“Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton: A Critical Analysis

Introduction: “Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton

“Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton first appeared in 1619 in his collection Idea, a sonnet sequence that explores the complexities of love, rejection, and emotional resilience. The poem quickly became one of Drayton’s most celebrated works because of its dramatic shift from a seemingly firm farewell to a last-moment suggestion of hope. Its opening lines—“Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part. / Nay, I have done, you get no more of me”—establish a tone of finality and resolve, suggesting an absolute end to the relationship. Yet, in the latter half, Drayton employs the metaphor of Love as a dying figure—“Now at the last gasp of Love’s latest breath”—only to turn unexpectedly to the possibility of revival: “From death to life thou might’st him yet recover!” This fusion of Renaissance wit, emotional intensity, and dramatic reversal made the poem enduringly popular, as it embodies both the melancholy of loss and the lingering hope of reconciliation. The sonnet’s artistry lies in its interplay of finality and possibility, offering readers a timeless reflection on the instability of love and the paradox of human desire.

Text: “Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton

Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part.
Nay, I have done, you get no more of me;
And I am glad, yea glad with all my heart,
That thus so cleanly I myself can free.
Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows,
And when we meet at any time again,
Be it not seen in either of our brows
That we one jot of former love retain.
Now at the last gasp of Love’s latest breath,
When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies;
When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death,
And Innocence is closing up his eyes—
Now, if thou wouldst, when all have given him over,
From death to life thou might’st him yet recover!

Michael Drayton, “Since There’s No Help.”

Annotations: “Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton

Line	Simple Annotation	Literary Devices
1. “Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part.”	The speaker admits the relationship cannot be saved; he suggests a final kiss and separation.	Direct Address 💬, Finality 🚶, Imperative ✋, Symbolism 💔👄
2. “Nay, I have done, you get no more of me;”	He insists it is truly over; he will give no more love or attention.	Repetition 🔁, Tone of Finality 🚫, Emphatic Statement ✋
3. “And I am glad, yea glad with all my heart,”	He claims to feel joy at breaking free, though it may be forced.	Repetition 🔁, Irony 😐, Hyperbole ❤️
4. “That thus so cleanly I myself can free.”	He is relieved to be free from the relationship without ties.	Metaphor 🔓, Alliteration 🅰️, Imagery 🧹
5. “Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows,”	Suggests a formal farewell—like ending a contract of love.	Symbolism 🤝, Legal Imagery 📜, Finality 🚫
6. “And when we meet at any time again,”	If they meet in the future, it should not remind them of love.	Conditional Mood ⏳, Foreshadowing 👀
7. “Be it not seen in either of our brows”	Their faces should not show any sign of affection.	Symbolism 🎭, Imagery 👀, Suppression 😐
8. “That we one jot of former love retain.”	They must not reveal even the smallest trace of love.	Hyperbole ❌❤️, Alliteration 🅰️, Symbolism 🧽
9. “Now at the last gasp of Love’s latest breath,”	Love is personified as dying, breathing its last.	Personification ⚰️, Alliteration 🅰️, Symbolism 🫁
10. “When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies;”	Passion is also personified, silent and lifeless.	Personification ❤️🤐, Imagery 👀, Symbolism 💔
11. “When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death,”	Faith is mourning by Love’s deathbed.	Personification 🙏, Religious Imagery ✝️, Symbolism 🛏️⚰️
12. “And Innocence is closing up his eyes—”	Innocence gently closes Love’s eyes, marking his death.	Personification 👼, Imagery 👁️❌, Symbolism 🌫️
13. “Now, if thou wouldst, when all have given him over,”	He says if she wishes, she could still save Love.	Conditional Mood 🙋‍♀️, Contrast ⚖️, Ambiguity 🌫️
14. “From death to life thou might’st him yet recover!”	Final twist: love can still be revived if she returns.	Paradox 🔄, Dra

Literary And Poetic Devices: “Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton

