by Brianne Rowley

Created on: January 04, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

I found Elizabeth I's poem, "On Monsieur's Departure", to speak out to me on the struggle of loving someone and being denied that love. In her poem, Elizabeth tells a story about how she desperately loves someone but must behave as if she does not. These actions cause her great pain and confusion. After a while she becomes resistant to her feelings until she discovers she can no longer hide from them. She is faced with denying her duty or denying her heart. As she talks through her feelings, I had the impression of someone dealing with the death of a loved one. At first, she is in denial and then becomes somewhat angry and resentful. Through the second stanza she moves on to feelings of sadness and regret. Finally, in the third stanza she completes this cycle of coping by resigning to her feelings. In her hopes of finding closure, she ends by pleading, "Or let me live with some more sweet satisfaction/or let me die and so forget what love ever meant" (Elizabeth I, lines 17-18).

In "On Monsieur's Departure", the reader discovers a woman who is apparently distraught over her feelings for a lover she can not obtain. Due to Elizabeth's royal position as queen and the duties that she must uphold it is no wonder that she would not be permitted to choose any suitor of her liking. She must choose according to what will be suitable to her position on the thrown. Elizabeth has to put the concerns of her government and the people she rules ahead of her own wishes. This must have been a terrible burden on her and must have brought on a feeling of isolation as well. She did try to find some small escape from these pressures and troubling personal conflicts by writing poetry. Through reading "On Monsieur's Departure", the reader is able to grasp the inner struggle Elizabeth endures over her feelings for this lover and the knowledge that she can not have him.
The title of the poem "On Monsieur's Departure" quickly informs the reader that this poem is about someone leaving. However, there is not enough information to tell the reader if this is a temporary or permanent departure. After reading through the poem, it becomes apparent that Elizabeth is consumed by the loss of a love she can not obtain. Therefore, making this departure a lasting one.
Throughout this poem, the tone shifts from sadness and despair to love and on to hopelessness and resignation. In the first stanza, the word "I" is used repeatedly to take claim of these powerful and conflicting feelings the poet is

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