Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part.

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 forever, 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 mightst him yet recover.

- Michael Drayton


Michael Drayton’s poem “Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part”, written during the Elizabethan Era, is considered by some to be one of the best sonnets of all time, and undoubtedly Drayton’s best. The poem touches on the deaths of Love, Passion, Faith and Innocence, drawing out the feelings that one goes through during the ending of a relationship. Drayton creates a beautiful balance between simplicity and eloquence by combining both elementary words and complicated composition. The Elizabethan sonnet is written in form a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g g. Because of the rhyme scheme, there tends to be three places during the poem where the poet’s thoughts are expected to change, and turn in another direction. Sometimes the poet may even end the poem with a surprising twist in lines g g, as evident in Drayton’s poem.

From reading the first two quatrains of the poem, the reader is certain that the speaker, a man who has found himself nearing the end of a relationship, is confident that he is ready for his relationship to be over. From the first line (also the title of the poem) “Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part” (1, 2), the poet has doomed the relationship. Also lines like, “And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart” (3) and “Be it not seen in either of our brows/ That we one jot of former love retain” (7, 8) show that the speaker has little or no doubt that he is prepared for the break up, and that he is happy. In these first eight lines, the speaker uses first person, and sets up the problem that will be discussed and mulled over in the rest of the poem: whether or not the speaker is truly ready for the end of his relationship.

In the third quatrain, the speaker begins to use third person, and talks about Love as something that is dying. He personifies Love as a man who is lying on his death bed and taking his “last gasp” (9), using imagery like “his pulse failing” (10) and “closing up his eyes” (12). This change in tone shows the speakers’ reflection on his relationship and what it is like to have Love fade away, or ‘die’. Three aspects of love are also personified: Passion, Faith and Innocence. These three concepts are looked at as friends of Love, companions who are witnessing, and giving up on, Love. Although Passion, Faith and Innocence are often seen as important aspects of a relationship, during the third quatrain, they are seen as being “speechless” (10), weak, and lost. The Passion, lying “speechless” (10) next to Love, is no longer abundant and exciting, as Passion is usually thought of in relationships. Faith, “kneeling by his bed of death” (11), is seen as weak through the image of kneeling, rather than powerful, as Faith usually is. And Innocence, as often seen through the eyes of young lovers, has been lost, and closes “up his eyes” (12), dying along with Love.

The strong imagery and personification in the third quatrain leaves the reader with an almost hopeless attitude toward the relationship. Although there seems to be a small possibility that Love will not die, and that Passion, Faith and Innocence will not give up on him, it seems unlikely. But upon reading the couplet, in true Elizabethan style, Drayton surprises the reader with a new idea. The couplet, written in second person, changes the roles of the speaker and the reader. The reader becomes the woman, Love becomes the man, and the speaker is merely the narrator. The speaker, directing his words towards the woman (the reader), is saying, “Wait! Don’t give up on him. There is still a chance. Yes, Passion, Faith and Innocence have all given up on him (Love), but there’s still you! ‘If thou wouldst’ (13), Love can be saved.”

This poem draws a thin line between love and hate, and shows the reader the confusion and uncertainty that comes with the ending of a relationship. Although at the beginning of the poem, the speaker seems as though he is in control of his feelings and the status of his relationship, towards the end of the poem it becomes apparent that is not true. It turns out that it is only the woman who can save him and their relationship, and it will take him getting over his pride in order for that to happen. Despite the fact that it seems difficult for the man to yield some of his ‘power’ and tell the woman how he truly feels, it is necessary, so he allows the woman to help at the end of the poem. It becomes evident, that even when is seems like there is no solution, that there is some way in which Love can be restored back to life. One can rebuild the Passion, find a new Faith, and return to the childlike Innocence of newly born lovers. (842)