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Poetry · Poem

WRONG not, sweet empress of my heart

Sir Walter RaleighEnglish RenaissancePoem
SOURCE TEXT · English original
WRONG not, sweet empress of my heart,
The merit of true passion,
With thinking that he feels no smart,
That sues for no compassion.

Silence in love bewrays more woe
Than words, though ne’er so witty:
A beggar that is dumb, you know,
May challenge double pity.

Then wrong not, dearest to my heart,
My true, though secret passion;
He smarteth most that hides his smart,
And sues for no compassion.
Cultural reading

Reading the poem

The speaker asks his lady not to assume that a lover who sues for no compassion feels no pain, argues that silence in love shows more woe than witty speech, and returns to the opening plea.

Language notes

Text and edition

The heading reproduces the poem's first line; no authorial title is supplied by the source.