My poem analysis needs edited to sound better: The paradoxes in the poem’s first sestet reveal the difficulty of concealing her feelings to appear strong. Elizabeth emphasized this obstacle using contradictory statements: “I love, and yet am forced to seem to hate / I do, yet dare not say I ever meant” (Elizabeth 2-3). In these lines, it is revealed that she was in an unbearable state of remorse and angst due to her unattainable love. The next stanza reveals her unhappiness: “My care is like a shadow in the sun” (Elizabeth 7). The use of the simile places emphasis on her sorrow; by recognizing that the sun always results in a shadow, the poet wisely implied that her depression will be perpetual. In the next couple lines, Elizabeth revealed that her love was to the extent of an obsession: “No means I find to rid him from my breast” (Elizabeth 11). By admitting that she was consumed by thoughts of him despite trying to prevent them, Elizabeth inferred that her love was indeed an addiction. The last stanza reveals that obsessive love led to thoughts of harsh behaviours. Elizabeth created a highly pitiful effect by contemplating death as an aspirin: “Let me live with some more sweet content / Or die, and so forget what love e’er meant” (Elizabeth 13-14). Elizabeth suffered due to her love for Francis; she struggled to keep her feelings in secrecy and was disheartened when she could not be with him. As a result, Elizabeth wanted to cease her unendurable torture by death.