Bel-Imperia uses a lengthy simile to describe her complicated feelings for Horatio. When Horatio discloses his love for her, Bel-Imperia responds by reflecting upon the recent death of her beloved, Andrea:
My heart, sweet friend, is like a ship at sea:
She wisheth port, where riding all at ease
She may repair what stormy times have worn,
And, leaning on the shore, may sing with joy
That pleasure follows pain, and bliss annoy.
Possession of thy love is th'only port
Wherein my heart, with fears and hopes long tossed,
Each hour doth wish and long to make resort,
There to repair the joys that it hath lost,
And sitting safe, to sing in Cupid's Choir
That sweetest bliss is crown of love's desire.
She begins by noting that her heart is “like a ship at sea” that “wisheth port,” or in other words, it seeks out some gentle harbor where it may be at ease. After finding such a safe haven, her heart might have time to “repair what stormy times have worn” and perhaps even, some day, to “sing with joy” at the conclusion that “pleasure follows pain.”
She then addresses Horatio more directly, continuing to expand upon her simile. He is, she insists, “th’only port” where her heart might “make resort.” In the pain and mourning that has followed Andrea’s death, Bel-Imperia here imagines that she might find solace in Horatio.
