How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
Now proud as an enjoyer, and anon
Doubting the filching age will steal his treasure;
Now counting best to be with you alone,
Then bettered that the world may see my pleasure; (5-8)
Hmm. This is starting to be not so romantic. Would you like it if someone told you, "Hey, you know what being with you makes me feel like? It makes me feel really proud of myself. But then I think someone might steal you"? Probably not—it would sound like the other person wasn't so much full of love for you as full of him or herself. The next two lines (lines 7-8) of this passage might sound a little better: "I don't know what's best—being with you alone, or showing you off to the world." Of course, the metaphor of "counting" is a hold-over from the miser imagery of lines 4-5, and it has a pretty cold, unromantic feel to it. Never tell your significant other that you figured out the pros and cons of your relationship with a calculator.
Quote #5
Sometime all full with feasting on your sight,
And by and by clean starvèd for a look;(9-10)
In these lines, the speaker continues describing love in terms of extreme emotional states, as he started doing when he was talking about the miser. Now, his imagery switches to one of gluttony. The speaker is either completely full from "feasting" on his beloved, or he feels completely empty—and in need of his next feast. We at Shmoop think most people would be positively frightened to hear this kind of language from their significant other. Once again, we're not sure that the speaker is going to have his desired effect here.
Quote #6
Possessing or pursuing no delight,
Save what is had or must from you be took. (11-12)
These lines seem to get to the root of the problem. Sure, the speaker is saying that he only has eyes for "you," but he doesn't make it sound all that nice. If he can't make up his mind whether he is "possessing" you or "pursuing" his beloved, doesn't that make it sound like their relationship isn't all that it's cracked up to be? But then he even says that, if he can't have something from his beloved, it "must from you be took." That really doesn't sound good: sexual aggression is a definite turn-off in a love poem. If the speaker has this sort of attitude towards his beloved, it makes sense that he would be having all the other problems he describes in the rest of the poem. If they aren't firmly together, how can the speaker expect to find a happy medium between the other extremes he experiences?