​​Take you a course, get you a place, / Observe his honor, or his grace, / Or the king's real, or his stampèd face / Contemplate; what you will, approve, / So you will let me love.
-- Speaker (Lines 5 – 9)

Importance: This argument, which appears in the first stanza of the poem, showcases the speaker's attempt to distract his opponent from his relationship. He argues that his critic should pursue other avenues like intellect, fortune, or loyalty to the king. These suggestions are ultimately distractions that the speaker hopes will allow him and his beloved to love freely, safe from criticism.

Alas, alas, who's injured by my love? / What merchant's ships have my sighs drowned?/Who says my tears have overflowed his ground? / When did my colds a forward spring remove? / When did the heats which my veins fill / Add one more to the plaguy bill?
-- Speaker (Lines 10 – 15)

Importance: In a series of rhetorical questions, the speaker invokes the Petrarchan...