"Leave Me, O Love " by Sir Philip Sidney

"Leave me, O Love "
BY SIR PHILIP SIDNEY

Leave me, O Love, which reachest but to dust;
And thou, my mind, aspire to higher things;
Grow rich in that which never taketh rust;
Whatever fades but fading pleasure brings.
Draw in thy beams and humble all thy might
To that sweet yoke where lasting freedoms be;
Which breaks the clouds and opens forth the light,
That doth both shine and give us sight to see.
O take fast hold; let that light be thy guide
In this small course which birth draws out to death,
And think how evil becometh him to slide,
Who seeketh heav'n, and comes of heav'nly breath.
Then farewell, world; thy uttermost I see:
Eternal Love, maintain thy life in me.

Words meaning:
- which reachest -= which reaches
-but: only
- to dust: down to the earth
- higher things: virtue, knowledge, divine love, spiritual love, elc.
- rust: what happens to old iron;
- fade': go away or disappear
- thy: your
- draw in thy beams: bring the light of heaven
- humble all thy might: be modest
- yoke' here refers to the 'human body.
- this small course' here means 'life.
- becmneth: becomes
- slide: go down
1
The Theme
The theme of this poem is not only about human love , but rather the divine love or the spiritual
love.
Summery
In his sonnet 'Leave Me O Love,' as in most of his work, Sidney does not use the Petrarchan
form. He uses, instead, the 'Shakespearian' form of three quatrains rhyming alternately abab,
ending with a rhymed couplet.
In the sonnet, 'Leave Me O Love,' Sidney begins by writing, 'Leave me O Love which reacheth but
to dust.' This can be understood to mean that he is asking for the temporal loves that turn into
nothingness and depart from his experiences during the course of his existence. Then in line
two, 'And thou my mind aspire to higher things,' through his reference of his aspiration to
'higher things,' he affirms that he doesn't desire fleeting concepts, but, rather, seeks lasting
concepts such as knowledge or religion. He then goes on in line three writing, 'Grow rich in that
which never taketh rust, so we can derive from the metaphor of ‘’rust’’, that he doesn't seek the
material wealth of gold or other valuable metals, but, rather, seeks the eternal values of soul. He
continues with the theme that all temporal pleasures will fade. We see this in his words:
'Whatever fades but fading pleasure brings'.
contrasting that with moth and rust consume—all material possessions and human
affections—with that which neither moth nor rust can consume—heaven and divine love.
Fleeting, mortal, ephemeral things give only momentary joy or satisfaction.
The second quatrain holds a significant metaphor of the 'yoke'. The speaker wishes himself to
put on "that sweet yoke, where lasting freedoms be" (l. 6). This image is also quoted from the
Bible (Matthew, chapter 11) and the yoke is identified by 'the light'. It also means an ;easy
burden'. Also, it can be interpreted as God's yoke which is not a mere slavery but is the real
freedom. In the concluding six lines, the speaker desires to have the 'light of salvation' that can
lead a person through the progression of mortal life to a happy end in heaven. The speaker
denounces any who "slide." Since each "comes of heavn'ly breath," it is a primary human
commitment to discard the privileges of transient things in favor of "Eternal Love."
2
What does Matthew 11:29
mean?
A yoke is a wooden device used to harness the working power of an
animal, especially oxen. These could be made for a single animal, or to
combine the power of several.
Jesus has declared that He knows God the Father and that He can
reveal God to whomever He chooses. Then He invited His listeners to
come to Him and take His yoke, to commit to Him and put themselves
under His authority. He has promised rest to those who do this
(Matthew 11:28). Now He elaborates, inviting these listeners to put His
yoke on them.
The implication is to allow Jesus to put His own yoke on us, the way a
farmer would put one on his livestock. It means giving Jesus control and
letting Him direct our efforts. The work He has will not be difficult, Jesus
says. He wants them to learn from Him. Jesus insists that He is gentle.
He is lowly in heart (Philippians 2:6–7). He has not come to add to their
burden but to give them rest for their souls.
Sidney begins in the third quatrain by telling us how to achieve our desired goal. This is seen in
the words of line nine 'O take fast hold; let that light be thy guide'. The time we have in life is a
short period in contrast to eternity. This is seen from what Sidney writes in line eleven 'And
think how evil becometh him to slide.' Those that seek connection to the eternal soul must seek
