“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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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” Summary
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“Song” Themes
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The Perils of Romantic Love
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Men’s Infidelity and Cruelty
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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; -
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
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Feathers
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“Song” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Personification
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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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- See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Song”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Song” Speaker
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“Song” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Song”
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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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