Labyrinth by Mary Sidney Wroth

English Composition 1102

My Life, a Labyrinth. Life has not always been easy, for there are so many responsibilities: finances, work, and an education. Though I am only nineteen, it feels like I am walking through a never ending maze. Decisions to make, grades to maintain, spending most of my time tangled in books of science and mathematics, uncertain of where I am headed. Is this what I truly want? If not, can I back down? Are my time and youth being wasted in the pressures of finding the sine and cosine? In the poem “In This Strange Labyrinth” by Mary Sidney Wroth, I find myself related in many ways. My life is a labyrinth for there is only one right path. There are many misleading ways and I wonder, am I on the right track? “In this strange labyrinth how shall I turn? Ways are on all sides while the way I miss” (1-2). A whole world at my feet, a world of endless possibilities, so why is my life a labyrinth, then? My life is a labyrinth for I cannot make a mistake. My resources are poor, and I have made a choice. Now I am on my way, unsure of what awaits. If I take one wrong step, would I be able to correct? Shall I be so concerned? I look around and my peers seem not to care, though everything comes easy when through the maze you take a break. A break I can simply not afford. While during spring break everyone gets drunk on freedom, at the beach, I get drunk on work and much needed sleep. Through this labyrinth I do not travel alone by my side is a great support, the man I love. I cannot for the life of me depend on the path he leads. I need to find my own way. Independence is what I crave. Many of my friends have now families and are engaged. Is that what awaits, if in the name of love, I let myself go? That is simply not the life I am meant to live. I must keep moving forward, though uncertain and confused. Among the many paths, should I take the nicer one? My suspicions are that the uglier path will have the most rewards. Is this truly what I want? If not, can I back down? And if I back down, from the beginning I shall start. Would it all be just a shame? “If to the right hand, there in love I burn; Let me go forward, therein danger is; If to the left, suspicion bliss, let me turn back, shame cries I ought return, nor faint though crosses with my fortunes kiss” (3-7). At times, I just want to stop and close my eyes. To do nothing is harder than to continue my path, for I need to move on and find the end of this labyrinth. Although, unsure of which way to take, I must trust myself and endure the way. My mother tells me that I have the power to do whatever I set my mind to. Am I the queen in this game of chess? Have I the power to make any move I wish? And if I make the wrong move, I hope to still make it through. I am far too insecure. Is this what I truly want? Why do I care so much? I am condemned to spend my years of beauty and youth, trying to find the right path. By the time I find my way out, will I still have the time to enjoy what is left of my life? While I sit here thinking about my life, the labyrinth, my peers go out to parties and live their lives with no worries. Well, I cannot afford to waste my time for I must find the sine and cosine. “Stand still is harder, although sure to mourn; go forward, or stand still, or back retire; I must these doubts endure without allay or help, but travail find for my best hire” (8-12). After all my resentment towards the cruel labyrinth, the only thing that remains is the love of my beloved. I shall move on, whether right or wrong path. Nevertheless, I shall move on by the hand of true love. Follow my own path, never depend on his life. We will meet each other at the end of these labyrinths, for only with the help of true love, I could ever find my way out. “Yet that which most my troubled sense doth move is to leave all, and take the thread of love” (13-14) My life is a labyrinth for there is only one right path. In the end it is all my choice, I can keep moving forward or back down in shame. Life is never easy, love is all that remains, and for now I shall keep it in a safe. By the hand of true love one day I will find my way out. Whether it is sooner; whether it is later, in the end I will still have my love, and then it shall keep me safe. Though I am only nineteen, someday I will have the time to do the things I have missed, for is never too late to love and have fun.

Nunez