Summary

The poem begins with the speaker telling her addressee not to "weep for love that's dead" (1). She says that love is "seldom true," and that its colors change quickly from red to blue and back to red (2). Asserting that love was born to die, she once again affirms that love is "seldom true" (6).

In the second stanza, the speaker tells the addressee not to smile out of hope that they will achieve love. Even the "fairest words on truest lips," the speaker says, are eventually meaningless (10). The speaker then warns the addressee that, if they put too much faith in love, they will end up alone "when wintry winds" appear (12).

In the final stanza, the speaker calls the addressee her "sweet," telling them once more never to cry for love (13). Noting that God himself did not create love, the speaker argues that if love...