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O Never say that I was false of heart,
Though absence seem'd my flame to quallifie,
As easie might I from my selfe depart,
As from my soule which in thy brest doth lye:
That is my home of love, if I have rang'd,
Like him that travels I returne againe,
Just to the time, not with the time exchang'd,
So that my selfe bring water for my staine.
Never beleeve though in my nature raign'd,
All frailties that besiege all kindes of blood,
That it could so preposterouslie be stain'd,
To leave for nothing all thy summe of good:
For nothing this wide Universe I call,
Save thou my Rose, in it thou art my all.
Commentary
Commentary
Address to his beloved
Address to his beloved
Changes to the original text; end of line 8, comma changed to full stop;
In the first quatrain, the poet exhorts the young man never to say that he is unfaithful (false of heart), for it would be as easy for him (the poet) to separate from himself as to separate from his beloved.
In the second quatrain, the poet puts forward a tortuous piece of logic to justify the fact that he has been unfaithful (I have rang'd), asserting that he is simply like someone who has travelled, who comes back again to his home, unchanged (not with the time exchang'd), bringing his good self to excuse his transgression (water my staine).
In the third quatrain, the poet asks his beloved once again not to believe that he reckons him (the beloved) nothing (leave for nothing all thy summe of good), though he (the poet) may be stained with all sorts of frailties.
In the final couplet, the poet reasserts that his beloved is everything to him.
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