Device	Example	Explanation
1. Sonnet Form (Shakespearean) 🌀	Entire poem	Written in 14 lines of iambic pentameter with abab cdcd efef gg rhyme scheme, a typical English sonnet.
2. Iambic Pentameter ⏳	“Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part”	Ten-syllable line alternating unstressed and stressed beats, creating rhythm and flow.
3. Apostrophe 💬	“Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part”	Directly addressing the lover, creating immediacy and intimacy.
4. Repetition 🔁	“glad, yea glad”	Repeated word emphasizes forced joy and self-persuasion.
6. Assonance 🎵	“Nay, I have done, you get no more of me”	Repeated “a” and “o” vowel sounds enhance melody and tone.
7. Metaphor 🌹	“At the last gasp of Love’s latest breath”	Love is personified as a dying man, dramatizing emotional loss.
8. Personification 👤	“Faith is kneeling by his bed of death”	Abstract concepts (Faith, Passion, Innocence) act like human figures around Love’s deathbed.
9. Symbolism 🔮	“Kiss and part,” “Shake hands for ever”	Acts symbolize finality and closure, representing the end of a relationship.
10. Irony 🎭	“I am glad, yea glad with all my heart”	He claims gladness but reveals lingering pain, ironic contrast.
11. Hyperbole 🌋	“Now at the last gasp of Love’s latest breath”	Exaggeration of Love literally dying heightens dramatic effect.
12. Antithesis ⚖️	“From death to life thou might’st him yet recover!”	Contrast between death and life shows slim hope of reconciliation.
13. Imagery (Visual) 👁️	“Innocence is closing up his eyes”	Vivid mental picture of Love’s symbolic deathbed scene.
14. Paradox ♾️	“Cancel all our vows” yet “recover Love”	The speaker cancels love yet admits it might revive, a paradox of finality and hope.
15. Oxymoron 🔄	“Speechless lies”	Contradictory phrase (silence yet expressive presence) conveys Passion’s helplessness.
16. Consonance 🪈	“Cancel all our vows”	Repetition of “l” and “s” sounds creates softness and finality.
17. Enjambment ➡️	“And when we meet at any time again, / Be it not seen…”	Thought flows beyond one line, mimicking continuation of feelings despite parting.
18. Euphemism 🌸	“Shake hands for ever”	Gentle way of expressing the painful idea of permanent separation.
19. Dramatic Monologue Style 🎭	Entire poem	One voice speaks intensely to another, revealing inner turmoil and conflict.
20. Volta (Turn) 🔀	Line 9: “Now at the last gasp of Love’s latest breath”	Poetic shift: from firm farewell to desperate hope of revival, characteristic of sonnets.

Themes: “Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton

💔 Theme 1: Finality of Love’s End: “Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton explores the theme of love’s finality and the inevitability of separation. From the very first line, the speaker declares, “Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part,” presenting love as irreversibly broken. The deliberate use of the imperative tone—“Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows”—underscores the speaker’s insistence on closure, treating love like a contract to be terminated. This creates a sense of irrevocable finality, suggesting that relationships can end as decisively as formal agreements. The imagery of a handshake, usually a gesture of beginning or agreement, is inverted to symbolize a farewell. Drayton highlights the painful necessity of moving on while exposing the psychological need for a “clean break,” where both parties deny even “one jot of former love retain.” Thus, the poem embodies the theme of severance as both inevitable and absolute.

⚰️ Theme 2: Love as Death: “Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton employs extended metaphor to represent the end of a relationship as the literal death of Love. The sestet vividly portrays Love on his deathbed: “Now at the last gasp of Love’s latest breath, / When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies.” Here, love is personified as a dying patient, surrounded by mourners like Faith and Innocence, who “kneel” and “close his eyes.” The metaphor of love’s death intensifies the emotional weight of separation, making it not just the loss of affection but a profound existential grief. The funereal imagery—breath failing, pulse gone, eyes closing—transforms private heartbreak into a universal tragedy. By equating emotional separation with physical death, Drayton elevates the personal experience of lost love into a timeless allegory of human suffering.

