My Voice by car Wilde (1854-1900)

“ Within the restless, hurried, modern world

We took our hearts' full pleasure - You and I,

And now the white sails of our ships are furled,

And spent the lading of our argosy.

Wherefore my cheeks before their time are wan,

For very weeping is my gladness fled,

Sorrow hath paled my lip's vermilion

And Ruin draws the curtains of my bed.

But all this crowded life has been to thee

No more than lyre, or lute, or subtle spell

Of viols, or the music of the sea

That sleeps, a mimic echo, in the shell.”

What's it about?

This poem is about the end of a romantic relationship. It was enjoyable while it lasted ("We took our hearts' full pleasure"), but now it's over. The couple in the poem are like boats ("ships", "argosy") at the end of a voyage - they have rolled up their sails ("sails … are furled") and stopped taking more cargo on board ("spent the lading").

In the middle stanza, the poet describes his sadness ("sorrow"). His cheeks and lips are white ("wan", "paled") and all his happiness has gone ("gladness fled"). He imagines that ruin has come to him and closes ("draws") the curtains around his bed, isolating himself from the world and the people around him.

In the third stanza, the poet tells us that his former lover isn't as badly affected as he is. He accuses his lover of not taking the relationship seriously.

He says it was no more real to them than the sound of musical instruments ("lyre", "lute", "viols") that feels magical ("subtle spell") for a short time. It wasn't a real relationship, but just an "echo" of one, like the sound of the sea in a shell.

Good to know

In books of Wilde's poetry, this poem is usually printed opposite another of his poems, called "Her Voice", where he gives a woman's view of the end of a relationship. We can read the two poems as partner pieces, giving the two sides of the same story. The woman's poem ends with the lovely lines: "One world was not enough for two / Like me and you."