What menethe this? When I lye alone
I tosse, I turne, I sighe, I grone;
My bed semes as hard as stone:
What menes this?
I sighe, I plaine continually;
The clothes that on my bed do lie
Always, methinks, they lie awry:
What menes this?
In slumbers oft for fere I quake,
For hete and cold I burne and shake,
For lake of slepe my bede dothe ake:
What menes this?
A morninges then when I do rise
I torne unto my wonted gise, wonted/habitual
All day after muse and devise:
What menes this?
And if perchance by me there passe
She unto whome I sue for grace,
The cold blood forsakethe my face:
What menethe this?
But if I sitte nere her by
With loud voice my hart dothe cry,
And yet my mouthe is dome and dry: dome/dumb
What menes this?
To aske for helpe no hart I have,
My tong dothe faile what I shuld crave;
Yet inwardly I rage and rave:
What menes this?
Thus have I passed many a yere
And many a day, tho nought appere,
But most of that that most I fere:
What menes this?
Thomas Wyatt, 1503-1542 – “What does this mean?” from Medieval English Lyrics
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