Alas, how pleasant are their days / with whom the infant love yet plays!
-- Speaker (Lines 1-2 )

Importance: These initial lines refer to the theme of ideal love. "Infant love" is both a characterization of the innocent happiness that love can bring, and an introduction of the classical image of Cupid (2). The Greco-Roman god Cupid is often called simply "Love," as that is the function he governs, and the capitalization of the word tells us it is here intended as an anthropomorphization of the concept of love itself. Though this initial image of love is quite positive, the use of this mythological figure suggests to readers a conceptualization of love that is involuntary, placed on lovers by an outside force.

Nor can they to that region climb / to make an impression upon time
-- Speaker (Lines 7-8)

Importance: The first stanza depicts happy, innocent lovers in pairs. However, the stanza ends with a suggestion that this happiness is incomplete. The...