The Full Text of “Song”
1Love, a child, is ever crying;
2Please him, and he straight is flying;
3Give him, he the more is craving,
4Never satisfied with having.
5His desires have no measure;
6Endless folly is his treasure;
7What he promiseth he breaketh;
8Trust not one word that he speaketh.
9He vows nothing but false matter;
10And to cozen you will flatter;
11Let him gain the hand, he’ll leave you
12And still glory to deceive you.
13He will triumph in your wailing;
14And yet cause be of your failing:
15These his virtues are, and slighter
16Are his gifts, his favours lighter.
17Feathers are as firm in staying;
18Wolves no fiercer in their preying;
19As a child then, leave him crying;
20Nor seek him so given to flying.
The Full Text of “Song”
1Love, a child, is ever crying;
2Please him, and he straight is flying;
3Give him, he the more is craving,
4Never satisfied with having.
5His desires have no measure;
6Endless folly is his treasure;
7What he promiseth he breaketh;
8Trust not one word that he speaketh.
9He vows nothing but false matter;
10And to cozen you will flatter;
11Let him gain the hand, he’ll leave you
12And still glory to deceive you.
13He will triumph in your wailing;
14And yet cause be of your failing:
15These his virtues are, and slighter
16Are his gifts, his favours lighter.
17Feathers are as firm in staying;
18Wolves no fiercer in their preying;
19As a child then, leave him crying;
20Nor seek him so given to flying.
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“Song” Introduction
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“Song” was written by the English Renaissance poet Lady Mary Wroth, one of the first female English poets to publish a complete sonnet sequence. Wroth broke gender barriers by writing love poetry as well as original fiction—genres that, at the time, were traditionally reserved for men. Like much other poetry of the Jacobean period, “Song” examines the difficulties and pains of love. Yet it also goes a step further and critiques male cruelty towards women, implying that women are better off avoiding relationships with men altogether. The poem was first published in 1621 as one of the non-sonnet "songs" interspersed throughout Wroth’s sonnet sequence Pamphilia to Amphilanthus.
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“Song” Summary
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Love is like a child who is always crying. If you make him happy, he is just more likely to run away after something else. If you give him what he wants, he just wants more. He is never satisfied with what he has.
There is no end to what he wants. What he values most is recklessness and stupidity. He breaks all of his promises, so you shouldn’t trust a word that he says.
Everything he swears is a lie, and he’ll flatter you to get close to you. But if he gets the upper hand, he’ll just leave you. What’s more, he’ll take great pride in having betrayed you.
He’ll rejoice in your pain, and he’ll cause your mental and physical health to deteriorate. These are his best qualities; the gifts he has to offer are even less impressive.
He's less likely than feathers to stay put. He's as ruthless as wolves in his hunting. As if he’s a child, then, let him cry and leave him behind, and don’t try to run after him when he leaves.
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“Song” Themes
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The Perils of Romantic Love
The speaker of Mary Wroth’s “Song,” like many Elizabethan and Jacobean poets, is pretty fed up with the pains of love. Personifying love as an endlessly demanding, unreliable, and cruel child (an allusion to Cupid, the god of love, often portrayed as a winged boy), the speaker suggests that romantic love is destructive and disastrous—and thus that people who know what’s good for them should avoid it altogether.
Love, the speaker laments, is endlessly demanding. “Give him, he the more is craving,” the speaker says, meaning that no matter how much time and energy one gives to love, love will only “crav[e]” more attention. And even when love is finally “pleas[ed]” (or satisfied), it’s inclined to “fl[y]” away! In other words, even if someone devotes all of their time and attention to romantic love, it still might suddenly disappear.
The speaker also suggests that romantic love is both untrustworthy and cruel: sooner or later, those who love will get hurt. The speaker remarks, for example, that love “vows nothing but false matter.” In other words, love’s “vows,” or promises of happiness and fidelity, are ultimately just lies. Love's promises are as light as “feathers,” easily carried away on the wind—but love is also as fierce as “wolves,” destroying the people it hunts. For all these reasons, the speaker warns the reader to “[t]rust not one word” that love says. Anyone who trusts in romantic love, the poem implies, will only end up getting betrayed.
