be "glad" and ready to "cancel all our vows," the subsequent lines paint a picture of Love's final moments with vivid, personified imagery. Passion is speechless, Faith kneels by death's bed, and Innocence closes Love's eyes. This elaborate deathbed scene for Love itself creates a profound contrast with the speaker's earlier, pragmatic assertion of freedom. The most striking craft element is the extended metaphor of Love as a dying person. The speaker meticulously details the final stages of this personification: "Now at the last gasp of Love's latest breath," "his pulse failing," and "Passion speechless lies." This elaborate tableau of death is then immediately undercut by the final, conditional "Now, if thou wouldst... thou might'st him yet recover!" This twist suggests that the speaker's declared finality might be a performance, or perhaps a desperate, unspoken hope that the other person will fight for what is ending. This poem hits hard because it juxtaposes the speaker's outward resolve with an internal, almost subconscious, acknowledgment of Love's profound significance. The detailed, sympathetic portrayal of Love's deathbed, personified with such care, reveals the depth of what is being lost, even as the speaker claims to be glad. The final lines, a hypothetical plea for revival, expose the potential fragility beneath the speaker's proclaimed freedom, leaving the reader to question the true nature of this parting.