To a Lady Who Desired I Would Show Affection

Given that you freely given me consent to love,
How will you do?
Will I your mirth, or ardor stir,
When I start to court;
Will you distress, or disdain, or love me too?

Every minor beauty can reject, and I
In spite of your aversion
Without your leave can see, and succumb;
Grant a grander Fate!
It is effortless to destroy, you may fashion.

Therefore grant me permission to cherish, & adore me too
Without purpose
To uplift, as Loves cursed rebels act
When puling Poets lament,
Renown to their beauty, from their weeping eyne.

Sadness is a puddle and reflects not bright
Your beauty’s rayes;
Joys are untainted streams, your vision appear
Morose in sadder verses,
Within joyful lines they gleam bright with acclaim.

Which will not mention to describe you lovely
Harms, flames, and arrows,
Tempests in your countenance, traps in your hayr,
Bribing all your attributes,
Either to trick, or torment captive hearts.

I shall make your gaze like dawn orbs look,
Just as soft, and fayr;
Your forehead as glass polished, and pure,
While your unkempt hayr
May flow like a tranquil Zone of the Ayr.

Wealthy Nature's store (which is the Poet’s Treasure)
I will expend, to embellish
Your graces, if your Wellspring of Joy
In equall thankfulness
Thou but release, so we one another favor.

Examining the Work's Ideas

The work delves the relationship of passion and praise, where the narrator engages with a lady who requests his affection. Instead, he proposes a shared arrangement of literary praise for personal pleasures. The phraseology is elegant, combining courtly norms with candid expressions of longing.

In the lines, the author rejects common tropes of unrequited love, including grief and tears, stating they dim true grace. The speaker favors joy and praise to highlight the lady's attributes, assuring to depict her gaze as radiant suns and her locks as drifting air. The method underscores a realistic yet skillful perspective on relationships.

Key Aspects of the Composition

  • Reciprocal Exchange: The work focuses on a proposal of admiration in return for enjoyment, emphasizing parity between the parties.
  • Spurning of Conventional Motifs: The narrator disparages typical artistic tools like sorrow and metaphors of pain, choosing optimistic depictions.
  • Creative Skill: The application of varied meter patterns and flow displays the poet's proficiency in verse, forming a graceful and captivating experience.
Abundant Nature's store (which is the Bard's Treasure)
I will use, to adorn
Thy charms, if your Mine of Pleasure
With equal appreciation
You but open, so we each other bless.

This stanza encapsulates the essential deal, as the poet pledges to utilize his inventive gifts to celebrate the maiden, in return for her willingness. The phraseology combines pious hints with earthly longings, providing profundity to the verse's meaning.

Angela Brown
Angela Brown

A forward-thinking strategist with over a decade of experience in business development and digital transformation.