When I Was Fair and Young
Queen Elisabeth I
Background information
Queen Elisabeth was known as The Virgin Queen
because of her decision to remain single for (most
likely) political reasons.
If she wed a foreign dignitary, she would upset the
delicate balance of alliances among European states
and probably precipitate a war.
Regardless, she used the prospect of marriage to
manipulate her nobles at home and the foreign
princes abroad. On several occasions she managed
to forestall a war by seeming to contemplate
marriage with a relative of some particularly
belligerent prince.
Elisabeth may have also feared the loss of
independence that would come with marriage, even
to a queen. She is said to have remarked that she
would have but one mistress and no master.
Summary and Theme
 The speaker in the poem is an
older woman reflecting on her
rejection of suitors during her
youth.
 Credited to Queen Elisabeth I,
the poem reflects her choice to
remain the “Virgin Queen.”
 The poem reflects the “folly” of
her choice for she spends her
later years alone.
 One possible theme of the poem
focuses on the arrogant
decisions of her past and how
those choices affect the quality
of her old age.
 References to her lost beauty
also reflect a possible theme
about the passage of time.
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When I was fair and young, then favor graced me.
Of many was I sought their mistress for to be.
But I did scorn them all and answered them therefore:
‘Go, go, go, seek some other where; importune me no more.’
How many weeping eyes I made to pine in woe,
How many sighing hearts I have not skill to show,
But I the prouder grew and still this spake therefore:
‘Go, go, go, seek some other where, importune me no more.’
Then spake fair Venus’ son, that proud victorious boy,
Saying: You dainty dame, for that you be so coy,
I will so pluck your plumes as you shall say no more:
‘Go, go, go, seek some other where, importune me no more.’
As soon as he had said, such change grew in my breast
That neither night nor day I could take any rest.
Wherefore I did repent that I had said before:
‘Go, go, go, seek some other where, importune me no more.’
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Structure
 The poem is constructed
of four stanzas that use a
rather simple vocabulary.
 The syntax follows a
succinct declarative
structure.
 Each stanza utilizes
parallelism and a refrain
(“Go, go, go…no more”)
that reflects her regret.
 The poem is also written
in a series of couplets
that reflect her impatient
attitude.
Poem is in first person,
which lends an air of
truth to the content.
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“Fair” refers to beauty.
The inverted syntax
places emphasis on
the “many” she
“scorned,” which
adds an arrogant
tone to the poem.
When I was fair and young, then favor graced me.
Of many was I sought their mistress for to be.
But I did scorn them all and answered them therefore:
‘Go, go, go, seek some other where; importune me no more.’
The refrain highlights
the change in the
speaker’s attitude, as
well as her youthful
arrogance.
“Importune” means to demand
with urgency, thus adding to the
arrogant tone of the stanza.
Diction is also important with the
negative connotation of the
word “scorn.”
Anaphora creates
parallelism that stresses
the arrogance with
which she rejected
suitors.
Inverted syntax
appears in first two
lines of this stanza to
highlight the arrogance
of her youth.
A lack of
emotion is
demonstrated
through the
masculine
rhyme of the
first couplet.
How many weeping eyes I made to pine in woe,
How many sighing hearts I have not skill to show,
But I the prouder grew and still this spake therefore:
‘Go, go, go, seek some other where, importune me no more.’
Synecdoche breaks down past suitors into body parts thereby demonstrating
her lack of empathy for them. Her youthful arrogance saw only “eyes” and
“hearts,” not a whole person.
Shift in attitude
begins with “Then.”
Allusion to Cupid, the
symbol of love, is
used to destroy her
youth and beauty.
Alliteration of “d” suggests her
vulnerability as Cupid “plucks”
her beauty. The alliterative “p”
stresses the end of her beauty,
whereas the reference to
“plumes” may also reference a
peacock, a symbol of
Immortality in the era.
Then spake fair Venus’ son, that proud victorious boy,
Saying: You dainty dame, for that you be so coy,
I will so pluck your plumes as you shall say no more:
‘Go, go, go, seek some other where, importune me no more.’
As soon as he had said, such change grew in my breast
That neither night nor day I could take any rest.
Wherefore I did repent that I had said before:
‘Go, go, go, seek some other where, importune me no more.’
Just like the first
stanza, the second
and third lines use
inverted syntax, this
time to stress the
speaker’s awareness
of and discontent
with her youthful
actions.
Because of her epiphany, the final use of the
refrain changes in tone to resignation and regret.
Works Cited
http://aspoetryanalysis.weebly.com/index.html
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/queen-elizabeth-i
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/poem/2011/01/poets_under_pressure.html