Since love is both unreliable and painful, the poem declares, people are better off avoiding it altogether. The safest thing is to “leave” love behind—even if it deceptively “cr[ies]” like a “child” for one’s attention.
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Men’s Infidelity and Cruelty
While “Song,” in which a speaker advises readers to give up on love, can be read as a rejection of romantic love in general, it can also be read as a powerful critique of male behavior in particular. Imagining love as a heartless, fickle, and pointedly male child, the poem’s speaker examines the way men behave towards the women they claim to love, and implies that male cruelty saps women of their agency and independence.
While the speaker’s personification of love as a male “child” might simply be read as an allusion to the love god Cupid, it might also suggest that men in romantic relationships with women often behave like impulsive, selfish children. The speaker emphasizes men’s unreasonable, demanding behavior when she says that “he”—meaning love itself, but perhaps also a male romantic partner—is “[n]ever satisfied.” Even when he is “pleased,” he’s got a short attention span: he’s still likely to “fl[y],” or abandon his partner.
The poem suggests, then, that men can be as endlessly demanding of their partners or wives as a child—but also heartlessly disloyal. In fact, if their love is reciprocated, they are all the more likely to leave.
The poem also depicts men as deceitful flatterers, suggesting that all their pretty words are ultimately just a way of gaining power over women. The speaker remarks that if a man is able to “gain the hand,” or gain power over a woman, he will only “leave,” and “glory” in hurting her. In fact, the speaker says, “[h]e will triumph in your wailing.” In other words, men enjoy hurting their partners because it gives them a sense of power and control.
Women, the poem finally suggests, should thus write men off altogether. Otherwise, they’ll only suffer at the hands of the men who claim to love them. Heartless, demanding men, the speaker says, will take and take until their partners have nothing left, becoming the “cause” of women’s “failing”—that is, driving them to physical and emotional collapse. The speaker also implies that women are only “pre[y]” for such men. This type of man, the poem suggests, enjoys chasing women for his own pleasure, but has no integrity or faithfulness.
Casting love as a cruel and fickle man, the poem suggests that relationships with such men take away women’s independence and power—and that women shouldn’t be fooled by men’s dishonest declarations of love. Loving a man, in this speaker’s eyes, is a thankless and dangerous task.
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Song”
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Lines 1-2
Love, a child, is ever crying;
Please him, and he straight is flying;The speaker personifies love as a male child who is always crying and demanding things. If you give him what he wants, though, he’s just more likely to leave.
This personification is also an instance of extended metaphor, as love will be depicted as this child throughout the poem. By representing love in this way, the speaker alludes to Cupid, the Roman god of love and desire, who is traditionally pictured as a winged boy. Importantly, Cupid is also traditionally described as fickle and mischievous, a creator of havoc and confusion.
Beyond this allusion, the representation of love as a specifically male child is significant. While the poem's “he” might refer to love in general, it can also be read as representing a male romantic partner. From the start, then, by depicting love as a demanding, unreasonable male child, the speaker implies that male romantic partners can act in demanding, immature ways.
The speaker then says that if you “[p]lease him”—if you give love, or a male romantic partner, what he wants—he is likely to “fly,” or leave. In other words, the speaker is saying that lovers (and men in particular) are unfaithful, and could leave at any time. The end rhyme between “crying” and “flying” implies that these two actions are interconnected: for this speaker, love (especially male love) is demanding, but also fickle and untrustworthy.
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Lines 3-4
Give him, he the more is craving,
Never satisfied with having. -
Lines 5-8
His desires have no measure;
Endless folly is his treasure;
What he promiseth he breaketh;
Trust not one word that he speaketh. -
Lines 9-12
He vows nothing but false matter;
And to cozen you will flatter;
Let him gain the hand, he’ll leave you
And still glory to deceive you. -
Lines 13-14
He will triumph in your wailing;
And yet cause be of your failing: -
Lines 15-16
These his virtues are, and slighter
Are his gifts, his favours lighter. -
Lines 17-18
Feathers are as firm in staying;
Wolves no fiercer in their preying; -
Lines 19-20
As a child then, leave him crying;
Nor seek him so given to flying.
