To Mr. I.P.

Song Meaning

The speaker addresses "Mr. I.P." with a profound sense of longing, framing their absence as a literal winter. The "north parts" are blessed because the speaker's "sun"—a beloved person—resides there. This person's presence is so vital that their absence transforms the speaker's environment into a "cold and dark" clime, devoid of summer or day. The speaker feels that even the "Heaven's sun" stayed away from them, choosing instead to linger in the north where their beloved is. This intense devotion creates a central tension: the speaker's emotional state is entirely dictated by the beloved's location. When the beloved is away, the speaker's world "rages, chafes, and threatens pestilence," a stark contrast to the warmth and light they associate with their presence. The speaker's own "kind and unkind heart" has "run" to the beloved, suggesting a complete surrender of their emotional landscape, to be "sacrifice[d]" to this "beauteous sun." The lyrics employ a series of elaborate blessings and wishes directed at Mr. I.P., all contingent on the beloved's presence. These wishes paint a picture of idealized pastoral prosperity: abundant "flowery feasts," fertile "lean beasts," perpetually green woods, prolific sheep, swift horses, and enduring love and courage. The most striking wish is for the beloved's "son ne'er ward" and "loved wife ne'er seem old," highlighting the speaker's desire for the beloved's entire world to remain perfect and unchanging, perhaps as a reflection of the speaker's idealized vision. The ultimate effectiveness of these lyrics lies in their intricate weaving of personal devotion into a tapestry of external blessings. The speaker's pain is directly linked to the beloved's perceived happiness and well-being elsewhere. The final lines reveal the core of the speaker's suffering: the beloved is apparently unaware of the depth of this "pain," only being told it by the speaker, who wishes for their beloved to share this burden. The speaker's fervent hopes for Mr. I.P.'s prosperity are ultimately a plea for the beloved's happiness, a happiness that the speaker desperately wishes to be a part of.