Analysis - Leave Me, O Love - Sidney

One of Sir Phillip Sidney's greatest works could have been one of his famous sonnets, titled
"Leave Me, O Love." It's a sort of self-reflection, as the speaker attempts to leave behind their
material possessions of this Earth and turn their focus to the light of eternity in heaven.
Organized with one octet and one sextet, the first part is a more casual style, and the second is
a call to action and seems to be a goodbye to this world. Some difficult vocabulary would
include: 1.) beams, as used in line 5, is used to refer to one's talents and interests, 2.) yoke, as
used in line 6, is used to refer to a specific place/point, and 3.) uttermost, as used in line 13,
means: to the greatest or highest degree. This poem's overall subject is eternity.
The speaker of this poem would be someone obsessed with worldly pleasures. As it says,
"Grow rich in that which never taketh rust" (Sidney 3), it seems that the speaker would like to
free himself from an obsession with things that "taketh rust,"or are not eternal. With this poem,
the speaker's intended audience is themself. In order to be happier, they are urging themself to
stop placing importance on the things that will disappear when they die, and place more
importance on the memories, emotions, legacy, and eternal life that will never fade away. The
poem's tone is straightforward. The author uses little figurative language in order to make his
point very clear. For example, he says straight up: "In this small course which birth draws out to
death" (Sidney 10). The author knows that life is short, and that it's foolish to skirt around what's
most important in life, so he makes sure not to skirt around the main point with this sonnet as
well. However, there are just a few pieces of figurative language. One of these is the phrase,
"which reachest but to dust" (Sidney 1). This line is saying that love is only temporary, but he
uses a metaphor and refers to love's going away as becoming dust. Additionally, when he
states, "Draw in thy beams, and humble all thy might," (Sidney 5) the word "beams" is in fact a
metaphor for one's interests. This phrase also serves as imagery, because it further strengthens
the mental picture of heaven by making the reader visualize beams of light.
In many sonnets, this one included, the theme can be derived from the last two lines of text.
They are: "Then farewell, world; thy uttermost I see: Eternal Love, maintain thy life in me"
(Sidney 13-14). Line 13 summarizes the first octet, and is a goodbye to this world with its fake
pleasures. Line 14 summarizes the sextet, which is a call to action to focus on heaven's light.
Therefore, the theme of "Leave Me, O Love" is: the greatest pleasures on Earth pale in
comparison with the light of eternity.