Last Words

“His Elegy” by Chidiock Tichborne

 

My Prime of youth is but a frost of cares;

My feast of joy is but a dish of pain;

My crop of corn is but a field of tares;

And all my good is but vain hope of gain:

The day is past, and yet I saw no sun;

And now I live, and now my life is done.

 

My tale was heard, and it was not told;

My fruit is fall’n, and yet my leaves are green;

My youth is spent, and yet I am not old;

I saw the world, and yet I was not seen:

My thread is cut, and yet it is not spun;

And now I live, and now my life is done.

 

I sought my death, and found it in my womb;

I looked for life, and saw it was a shade;

I trod the earth, and knew it was my tomb;

And now I die, and now I was but made:

My glass is full, and now my glass is run;

And now I live, and now my life is done.

 

This poem was written by Chidiock Tichborne. Tichborne was executed on September 20, 1586 because he was a conspirator in the plot to kill Queen Elizabeth.  He wrote this poem to his wife, Agnes, on September 19, 1586, the night before we was executed.  He was only twenty-eight years old at the time.  (http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/144.html)

 

When I first read this poem, I put myself in Tichborne’s place.  I looked back on my life and I asked myself, “What if I were to die tomorow?”  Would I have any regrets?  Would I feel as though I hadn’t served a purpose? I think these are the questions that the poem proposes to its reader.  Tichborne continually states that his life has just begun and now it’s ending: “And now I live, and now my life is done.”  This possibly signifies that he has a new value for life and would have lived it more fully if he had the chance to.  This is a sentiment of many people who discover that their days are limited.  They suddenly treasure every breathe of air they take and enjoy life more fully.  Tichborne says that he has seen the world but has not been seen.  This line conveys that Tichborne feels as though he has not left  much of an impact upon the world.  He has not left his mark on the world: He will not be remembered.  I think this is what most people dread to think of when they die because we usually want to leave behind something of value to the world when we part.  I hope I don’t feel the same way as Tichborne when I die.