Morning as a symbol of new beginnings
In the poem, The Scrutiny, morning symbolizes a new beginning for the characters. The speaker of the poem tells his lover, '
Lady it is already Morn,
And ’twas last night I swore to thee
That fond impossibility.' The meaning of the lines is that since it was now morning, their tryst had come to an end and they each should go their own way.
Motif of unfaithfulness
The speaker of the poem is unfaithful to his lover. He says that he will continue to be unfaithful until he was sated by many women and was ready to settle down. He says,
'Not, but all joy in thy browne haire, By others may be found; But I must search the blank and faire Like skilfull Minerallist’s that sound For Treasure in un-plow’d-up ground.'
The motif of unfaithfulness is gathered from the speaker's behavior of dating a lot of women at the same time and jilting them after spending a few hours with them.
Night is symbolic of adventure
Nighttime is illustrated as a symbol of adventure in the poem. It is a time when the speaker who is a bachelor goes out to find a woman in which spend the night with. The nigttime is a time when people are free, feel adventurous, and are looking forward to having fun.
The jilted lover
The jilted lover in the poem symbolizes all of life which most human beings feel unfulfilled by. Man feels unsated by the things that he has and works towards gaining more in terms of love, money, beauty, and happiness.
Allegory of searching for love
The speaker uses an allegory to explain to his lover that he was searching for an extraordinary woman. The allegory is,
'Not, but all joy in thy browne haire,
By others may be found; But I must search the blank and faire Like skilfull Minerallist’s that sound For Treasure in un-plow’d-up ground.' The allegory compares looking for an extraordinary woman to looking for treasure. The miners are allegorical for they represent the speaker.
