First Stanza
The speaker of the poem addresses love asking it what it is. Then the speaker proceeds to provide answers to his or her own question. According to the speaker love is a vain or useless thought made in one's fantasy; it was made from useless smiles and fond wishes and only fools fall into the net of love.
Analysis
The speaker of the poem addressing love as if it were some living thing shows his or her bitterness towards it. It is a rhetorical question to which the speaker already has an answer showing us that the speaker hasn't had that much luck with love. According to the speaker, love is an insignificant thing made in fantasy.
Second Stanza
The second stanza, as well as the rest of the segments, begins with the same rhetorical question addressing love. The second stanza takes a slightly different turn. The speaker of the poem answers that love is light and fair, clear and fresh, but soon love takes a completely different turn making it comparable to coldness. Nevertheless, that coldness is still mixed with instances of joy.
Analysis
The speaker of the poem isn't forgetful of the beauty and joy of love but it is the coldness that love brings with it that makes him/her question it.
Third Stanza
In the third stanza, the speaker of the poem describes the shortness of love. It last as a full blown flower which dies in no more than an hour. The pleasure of love lasts as long as the dust in the wind remains steady.
Analysis
It's clear by now that the speaker of the poem is someone deeply hurt by being in love. In this stanza the speaker describes the frailty of love and how quickly it can cause pain.
Fourth Stanza
In the fourth stanza, the speaker of the poem calls love childish and vain, without firmness and spoiled.
Analysis
In this stanza, the speaker of the poem is close to acceptance that love comes with pain and there is nothing to be done about it. This can be seen in the last line where he/she accepts that love is like a child and children don't have steadiness or firmness.
Fifth Stanza
In the last stanza, the speaker of the poem describes love with more negative words but finally stops because he/she once followed the rules of love blindly therefore is in no position to say more.
Analysis
It is clear that the poem is about someone who was deeply in love and got deeply hurt by it. In this final stanza the speaker of the poem starts to self-reflect and realize that it's not good to speak so negatively about something one strongly believed in once.