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“Song” Symbols
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Wolves
The wolves in the poem symbolize danger and ruthlessness. Wolves are traditionally represented as loners (as in the phrase “lone wolf”) who have no mercy and care nothing for those around them. They're also associated with hunting and mortal danger.
In the poem, the speaker says that love—or a male romantic partner—is no less fierce in “preying" than wolves are. In other words, just like wolves, men can be ruthless and dangerous.
Through this symbolism, the speaker implies that, for many men, women are just "prey" for the hunt. When seeking sex and romance, they chase women as ruthlessly as wolves hunt other animals. Men, the poem implies, are only looking out for themselves, and their "love" can be deeply or even fatally destructive.
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Feathers
Feathers are associated with wings and often symbolize lightness, flight, and freedom. In the poem, feathers symbolize how love—especially male love—is likely to “fly" away. Rather than "staying" around, the speaker implies, a (male) romantic partner will probably move on to someone else.
The feathers in the poem also represent superficiality, flightiness, and lack of substance. If love, or a male partner, can fly away as easily as a feather in a breeze, then what true substance or weight was there in the first place? Because love can depart so easily, the speaker implies, it's fundamentally untrustworthy.
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“Song” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Personification
Throughout “Song,” the speaker personifies romantic love as a male child. (This is also an example of an extended metaphor, as the child represents love throughout the poem.)
This personification does several important things in the poem. Because romantic love is intangible and hard to imagine, personifying it makes the speaker's descriptions of love more concrete. For example, it's easy to imagine a child constantly demanding attention; the reader can then apply this idea to romantic love and understand the speaker’s point.
Likewise, personifying love as a child helps convey the idea that it's changeable, untrustworthy, easily distracted, and so on. The speaker suggests that you shouldn’t rely on love, just as you wouldn’t rely on a child to keep their word.
Finally, it's important that the poem personifies love as a male child ("he"). This gendered framing implies that the speaker isn't just talking about love in general. "He” could also stand in for a male romantic partner—maybe one who acts like a little boy. Love is hard on everyone, the speaker suggests, but men can be especially ruthless, reckless, untrustworthy, and immature toward those they love.
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Allusion
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Simile
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Repetition
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Parataxis
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Parallelism
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Alliteration
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Consonance
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Assonance
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"Song" Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Flying
- Craving
- Folly
- Promiseth, Breaketh, Speaketh
- Vows
- Cozen
- Flatter
- Deceive
- Triumph
- Failing
- Favours
- Preying
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In the context of the poem (and 1600s England), "flying" means quickly leaving.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Song”
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Form
The poem’s 20 lines are divided into five quatrains (four-line stanzas). Most lines in the poem are end-stopped, and each quatrain closes with both an end stop and a full stop—that is, the end of each stanza coincides with the end of its sentence.
This regular form gives the poem a level, measured quality. Just as the quatrains are even and contained, the speaker sounds self-contained and self-assured. Each stanza leads rationally to the next—until the poem’s ending, when the speaker declares that the reader should leave love behind altogether.
As the title suggests, the poem is an example of the Elizabethan form called the “song.” English poems of the early 17th century typically fell into one of two formal categories: they were either sonnets (a traditional form dating back to 13th-century Italy) or “songs,” also called “lyrics.”
Poets of this time often published collections of poems that incorporated both forms. For example, Lady Mary Wroth published “Song” in her sequence Pamphilia to Amphilanthus, which included 83 sonnets and 20 songs. Where sonnets follow a strict formal pattern, songs or lyrics can vary considerably in structure. As the name suggests, these poems were typically written to be sung and set to music, and they often had short lines.
A close look at the poem shows that it does have a song-like quality. Its AABB rhyme scheme, quatrains, and relatively short lines all lend themselves to being sung (and to being understood by the singer's audience). Additionally, where sonnets tend to deal with some internal struggle or tension, the message of “Song” is clear throughout: romantic love may be appealing at first, but it will only bring disaster and harm.
