The Lady's Third Song
The Lady's Third Song - meaning Summary
Jealousy and Divided Love
The speaker addresses a woman who will meet the speaker’s lover, urging restraint in moral judgment while confessing intimate knowledge of the lover’s bodily appetites. Rather than demand exclusivity, the speaker asks that the lover’s affections be divided so she can witness and savor their shared sexuality, imagining the sound of a kiss as a "contrapuntal serpent hiss." The poem mixes jealousy, rivalry, and erotic curiosity.
Read Complete AnalysesWhen you and my true lover meet And he plays tunes between your feet. Speak no evil of the soul, Nor think that body is the whole, For I that am his daylight lady Know worse evil of the body; But in honour split his love Till either neither have enough, That I may hear if we should kiss A contrapuntal serpent hiss, You, should hand explore a thigh, All the labouring heavens sigh.
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