Love is painful
One of the common motifs in the poem is the idea that love is painful. In every stanza, the poet talks about the pains of loving someone and how, despite the pain, everything is worth it. He mentions time and time again how the pain even has the purpose of making love even sweeter and how it accentuates what a person may feel.
Sighs as a symbol for pleasure
In the second stanza, the author talks about the sighs which lovers produce. The sighs are used here as a symbol for pleasure as they are produced in the moment when the lovers are together and because those sighs affect the heart in a gentle way.
Symbol for pain
The author mentions in the second stanza the tears the lovers shed when they are alone. The tears are used here as a symbol to make reference to the pain the pair may feel when separated from one another.
Symbol for the sacrifices one must do for love
In the third stanza, the poet talks about gifts of gold one must present to love. The gold represents here the sacrifices one must make for the loved one or in the name of love. In one’s youth, these sacrifices are less expensive but in time, the prices rise and a person must pay more gold for love. This suggests that once a person matures and reaches adulthood, it becomes harder and harder to find true love and to really find a good partner.
Love is like a tide
The poet compares love with a tide that comes and goes, leaving the lover waiting for the next tide. The idea that love is a liquid, rain, a tide, tears or other forms is a common motif in the poem and has the purpose of transmitting the idea that love can disappear just as easily as it appeared, leaving someone waiting for the next rain or tide to fill in the void left behind by the previous rush of love.
