How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
Not as a lordly conqueror who could
Command both wire and wood, (3-4)
These lines depict a stereotypical masculine attitude, a kind of "Hulk smash!" approach to the world. It's the kind of guy that's out there conquering and commanding—you know the type. This is not the attitude the speaker sees in the relationship between the guitarist and the instrument and not the kind of relationship the speaker imagines between the man and the woman in the next couplet.
Quote #2
But as a man with a loved woman might,
Inquiring with delight (5-6)
These lines suggest that love changes the way men behave: that a man in love acts differently. No more commanding. No more conquering. Now he is "inquiring with delight." Sounds downright genteel. Wait a minute… does love make men into wussies?
Quote #3
What slight essential things she had to say
Before they started, he and she, to play. (7-8)
Hmmm. He listens to her, and then they start "to play." Looks like listening is the way to go. The ol' macho ways of commanding and conquering might lead to success on the battlefield, but perhaps not in other, more romantic pursuits.