SOURCE: “‘Why So Pale and Wan': An Essay in Critical Method,” in Texas Studies in Literature and Language, Vol. IV, No. 4, Winter, 1963, pp. 553-63.

In the following essay, Beaurline analyzes Suckling's poem “Why so pale and wan fond Lover?”

I

Sir John Suckling's song “Why so pale and wan fond lover” is one of the most famous lyrics in English. It is seldom left out of an anthology and has received attention from every generation of musicians, who seem to find it especially attractive for musical setting.¹ But to the critic it is a challenge—obviously a fine poem; yet what can a critic say about it? Beyond an appraisal such as “How clever!” what language do we have to describe the poem's excellence? We are embarassed by its simplicity; if we cannot show its complexity or illuminate its obscurities we feel the poem is inconsequential. Among academic...