the way of heaven and that is through the words of heaven, as Sidney explains in line twelve,
'Who seeketh heaven, and comes of heavenly breath.' It seems, after reading line thirteen, Then
farewell world; thy uttermost I see;' that Sidney is telling us that he has become aware of his
own mortality. He is also saying that he has discovered the uttermost finding in the world.
Realizing it's value, he goes on and asks if he can take this love of God that he has found into his
next small course of life and continue on, writing : 'Eternal Love, maintain thy life in me.'
3
This poem is about physical love that leads to death , and earthly love vs the divine one. When
man's mind is corrupt, he becomes unable to see the light of god. Physical love leads to
slavery through desires, but the divine love leads to freedom, because man's love for god is
the only savior toward an eternal life. Our worldly life leads us to our grave, so we have to
follow the light of God. man can never be perfect because he is a sinner by nature. So we have
to fight desires to live a transcendent life, and only god's love will save us from hell.
The contrast emphasized throughout the sonnet is between the shortness of the things of this
world and the duration of things heavenly. In lines 1—2, the renunciation(abandonment) of
Earthly Love is contrasted with the aspiration toward Heavenly Love, despite the generality of
“higher things,” by the phrase “which reachest but to dust.” All the things of this world must
pass and return to the dust of which God made man even the love of a man for a woman. This
thought is likewise suggested by the first quatrain of Sidney’s poem.“Draw in thy beams……” The
association in lines 1-4 of worldly love and its objects with the lustrelessness of that “which
moth and rust doth corrupt”, of that which “fades” and brings ‘‘fading pleasures”, may suggest
that the mind of the worldly man bent upon worldly pleasures tries to emit (send or release) its
own light (dark though this be in comparison with the light of God), to live by this false light,
competing, as it were, with God’s light. The true penitent will want to foresake the feeble “light”
of his own mind (which is really the darkness of willfulness and sin) and will submit himself in all
humility to God’s light. The act of submission and the accompanying mood of humility are
further enforced from two other texts. Jesus said : “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me :
for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light”. And Jesus also said : “I the light of the world he that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”. The reason for associating “that sweet yoke
where lasting freedoms be” with the breaking forth of light “that doth both shine and give us
sight to see” in lines 6-8 is now clear and indeed compelling.
“O take fast hold……” Of what ? The answer is, of Christian faith and eternal life. The image is a
favorite of St. Paul’s though it also occurs elsewhere in the scriptures. The imagery and allusions
of the first two quatrains are all related to the Gospels. In the third quatrain the mood and
imagery become predominantly Pauline. The concluding couplet is a prayer to the eternal God
who is love ; for it is by the grace of the Eternal Love that the Christian finds salvation. The
sonnet is thus a very careful and beautiful expression of Christian doctrine and Christian feeling.

"Leave Me, O Love " by Sir Philip Sidney

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

"Leave Me, O Love " by Sir Philip Sidney

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

"Leave Me, O Love " by Sir Philip Sidney

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

"Leave me, O Love "

BY SIR PHILIP SIDNEY

And thou, my mind, aspire to higher things;

Grow rich in that which never taketh rust;

Whatever fades but fading pleasure brings.

Draw in thy beams and humble all thy might

To that sweet yoke where lasting freedoms be;

Which breaks the clouds and opens forth the light,

That doth both shine and give us sight to see.

O take fast hold; let that light be thy guide

In this small course which birth draws out to death,

And think how evil becometh him to slide,

Who seeketh heav'n, and comes of heav'nly breath.

Then farewell, world; thy uttermost I see:

Eternal Love, maintain thy life in me.

- to dust: down to the earth

- higher things: virtue, knowledge, divine love, spiritual love, elc.

- rust: what happens to old iron;

- fade': go away or disappear

- draw in thy beams: bring the light of heaven

- humble all thy might: be modest

- yoke' here refers to the 'human body.

- this small course' here means 'life.

You might also like