How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
Who will believe me, if I swear
That I have had the plague a year? (5-6)
Woah—that escalated quickly. We're just halfway through the first stanza and the speaker is already busting out the plague references. This is setting us up for a lot of unpleasant, suffering-related details to come.
Quote #2
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. (14-16)
None of this sounds like very much fun. These metaphors emphasize the power and ruthlessness of love, and the fragility and terror of us poor humans. We're no match for its ability to consume us in the least pleasant and most suffering-inducing ways imaginable.
Quote #3
[…] but Love, alas!
At one first blow did shiver it as glass. (23-24)
Most of us would be tempted to focus on the metaphor of the heart as glass here, but it's worth stopping to wonder: why was love beating on the heart in the first place? It's like love has some special grudge against the poor, fragile heart. Once again, love is a violent force, bent on causing suffering however it can.