YEA OR NAY BY SIR THOMAS WYATT

If it be yea, I shall be fain;
If it be nay, friends as before,
You shall another man obtain,
And I mine own, and yours no more.

It it be yea, .......... and yours no more.

REFERENCE

(i) Poem: Yea or Nay

(ii) Poet: Sir Thomas Wyatt

CONTEXT

(i) Occurrence: End of the Poem (Lines 9-12/12)

(ii) Content: The poet challenges his lady to decide whether she is accepting of his suit. He pleads her to give up her trick and rely instead on her wit to impress him and show her true worth. He expresses that he burns with passion, and requests that if she has any compassion for him, she would tell him clearly, yes or no. He says that he will be happy with the answer yes, but if she says no, they will return to being friends as they were before. She will then be free to move on to get herself a new man, and the poet will be independent again, and no longer possessed by the lady. 

EXPLANATION

     In these lines the poet wants to get a clear cut answer from his beloved about their relationship to determine the course of their lives. The poet says that if her lady agrees to his suit, then he will be "fain" i.e. happy. Of course, a clever pun has been used here as the homophone "feign" means false, and it would be difficult to tell the two words apart without seeing the written word. If the poet is rejected, he says that they will return to being friends as they were before. There is no implication the he will be destroyed by grief or will mourn forever; the result will be undramatic. The poet callously implies that the lady will move on to anther lover. He, however, will be content to be "mine own" - his own man. His final words show that he will be relieved to no longer be owned by the lady. His freedom sounds much more appealing than her return to the fakery of courtly relationships with her beloved.