Kind are her answers,
But her performance keeps no day.
In this stanza, which opens Campion’s poem, the narrator suggests that the woman in his life—his beloved is rather two-faced in nature. He suggests that, though her words are kind and supportive, her actions—“performance”—is the completely opposite. He’s suggesting that the woman is truthful and loving to his face but is unkind and wholly deceptive behind his back. In this way, this opening stanza sets the tone and atmosphere for the remainder of the poem.
O come, and take from me
The pain of being deprived of thee!
In this poem, the narrator describes his lover, whom he refers to as his life’s delight. He explains that his life depends upon her love; he is desperate for her presence. In this quotation, the narrator is begging his lover to return to him because her absence is simply too much to bear. In this quotation, the narrator makes it very clear that his beloved is the light of his life.
Those cherries fairly do enclose
Of orient pearl a double row,
Which when her lovely laughter shows,
They look like rose-buds fill'd with snow;
In this stanza, the narrator is describing his lover’s face, teeth, and smile using nature-related imagery. The “cherries” he refers to are metaphors for the woman’s lips. Cherries are fitting for this particular body part, due to their plump shapes and blood-red color. The “orient pearl” is meant to personify the woman’s beautiful and sparkling teeth. The narrator explains that, when she laughs, her smile showcasing her teeth so beautifully. So enamored is the narrator with the woman’s teeth that he continues to describe them as snow-filled rosebuds. This stanza encapsulates the narrator’s intense fascination with his lover’s physical appearance.
Love loves no delay; thy sight,
The more enjoyed, the more divine.
In this quotation, which refers to the narrator’s beloved lover, the narrator explains that love cannot stand to be delayed. Rather, it desires to be satiated immediately. In other words, the narrator’s heart is desperate for his lover. He cannot stand to be withheld from her any longer and longs to be closer to his beloved. The following line—“The more enjoyed, the more divine”—suggests that the more the narrator lays eyes on his lover, the more beautiful she becomes to him. In other words, his love only grows for his lover the more he sees her, which is why he is so desperate for her to return to him.
All her free favors
And smooth words wing my hopes in vain.
Here, the narrator is suggesting that his beloved deceptively wooed him with free acts of affection/kindness and convincing words. The narrator is suggesting that the woman intentionally lured him in, only to betray and deceive him later. The narrator explains that he fell for her feminine wiles and was convinced by her false affection and actions.
Follow thy fair sun, unhappy shadow,
Though thou be black as night.
This stanza, which opens Campion’s poem, confronts the idea of goodness and badness in our lives. The “unhappy shadow” refers to the shadows, the dark thoughts/moments, in our lives. The narrator urges these dark moments to follow the “fair sun,” which is representative of the brighter happier moments in our lives. The narrator is attempting to find his way to a brighter, healthier place. He therefore urges the darkness and sadness in his life to follow the example of the sun and be banished away so that he may once again find joy and happiness.
Come, O come, my life’s delight,
Let me not in languor pine!
This quotation, which opens the poem, is a proclamation by the narrator to his lover—his beloved. He refers to her as his “life’s delight.” In this way, the narrator is making it very clear that he is deeply and maddeningly in love with this woman, who is clearly the source of his affections and joy. When the narrator refers to a languoring pine, he’s referring to the intense desire he feels to be with and near his beloved. He begs her to come back to him, so that he may no longer feel such despair and misery.
