Song Meaning
The lyrics paint a vivid internal conflict, a "mortal war" between the narrator's eye and heart over the "conquest of thy sight." It's a struggle to process the beloved's image: the eye wants to possess the visual, while the heart feels a deeper claim, a desire for the beloved to reside within its "closet never pierced with crystal eyes." This creates an immediate tension, a battle for how to experience and hold onto the person they are addressing.
The core of the dispute lies in how to "divide the conquest." The eye wants to "bar" the heart from seeing, asserting its own right to the visual experience. Conversely, the heart argues that the beloved "doth lie" within it, suggesting a more profound, internal connection that transcends mere sight. The lyrics personify these internal faculties, turning a psychological struggle into a courtroom drama where "thoughts" act as "tenants to the heart" and serve as the jury.
This legalistic framing is the most striking craft element. The narrator "impannelled" a "quest of thoughts" to "'cide this title," meticulously defining the "moiety" and "part" for each. The eye's "due" is the "outward part," the physical appearance, while the heart's "right" is the "inward love of heart," the essence of the beloved. This precise, almost legalistic dissection of desire highlights the narrator's intense, analytical contemplation of their own feelings.
The effectiveness stems from this detailed, almost absurdly formal breakdown of a deeply emotional state. By treating the internal conflict as a legal case, the lyrics reveal the agonizing complexity of desire and perception. The narrator isn't just feeling love; they are meticulously dissecting the very mechanics of how that love is experienced, making the abstract struggle tangible and intellectually engaging.
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