What Means This, When I Lie Alone?

by Thomas Wyatt

What means 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 methink 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 ache.
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 year
And many a day, though naught appear
But most of that that most I fear.
What means this?