How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
He is stark mad, whoever says,
That he hath been in love an hour,
Yet not that love so soon decays,
But that it can ten in less space devour; (1-4)
You want to talk about love? Well, you better recognize just how powerful a force it really is, bub. The speaker starts off with a kind of warning here: love can "devour" ten people in the space of an hour. It's not clear how he came to that conclusion, but the message is that love can cause serious damage.
Quote #2
Ah, what a trifle is a heart,
If once into love's hands it come! (9-10)
In this personification, love is an uncaring, all-powerful force that views human hearts as if they were just dirt under its fingernails. We're totally at love's mercy here.
Quote #3
[…] but us love draws;
He swallows us and never chaws;
By him, as by chain'd shot, whole ranks do die;
He is the tyrant pike, our hearts the fry. (13-16)
Devastating ammunition, killer fish—the speaker breaks out some violent metaphors to explain how love draws us into its influence…and then totally destroys us. It kind of makes you want to stay home next Valentine's Day—with the doors locked.
Quote #4
I brought a heart into the room,
But from the room I carried none with me.
If it had gone to thee, I know
Mine would have taught thine heart to show
More pity unto me; but Love, alas!
At one first blow did shiver it as glass. (19-24)
A typical way to describe being in love is to say, "You captured my heart." But that's not the case in this instance. If his heart had been captured, the speaker reasons, it would have taught its captor to treat it more gently. Instead, love got a hold of his heart and busted it like a cheap glass snow globe. Love is no benevolent captor here. It's a violent, destructive force.
Quote #5
And now, as broken glasses show
A hundred lesser faces, so
My rags of heart can like, wish, and adore,
But after one such love, can love no more. (29-32)
The speaker claims that he's been irrevocably changed by having his heart broken; he'll never love again. This may seem a tad melodramatic for those of us who haven't recently gone through heartache, but losing love can make you feel like this. Sure, you might learn to like, even adore, again, but love? That's out of the question—for our speaker in this moment, anyway.