For a Lady That Requested Me to Love Her
Given that you bestowed me consent to love,
How will you respond?
Will I your mirth, or passion move,
As I begin to woo;
Shall you torment, or mock, or love me too?
All trivial beauty can disdain, and I
Spight of your aversion
Lacking your permission can observe, and die;
Bestow a grander Fate!
’Tis easy to ruin, you can create.
Thus give me leave to adore, & adore me too
Without intent
To elevate, as Affection's damned defiers act
While puling Versifiers whine,
Renown to their charm, from their tearful eyne.
Grief is a puddle and mirrors not bright
One's beauty’s beams;
Delights are clear currents, your eyes appear
Gloomy in gloomier songs,
Within happy lines they radiate luminous with praise.
That will not allude to portray you fair
Injuries, flames, and arrows,
Tempests in your countenance, snares in your hair,
Bribing all your attributes,
Or else to deceive, or torment trapped affections.
I will render your gaze like morning stars appear,
Just as mild, and fayr;
Your forehead as crystal smooth, and clear,
While your unkempt locks
Will drift like a serene Area of the Ayr.
Abundant Nature’s treasury (which is the Bard's Riches)
I shall expend, to dress
Your graces, if your Source of Pleasure
With equall appreciation
One but unlock, so we each other bless.
Delving into the Poem's Ideas
The work delves the relationship of passion and admiration, where the speaker engages with a lady who requests his affection. Conversely, he proposes a mutual agreement of poetic admiration for intimate favors. This language is elegant, combining courtly norms with direct utterances of desire.
Within the stanzas, the author spurns typical tropes of one-sided love, like grief and weeping, stating they dim true charm. The speaker chooses joy and praise to emphasize the lady's features, vowing to portray her gaze as bright suns and her locks as drifting air. This approach emphasizes a realistic yet clever outlook on connections.
Important Aspects of the Composition
- Shared Exchange: The work centers on a suggestion of tribute in return for enjoyment, highlighting balance between the persons.
- Rejection of Standard Ideas: The poet condemns common literary devices like grief and similes of anguish, preferring optimistic imagery.
- Creative Artistry: The use of mixed meter measures and flow demonstrates the poet's proficiency in verse, forming a graceful and captivating text.
Abundant Nature’s treasury (which is the Writer's Treasure)
I’l spend, to dress
One's beauties, if your Mine of Pleasure
In equall appreciation
One but unlock, so we mutually bless.
The verse summarizes the essential bargain, as the author pledges to utilize his artistic abilities to praise the woman, in exchange for her openness. The language blends spiritual overtones with worldly desires, providing profundity to the work's message.