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Meter
“Song” is written in trochaic tetrameter. In this type of meter, each line has four metrical feet. Each metrical foot is a trochee, or stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable: the poem has a "DUM-da, DUM-da" rhythm. For instance, the opening two lines read:
Love, a | child, is | ever | crying;
Please him, | and he | straight is | flying;This meter creates what's called a falling rhythm: each line, like each metrical foot, begins with a stressed syllable and ends with an unstressed one. This falling rhythm subtly contributes to the poem’s meaning. The poem acknowledges that romantic love might initially be appealing—or a male romantic partner might attempt to “flatter” a woman—but also makes clear that this appeal will soon fall apart, causing the mental and physical “failing” (deterioration) of the one who loves.
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Rhyme Scheme
“Song” is written in quatrains made up of two rhymed couplets. Thus, the poem's rhyme scheme looks like this:
AABB
This consistent scheme, combined with short lines, contributes to the song-like quality of the poem.
Many of the poem's rhyme words, such as “crying,” “flying,” “staying” and “preying,” are verbs in gerund ("-ing") form. In addition to the regular rhyme pattern, these "-ing" rhymes reinforce the idea that love’s destructive behaviors are ongoing and continual.
All the poem's rhymes are also "feminine," meaning that they end on an unstressed syllable ("crying"). These feminine endings give each line a "falling-away" sound, perhaps echoing the way love falls apart. The use of feminine rhymes might also tie in with the poem's commentary on gender; for example, the speaker might be proudly embracing her femininity in the face of male mistreatment.
Finally, the poem comes full circle at the end, closing on the same two rhyme words (“crying” and “flying”) with which it began. This repetition reminds the reader that love—and a male romantic partner in particular—has many flaws, but is above all like a “crying,” immature child who will soon leave you ("fly"). Thus, the speaker advises readers to leave male partners—and romantic love as a whole—behind.
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“Song” Speaker
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The speaker of “Song” can be interpreted in several ways.
First, Lady Mary Wroth included “Song” in her poem sequence Pamphilia to Amphilanthus. Throughout this sequence, a female speaker, Pamphilia (whose name means “lover of all”), addresses her unfaithful lover, Amphilanthus (whose name means “lover of two”), and struggles with her relationship.
- In this sense, “Song” is a persona poem written from the point of view of the fictional Pamphilia, who describes how romantic love—in particular, her unfaithful male partner—has hurt her.
The speaker of “Song” could also be read as a stand-in for the poet, Mary Wroth:
- Like many Englishwomen of her time, Wroth was in an arranged marriage, and her husband was reportedly unfaithful, jealous, demanding, and prone to heavy drinking.
- “Song” (and the sequence as a whole) could be read as expressing—through the persona of Pamphilia—experiences that were all too real to the poet herself.
More broadly, the speaker could be read as any woman (or any person) who has suffered through romantic love, and through mistreatment by a male partner in particular. The poem comments on romantic misfortunes that were recognizable to many readers of the time—and still are today.
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“Song” Setting
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While “Song” doesn’t have a specific physical setting, two of its details help the reader to imagine the world the speaker inhabits:
- First, the description of love as a crying child evokes a domestic setting, in which the female speaker must constantly tend to the needs of those around her.
- Second, the speaker compares love to wolves on the hunt. These wolves evoke a scene of wilderness and danger, as though the speaker is lost in a threatening landscape.
Together, these elements convey the psychological "landscape" of the speaker’s relationship, within which she feels as though she's both trapped in a domestic world and lost in a dangerous wilderness.
The absence of a more detailed physical setting is also important. Since it's not tied to a particular time or place, the poem gains a "timeless," universal quality that helps it connect with a variety of readers.
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Literary and Historical Context of “Song”
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Literary Context
Lady Mary Wroth included “Song” in her sonnet sequence Pamphilia to Amphilanthus. The sequence contains 83 sonnets and 20 songs (lyric poems) and was first published in 1621, at the end of Wroth’s prose fiction work Urania. The sequence was later published independently.
