I am ashamed to say I love thee do. 

But dare not for my life and soul deny’t. 

Yet wonder much love’s springs should lie so low

They loveliness its object shines so bright.

Shall all the beams of love upon me shine?

And shall my love love’s object still make pine.

Notes

Beginning at the end: the word “pine” is an obsolete way of saying “pain”. It means not merely “pain” to languish or wear out.

We use that word only in the phrase “pine away” when we speak of someone who desires something greatly but cannot obtain it, such as someone lovesick who “pines away”.

I am ashamed to say I love thee do. 

It would be easy to misunderstand the force of this line. In current vernacular, this would seem to mean that he is ashamed of the object which he loves: I’m ashamed to say that I enjoy this low-brow movie, or this unhealthy snack. But here, the shame comes from the greatness of the object loved. Unlike the low-brow entertainment, it is not that the object loved is beneath him but rather that is so far above him.

It is a poor analogy, but it might understood by thinking of an awkward teenager claiming to be in love with a movie star. To claim that he loves this woman who is famously beautiful and ten years older would be ridiculous. For him to pine away over the impossible woman would make him a laughing stock. He would be ashamed to admit to his love. 

That is what is happening here: How can a human being claim to have this relationship with God? This is particularly the case in light of Taylor’s admission of his sin. Habakkuk 1:13 reads, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.” 

There is a paradox, an absurdity which runs through the heart of the Christian claim.

But dare not for my life and soul deny’t. 

Deny it must be read as two, not three, syllabus: Den-y’t

The alliteration on the D’s draws the beginning and the end of the line together. 

Even though it may seem preposterous to lay hold of God in love, it cannot be denied. Only by adhering to God will there be salvation. 

Yet wonder much love’s springs should lie so low

They loveliness its object shines so bright.

He returns again to one of the main themes which run through Taylor’s poetry: the inadequacy of my response to God’s goodness.  It was the theme expressed in line 4, “What strange-strange thing am I?”

He looks to himself and sees tha this love is not matched to the object of the love. The object is “loveliness” and it “shines bright”. Yet the “springs” of his own love are low, like a stream in the end of summer. This causes him to wonder. 

Note the alliteration on these lines

Yet wonder much love’s springs should lie so low

They loveliness its object shines so bright.

The alliteration then sets off the final “br” in bright. There is also the assonance on “I”, lie, shines, bright. 

Shall all the beams of love upon me shine?

And shall my love love’s object still make pine.

These lines continue the alliteration on S and L, together with the repetition of a long ‘I.’ The final wod of the stanza, “Pine” again breaks the alliteration with a strong vowel, but also is tied to the previous lines by the assonance on “I”.  This is probably the most musically satisfying sections of the poem. 

He returns to the problem of his relationship to the beloved object, but this time from a different angle. First, it was the absurdity that claims God. Second, the wonder at himself for having such a low regard for the object of his love. 

This third question concerns fulfillment: Will he see the display of God’s love (“all the beams of love upon shine”), and yet not achieve some consummation of that love “shall my love’s object still make me pine”)? 

The remainder of the poem will work out the terms of this desire: shall it be fulfilled?