Sometimes, the [what?] is too much - poetry reference?

I’m annoyed, because my slightly inebriated, emotional self is trying to recall some poetic line that said, more or less, that “sometimes, the … mumble can’t remember … is too much.”

Who and what was that? Walt Whitman? TS Elliot? Denise Levertov? Dylan Thomas? James Dickey (probably not the last one, but I’m trying to think of poets I’ve probably read that might have said something like that.) Langston Hughes?

Apparently, sometimes the wine is too much. I really want to remember that line, and I can’t. Help me.

Not Whitman, nor Elliot, but maybe Dan Hill?

“And sometimes when we touch
The honesty’s too much”

I’m pretty sure Dan was quoting Romeo & Juliet.

Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow. Sometimes when we touch, the honesty’s too much.

Nope, although I thank you for the attempt. This was a poem, not song lyrics. Don’t get me wrong - both are legitimate forms of artistic expression. But poetry is different. This was a poem, not a song.

(Also, I’m pretty sure it was the sun that was too much, though I’m not 100% sure,)

Any chance this?

No, but Wordsworth is an excellent guess, so thank you for that.

No no no. I think the line is:

Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow. Someone left the cake out in the rain.

A few google results

  1. The defense is too much for Mahomes!
  2. Sanding the neck - How much is too much?
  3. ANY oil in the intercooler is too much!

Not real poetic, I know.

Thank you anyway, @Qadgop_the_Mercotan.

I feel vaguely like it’s probably Dylan Thomas - either that or some poet too obscure to remember. I need to pull out my one book of his poems and see if I can find it.

Not a great match, but it is Walt:

Sometimes with One I Love

Walt Whitman

Sometimes with one I love I fill myself with rage for fear I effuse unreturn’d love,
But now I think there is no unreturn’d love, the pay is certain one way or another,
(I loved a certain person ardently and my love was not return’d,
Yet out of that I have written these songs.)

Well, Dylan Thomas did write:

Sometimes the sky’s too bright,
Or has too many clouds or birds,
And far away’s too sharp a sun
To nourish thinking of him.

The rest here: Sometimes The Skys Too Bright - A Poem by Dylan Thomas

That’s it! Thank you, Professor!