Chidiock Tichborne

1558–1586

Written the Night before His Execution

Chidiock Tichborne was born in Southampton, England, to Roman Catholic parents. Although Catholicism was tolerated in England during Tichborne’s early years, when Queen Elizabeth I was excommunicated by the Pope in 1570, she reinstated a series of anti-Catholic measures in retaliation.

In 1583, Tichborne was interrogated about relics he had gathered while traveling abroad; three years later, he joined the Babington conspirators, who were plotting to kill the queen. He was apprehended and held in the Tower of London, where he composed a letter to his wife, with its stanzas concerning his impending death.

Tichborne and a number of his co-conspirators were disemboweled before they were hanged, a practice Queen Elizabeth prohibited in future executions when she learned of it.

Tichborne was not pre-eminently a poet, but a conspirator.

On September 19, 1586, the night before he was executed, Chidiock wrote to his wife Agnes. The letter enclosed three stanzas beginning: "My prime of youth is but a frost of cares.”

This elegy is so restrained yet so eloquent, so spontaneous, and so skillfully made, that it must be ranked among the little masterpieces of literature. The grave but not yet depressing music of the lines is emphasized by the repetition of the rhymed refrain, as though the poet were anticipating the slow tolling of the bell announcing his death.

Background Information

My prime of youth is but a frost of cares; a My feast of joy is but a dish of pain; b

My crop of corn is but a field of tares; a And all my good is but vain hope of gain; b

My life is fled, // and yet I saw no sun; cAnd now I live, // and now my life is done. c

The spring is past, // and yet it hath not sprung; d The fruit is dead, // and yet the leaves be green;

eMy youth is gone, // and yet I am but young; d

I saw the world, // and yet I was not seen; eMy thread is cut, // and yet it is not spun; cAnd now I live, // and now my life is done. c

I sought my death, // and found it in my womb, f I looked for life, // and saw it was a shade, g

I trod the earth and knew it was my tomb, f And now I die, // and now I am but made: g

The glass is full, // and now my glass is run, cAnd now I live, // and now my life is done. c

Analysis 1The poem is written in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is a variation on the basic ababcc model in all three stanzas, with the final cc structure—the so-called “refrain”—being repeated throughout the poem. It is noteworthy that Tichborne employs ear rhymes for said refrain; this could mark the fact that his seemingly stoical façade conceals anguish—that he has not come to terms with his imminent death. All lines in the poem are end-stopped, hinting at immutability, which may refer either to the past or to death itself; alternatively, they allow readers to infer that Tichborne’s life was cut short, much as the lines themselves are given rather abrupt ends. Moreover, while the first two stanzas feature so-called “hard” stops in the form of semi-colons, these are transmuted to commas, periods, and colons in the last stanza; the former is indicative of Tichborne’s balking in the face of death, unable to fully comprehend his fate; the latter, however, represents gradual acceptance and resignation. Caesurae are frequent, adding brief pauses before certain pronouncements with the intention of making them all the more poignant when contrasted so sharply and so clearly with that which the poet has lost.

Tares = weedsGlass = hourglassShade = ghost

The central THEME of the poem is the loss of a young life. Tichborne laments a very simple idea: he is too young to die.

The poem relies on antitheses to achieve its

striking effect. Even though a superficial analysis reveals

only their apparent contradictions, they are

germane to the theme of the poem, their general purpose being to communicate the idea that Tichborne is too

young to die. Said contradictions have a

hopelessness about them, as though the poet himself has striven to comprehend his

predicament, possibly searching for a greater

purpose in his death, and yet has been forced to slink away empty-handed.

The fist stanza features an angry, bitter tone reminiscent

of a petulant child. For instance, Tichborne complains that “[he] saw no sun” (line 5) with the air

of a man who accuses the weather of being the sole

culprit of his misfortune. The first and last lines of the stanza are particularly evocative: the

former paints a picture of a young man—practically a child—burdened with the “cares” (l. 1) of old age; the latter blurs the line between the past and

the present, hinting at Tichborne’s lack of experience

in the world, as well as his regret that he would never

have a chance to improve upon that.

The anger of the first stanza is elided into a sense of sorrow in the second one. Tichborne’s comment about the spring not having “sprung” (l. 7) may imply that he has not had the chance to achieve anything of any substance; this links back to the first stanza,

specifically to the statement that his “crop” (l. 3) has been compromised by weeds. The phrase “the fruit is dead” (l. 8) may hint at depression on Tichborne’s part, which would be the natural consequence of a death sentence: although he is still young, the pluck of youth has deserted him, leaving in its wake numbness and an impressive number of thoughts about death, such as an old man would entertain. As for line 10—Tichborne’s not being “seen” by the world—it may refer either to his dearth of achievements in life, or to his

brief stint as a conspirator, when he would have been hiding backstage to observe unfolding events. Lastly, line 11—”My thread is cut, and yet it is not spun”—constitutes a metaphor according to which the poet’s potential, while present, has not yet been put to

good use and will, therefore, be wasted in death.

Analysis 2The third stanza features yet another change in tone: Tichborne seems acquiescent, almost resigned to the inevitability of death. Moreover, he states that the prospect of death was in some measure expected—like all good Christians, Tichborne knew that he would eventually die, especially in light of the treasonous plot he espoused, as evidenced by line 15, “I trod the earth and knew it was my tomb.” As for his admission that he found death in his own “womb” (line 13), it may be given two interpretations: firstly, it may reference his upbringing as a Catholic, in that his involvement in the Babington conspiracy was the natural result of the persecution of Catholics; secondly, it may represent his decision to aid the conspirators rather than the causes thereof, implying that his own designs led to his demise; alternatively, it may be a subtle hint at his disembowelment, although it is unclear whether or not Tichborne was aware of all the grisly details of his execution beforehand.

My prime of youth is but a frost of cares; a My feast of joy is but a dish of pain; b

My crop of corn is but a field of tares; a And all my good is but vain hope of gain; b

My life is fled, // and yet I saw no sun; cAnd now I live, // and now my life is done. c

The spring is past, // and yet it has not sprung; d The fruit is dead, // and yet the leaves be green;

eMy youth is gone, // and yet I am but young; d

I saw the world, // and yet I was not seen; eMy thread is cut, // and yet it is not spun; cAnd now I live, // and now my life is done. c

I sought my death, // and found it in my womb, f I looked for life, // and saw it was a shade, g

I trod the earth and knew it was my tomb, f And now I die, // and now I am but made: g

The glass is full, // and now my glass is run, cAnd now I live, // and now my life is done. c

Line 14—”I looked for life, and saw it was a shade”—may imply that Tichborne, having wished to achieve something meaningful through his involvement in the conspiracy, now perceives that success was

nothing more than an illusion, an immaterial specter.

The phrase “now I am but made” (line 16), especially

when preceded by a statement about

Tichborne’s impending death as if in chronological order, hints at the poet’s

belief in an afterlife, and his hope that death would purge him of his sins,

granting him the opportunity to start anew. The “glass” mentioned in

line 17 symbolizes an hourglass—that is to say, Tichborne’s time on Earth has come to an end. The last line of the poem also appears as the last line of each of the previous two

stanzas, but now it acquires an almost defiant tone: the

word “done” (line 18) implies that Tichborne considers his so-called “mission” completed.

Moreover, the aforementioned repetition is reminiscent of a death knoll,

dolorous and final.