Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 10-18
Alas! alas! who's injured by my love?
What merchant's ships have my sighs drown'd?
Who says my tears have overflow'd his ground?
When did my colds a forward spring remove?
When did the heats which my veins fill
Add one more to the plaguy bill?
Soldiers find wars, and lawyers find out still
Litigious men, which quarrels move,
Though she and I do love.
- Our speaker picks up his rant right where he left off. "Come on, man," he's saying in line 10, "who could I possibly be hurting by being in love?"
- Have his love-inspired sighs drowned ships or flooded some dude's lands? Have his love chills (we guess that's just a shiver you might get from being in love) caused an early ("forward") spring to go away ("remove")? Has the hot blood running through his veins ("heat which my veins fill") caused anyone else to suffer from the plague?
- In case you're wondering, these are all rhetorical questions with the same implied answer: "No." The speaker's love hasn't caused anyone any harm—so what's all the fuss about?
- After all, soldiers are still able to find wars to fight in, and lawyers are still able to find lawsuit-happy ("litigious") men who want to go to court ("which quarrels [fights] move").
- Yep—the world still keeps on turning, even though the speaker and his beloved love each other (18).