1 What potions have I drunk of Siren tears
What potions have I drunk from Siren tears What potions have I been forced to drink from Siren tears drank poison from tears Wordplay: “Siren tears”
Sirens in Greek myth lured sailors to destruction with song; tears here are seductive but poisonous.
2 Distilled from limbecks foul as hell within,
Distilled from stills as foul as hell inside, distilled from vessels as vile as hell itself, poison from hell itself
3 Applying fears to hopes, and hopes to fears,
Mixing fear into hope and hope into fear, mixing my fears with my hopes and my hopes with my fears, scared then hopeful then scared
4 Still losing when I saw my self to win!
Still losing when I saw myself about to win! and losing everything just when I thought I was about to win! lost rly when i thought id win
5 What wretched errors hath my heart committed,
What wretched mistakes has my heart made, What terrible errors has my heart committed, my heart screwed up bad
6 Whilst it hath thought it self so blessed never!
While it thought itself so blessed never! while thinking it had never been more blessed! thought i was the luckiest
7 How have mine eyes out of their spheres been fitted
How have my eyes been pulled out of their sockets My eyes have practically exploded out of their sockets eyes out of socket
8 In the distraction of this madding fever!
In the chaos of this maddening fever! in the madness of this delirious fever! going crazy from it
Volta The volta shifts from lamenting past errors to celebrating them as beneficial: 'O benefit of ill, now I find true / That better is, by evil still made better.'
9 O benefit of ill, now I find true
Oh benefit of harm, now I find true Oh, the benefit of being hurt, now I see that it's true pain actually helps somehow
10 That better is, by evil still made better.
That better becomes better only through evil. that good becomes even better only through experiencing evil. good grows from bad
11 And ruined love when it is built anew
And ruined love when it is built again And love that's been destroyed when rebuilt broken love that gets fixed
12 Grows fairer than at first, more strong, far greater.
Grows more beautiful than at first, stronger, far greater. becomes more beautiful than it was at first, much stronger, and vastly greater. comes back better than before
13 So I return rebuked to my content,
So I return rebuked to my peace, So I come back rejected but find my peace, came back beat but found peace
14 And gain by ills thrice more than I have spent.
And gain through ills three times more than I have lost. and gain from all this pain three times more than I spent. got back way more than i lost