In the period of English history when Wroth published “Song,” it was considered socially acceptable for women to translate work by men, but not to compose their own prose or secular poetry. Wroth was only the second female English poet to publish a complete sonnet sequence (the first was Anne Locke) and was the first Englishwoman to publish both a complete sonnet sequence and a work of original fiction.
In writing her sonnet sequence, Wroth also had to contend with gender assumptions built into the form. Traditionally, sonnets and other Elizabethan/Jacobean lyric poems were written from the point of view of a male speaker addressing a female beloved. (There are some notable exceptions to this convention, however, including Shakespeare’s Fair Youth poems, in which a male speaker addresses a male beloved.)
The speaker of the poems in Wroth’s sequence (including “Song”) is a female character, Pamphilia, whose name means “lover of all.” In the sequence, Pamphilia addresses her unfaithful lover, Amphilanthus, whose name means “lover of two.” Pamphilia struggles with her relationship to Amphilanthus throughout the sequence and also addresses larger issues of male power and cruelty towards women. The sequence ends with a series of poems addressed to Cupid, the Roman god of love and desire.
Though in many ways Wroth broke the gender norms of her time, both by writing love poems and critiquing male behavior, her work was at least tacitly supported by the English court. As the niece of the renowned Elizabethan poet Sir Philip Sidney, Wroth was also influenced by her aunt, Mary Sidney, who was herself a writer. Wroth’s husband, Sir Robert Roth (a likely model for the unfaithful, demanding “love” who appears in “Song”) was favored by King James, bringing the couple into the inner circles of the Court. These social and political connections likely enabled Wroth to publish at a time when few other women could.
However, Wroth wasn't able to publish without consequences. Urania referred to several actual people from the English court and sharply critiqued their characters. Those who recognized themselves were outraged, attacking Wroth and creating a scandal that made it virtually impossible for the work to be reprinted at the time.
Fortunately, Wroth's work survives today, and her publication of poems and prose—as well as her creation of powerful female protagonists—was an important breakthrough, opening new possibilities for women writers in the centuries to come.
Historical Context
Several layers of historical and social context are important to the poem. First, Lady Mary Wroth lived and wrote during the English Renaissance, when arranged marriages were the cultural norm. Wroth herself was in an arranged marriage that her peers described as terrible: her husband, Sir Robert Roth, was reportedly jealous, demanding, unfaithful, and regularly drunk. The poem could be read as critiquing such disastrous marriages, and specifically the cruel behavior of men towards women at a time when most women had little to no independent social or economic power.
Wroth was also part of the world of the English Court, or the social circle surrounding King James. The court was fraught with corruption and affairs, often conducted to gain social or economic power. Wroth herself had an affair—with William Herbert, the third Earl of Pembroke—and such extramarital relationships were, if not the norm, close to it. This social and political reality may have shaped the cynicism found in “Song,” in which the speaker implies that all romantic love is ultimately false or untrustworthy.
"Song" also implicitly comments on the hypocrisy of this social world, in which male adultery is acceptable but women's affairs are not. Wroth herself experienced this double standard: she lost favor in the English court after her husband's death and was criticized for her lifestyle, while Herbert retained his status and power. The speaker of "Song" seems all too aware of such inequalities, as she compares "love" (and a male romantic partner) to wolves for whom women are simply "prey."
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More “Song” Resources
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External Resources
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Complete Text of Pamphilia to Amphilanthus — Read the complete sequence (Pamphilia to Amphilanthus) in which “Song” was first published in 1621.
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More Context for Wroth’s Sonnets — Read more about Wroth’s poems at Shakespeare and His Sisters, which analyzes parallels between Shakespeare’s plays and works by his female contemporaries.
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Cupid in Context — Learn more about Cupid, the Roman god of love and desire, to whom the “child” in Wroth's poem alludes.
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Podcast about Lady Mary Wroth — Listen to a BBC podcast that discusses Wroth’s prose work Urania and the scandal it caused.
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Biography of Lady Mary Wroth — Learn more about Wroth’s life and work via the Poetry Foundation. This page also includes links to several of Wroth’s other poems.
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