Song Meaning

The speaker confronts a lover whose feigned sleep and "crafty closing" eyes are a deliberate cruelty. This pretense, meant to "drive me from my sight," ironically backfires because the speaker finds more "delight" in observing this "harmless beauty" while the lover sleeps. The narrator then contemplates stealing a kiss, an act that feels permissible precisely because the lover is asleep and seemingly unaware. The central tension arises from the lover's "cruel eyes deceiving" and "unkind despite," which the speaker perceives as a form of emotional neglect. The speaker yearns for a requited love, imagining a scenario where their own "sleep dissembled" could lead to a "trance resembled," allowing them to overcome the lover's coldness. This imagined state would permit a "fury triumph'd boldly" and a "sweet embrace" with someone who "lov'd so coldly." The lyrics play with the idea of deception and its consequences. The lover's feigned sleep is a "deceit," yet the speaker muses that "kisses may be bold / When lovely sleep in armless." This suggests that while the lover's actions are cruel, the speaker's own desires, when acted upon in a moment of perceived vulnerability (the lover's sleep), are framed as harmless. The question posed, "So far exceed the duty / That virtue owes to beauty?" highlights the speaker's internal debate about the morality of pursuing forbidden joys versus accepting a simple, unrequited affection. This piece resonates because it captures the complex interplay of desire, perceived rejection, and the justification of one's own actions. The narrator's ability to find beauty even in the lover's feigned cruelty, coupled with the internal wrestling over the ethics of a "forbidden kiss," creates a poignant portrait of unrequited affection. The language, though archaic, conveys a timeless struggle with love's unkindness and the impulse to seize moments of perceived opportunity.