Of the Pains and Sorrows caused by Love

WHAT meaneth this! when I lie alone

I toss, I turn, I sigh, I groan;

My bed me seems as hard as stone:

What means this?

I sigh, I plain continually;

The clothes that on my bed do lie,

Always me think they lie awry;

What means this?

In slumbers oft for fear I quake;

For heat and cold I burn and shake;

For lack of sleep my head doth ake;

What means this?

A mornings then when I do rise,

I turn unto my wonted guise,

All day after muse and devise;

What means this?

And if perchance by me there pass,

She, unto whom I sue for grace,

The cold blood forsaketh my face;

What means this?

But if I sit near her by,

With loud voice my heart doth cry,

And yet my mouth is dumb and dry;

What means this?

To ask for help no heart I have;

My tongue doth fail what I should crave;

Yet inwardly I rage and rave;

What means this?

Thus have I passed many a year,

And many a day, though nought appear,

But most of that that most I fear;

What means this?