Those pretty wrongs that liberty commits,
When I am sometime absent from thy heart,
Thy beauty, and thy years full well befits,
For still temptation follows where thou art.

Gentle thou art, and therefore to be won,
Beauteous thou art, therefore to be assail‘d;
And when a woman woos, what woman‘s son
Will sourly leave her till he have prevail‘d?

Ay me! but yet thou mightst my seat forbear,
And chide thy beauty and thy straying youth,
Who lead thee in their riot even there
Where thou art forced to break a twofold truth:

    Hers by thy beauty tempting her to thee,
    Thine by thy beauty being false to me.

Oh, the torment of love’s jealousy and the longing for fidelity in the face of irresistible allure! The poet’s anguish is palpable as he laments the way liberty allows temptation to flourish when his beloved is not within his heart’s embrace. He recognizes the fittingness of her beauty and youth, for they naturally invite admiration and longing wherever she goes. Her gentle nature makes her a prize to be sought after, and her beauty becomes a target for those drawn to her allure. The speaker bemoans the inevitability of wooing and being wooed, acknowledging the unyielding pull of desire.

The poet’s plea to his beloved is laced with a poignant sense of vulnerability and yearning. He implores her to resist the advances of others, to chastise her own beauty and the wandering impulses of youth that may lead her astray. The internal conflict of the poet is deeply felt as he grapples with the knowledge that his beloved’s beauty may unwittingly tempt others towards her, as his own heart aches with the fear of her falseness. Thus, the complex web of emotions intertwines with the artistry of language, painting a picture of love’s strife and the fragility of fidelity in the face of irresistible charm.