🌹 Theme 3: Possibility of Renewal: “Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton is remarkable because, after insisting on finality, it leaves a surprising space for renewal. The closing couplet shifts dramatically in tone: “Now, if thou wouldst, when all have given him over, / From death to life thou might’st him yet recover!” Even after Love has seemingly died, the possibility of revival remains if the beloved chooses reconciliation. This paradox—that love can be both dead and revivable—creates a tension between despair and hope. It suggests that the human heart is never entirely free from longing, and endings may conceal the seeds of new beginnings. The resurrection imagery, moving “from death to life,” introduces a spiritual and redemptive layer, offering hope beyond apparent finality. This ambivalent conclusion keeps the sonnet alive in readers’ imaginations, refusing to let love die entirely.

🎭 Theme 4: Theatricality of Emotion: “Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton dramatizes emotion through theatrical language and imagery, almost staging a farewell scene before the reader. The speaker declares finality with exaggerated firmness—“Nay, I have done, you get no more of me”—but his repetition of “glad, yea glad” betrays the performative nature of his resolve. Similarly, the deathbed scene reads like a tragic play, where abstract virtues (Faith, Passion, Innocence) appear as characters attending Love’s demise. The poem becomes a dramatic performance of heartbreak, filled with shifting tones—stern dismissal, mournful lament, and sudden hope. By treating private emotion as public drama, Drayton captures the performative aspect of love and loss: even when people claim closure, they continue to act out their feelings. Theatricality heightens the tension, making the sonnet not only a personal confession but also a timeless spectacle of human passion.

Literary Theories and “Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton

Literary Theory	Application to “Since There’s No Help”	Poem Reference
1. Formalism / New Criticism 📖	Focuses on close reading, structure, rhyme, and imagery. The sonnet form and use of metaphors emphasize the theme of love’s death and possible revival.	“At the last gasp of Love’s latest breath” (🌹) → Love personified as dying.
2. Psychoanalytic Theory 🧠	Explores subconscious desires and contradictions: the speaker claims freedom but subconsciously longs for reconciliation. The poem reveals denial and repressed hope.	“I am glad, yea glad with all my heart” (🎭) → ironic self-deception betrays inner conflict.
3. Feminist / Gender Theory 🚺	Examines gender dynamics and power in relationships. The male speaker asserts control (“cancel all our vows”), but at the end, he still admits dependence on the woman’s choice.	“From death to life thou might’st him yet recover!” (⚖️) → ultimate power rests with her.
4. Historical / Biographical Criticism ⏳	Reads the sonnet in Elizabethan context, when poetry about love, courtship, and honor was a literary convention. Drayton’s sonnet reflects Renaissance ideals of love, pride, and social decorum.	“Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows” (🤝) → ritualized break in line with courtly traditions.

Critical Questions about “Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton

❓1. How does Michael Drayton use the sonnet form to reflect the tension between finality and lingering hope? 📖

“Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton employs the Shakespearean sonnet structure to embody both closure and contradiction. The first eight lines (octave) present a tone of finality—“Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part” signals a decisive farewell, with vows canceled and meetings stripped of intimacy. Yet the volta at line 9 introduces a shift: the imagery of Love’s deathbed—“At the last gasp of Love’s latest breath”—suggests not an end but the possibility of resurrection. This juxtaposition between closure and revival is reinforced by the final couplet: “From death to life thou might’st him yet recover!” The sonnet form itself mirrors this paradox—discipline and order framing chaotic emotional struggle.

❓2. What role does personification play in dramatizing the end of love? 👤

“Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton dramatizes the dissolution of a relationship by personifying abstract concepts as attendants at Love’s deathbed. Love is imagined as a dying figure, surrounded by “Passion speechless,” “Faith kneeling,” and “Innocence closing up his eyes.” These allegorical images elevate personal heartbreak into a tragic, almost theatrical spectacle. By presenting emotions as characters, Drayton transforms a private experience into a universal drama of love’s decline. The personifications not only intensify the gravity of the speaker’s loss but also create a spiritual dimension where virtues themselves mourn Love’s demise. This figurative strategy gives emotional weight to the claim of parting.

❓3. How does irony reveal the speaker’s conflicted emotions? 🎭

“Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton is steeped in irony, which reveals the speaker’s psychological tension. He insists, “I am glad, yea glad with all my heart, / That thus so cleanly I myself can free.” On the surface, this conveys relief at ending the relationship, yet the doubled repetition of “glad” signals overcompensation. The irony deepens in the concluding lines, where he admits that Love might still be revived—“From death to life thou might’st him yet recover!” His earlier confidence collapses into a desperate plea. This ironic contrast exposes a self-contradiction: the speaker seeks dignity in separation but betrays vulnerability in longing for reconciliation.

❓4. How does the poem negotiate power dynamics between the speaker and the beloved? ⚖️

“Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton reveals a shifting power balance in love. The speaker begins assertively, commanding the farewell with decisive phrases like “cancel all our vows” and “Shake hands for ever.” This suggests control and authority over the breakup. However, the closing couplet concedes ultimate power to the beloved: only she has the ability to restore Love—“From death to life thou might’st him yet recover!” Despite his initial dominance, his emotional dependency is exposed. This tension reflects Renaissance gendered dynamics, where male speakers often asserted authority but simultaneously revealed vulnerability to women’s choices in matters of love.

Literary Works Similar to “Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton

💔 “When We Two Parted” by Lord Byron
Like Drayton’s “Since There’s No Help”, this poem mourns the finality of lost love, expressing sorrow and silence where passion once existed.

⚰️ “Remember” by Christina Rossetti
Similar to Drayton’s metaphor of love’s death, Rossetti reflects on memory, separation, and the thin boundary between absence and death.
🌹 “Sonnet 73” by William Shakespeare
Just as Drayton personifies love’s death and possible renewal, Shakespeare uses imagery of decline (autumn, twilight, fire) to suggest the frailty yet persistence of love.
🎭 “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” by John Donne
Like Drayton’s farewell sonnet, Donne dramatizes parting, but with a spiritual reassurance that love transcends physical absence.

🔄 “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop
Though modern, it resembles Drayton’s tone of forced finality, masking emotional pain through structured verse and the pretense of acceptance.

Representative Quotations of “Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton

Quotation	Context	Theoretical Perspective
💔 “Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part.”	The poem opens with a farewell, signaling the end of the relationship with both intimacy and finality.	Speech-Act Theory – The utterance performs the act of separation itself.
✋ “Nay, I have done, you get no more of me;”	The speaker asserts closure, insisting he will give nothing further emotionally.	Pragmatics / Performativity – Language functions as a boundary of selfhood and identity.
😊 “And I am glad, yea glad with all my heart,”	The repetition of “glad” suggests overcompensation, masking inner pain with a performance of relief.	Psychoanalytic Criticism – Repression and denial reveal the unconscious struggle of loss.
🔓 “That thus so cleanly I myself can free.”	The speaker emphasizes liberation, framing love as a binding contract now dissolved.	New Historicism – Reflects early modern views of relationships as binding social/legal obligations.
🤝 “Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows,”	The imagery of a handshake and vows presents love as a formal agreement being annulled.	Cultural Materialism – Marriage and vows as institutions governed by social contracts.
😐 “Be it not seen in either of our brows / That we one jot of former love retain.”	The lovers must conceal any trace of past affection.	Goffman’s Dramaturgy – Love as performance; emotions suppressed to maintain social roles.
⚰️ “Now at the last gasp of Love’s latest breath,”	Love is personified as dying, dramatizing the emotional death of passion.	Personification / Allegorical Reading – Abstract emotions given human qualities to stage tragedy.
🙏 “When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death,”	Faith is depicted as a mourner beside dying Love.	Religious Symbolism – Suggests love’s moral/spiritual dimensions within Christian imagery.
👼 “And Innocence is closing up his eyes—”	Innocence becomes the final attendant at Love’s symbolic deathbed.	Moral Allegory – Innocence as purity sealing the end of a corrupted passion.
🌹 “From death to life thou might’st him yet recover!”	The volta: despite death, Love could still be revived if the beloved chooses.	Deconstruction / Stability-Instability Paradox – The binary of death/life is destabilized, showing contradiction and hope.