The Poem's Central Theme: The Pathetic Fallacy
Surrey masterfully uses the pathetic fallacy—attributing human emotions to nature. The entire poem contrasts the external world ("Winter is worn that was the flowers' bale") with the speaker's internal, unchanging winter of emotional pain.

Nature: Moves from winter to spring; hills "rejoice," birds sing.

The Lover: Remains stuck in a state of frozen grief, his "winter" perpetual despite the season's change. The joyous renewal around him only makes his stasis more painful.

Full Stanza for Context
To see how the lines fit, here is the first stanza of the poem:

Good ladies! Ye that have your pleasures in exile,
Step in your foot, come take a place, and mourn with me awhile.
And such as by their lords do set but little price,
Let them sit still, it skills them not w
Of course. This is from the poem "The Lover in Winter Plaineth for the Spring" by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (c. 1517–1547).

The poem is a lover's lament, contrasting the speaker's inner winter of sorrow with the vibrant renewal of spring. The lines you've quoted are the first and fourth stanzas of a particular version.

Here is a breakdown and explanation:

1. Line 1: "Good ladies! Ye that have your pleasures in exile"
Context & Meaning: The speaker addresses a group of fortunate women (or perhaps personifications of pleasant emotions) who have been "exiled" from him—that is, his sorrow has banished all joy. He sets them apart from his own state of misery.

Literary Technique: This is an apostrophe, a direct address to an absent or abstract entity. It immediately establishes the speaker's isolation and frames the poem as a complaint.

2. Lines 28-29: "If care do cause men cry, why do not I complain? / If each man do bewail his woe, why show not I my pain?"
Context & Meaning: These lines appear later in the poem, after the speaker has described the joyous spring ("The little hills rejoice, the mountains melt with love"). The beauty of the season intensifies his inner despair.

Explanation: This is the core of the lover's paradox. He is asking: If sorrow naturally causes people to cry out, and if everyone expresses their grief, then why should he not voice his immense pain? The rhetorical questions emphasize that his suffering is so profound it defies normal expression, yet he is compelled to voice it anyway. It highlights the conflict between inner feeling and outward show.
To see how the lines fit, here is the first stanza of the poem:

Good ladies! Ye that have your pleasures in exile,
Step in your foot, come take a place, and mourn with me awhile.
And such as by their lords do set but little price,
Let them sit still, it skills them not what chance come on the dice.

And here is the fourth stanza, containing your second quote:

The little hills rejoice, the mountains melt with love,
The birds do sing to win their mates, the doves sit fast above.
If care do cause men cry, why do not I complain?
If each man do bewail his woe, why show not I my pain?

explain the poetry above

Llama3:Latest 20/12/2025 22:29
Let's dive into the world of 17th-century English poetry!


The poem is a lamentation (a poem expressing sorrow or regret) by Robert Herrick, an English poet. It's written in a traditional style, with a rhyme scheme and iambic tetrameter meter (eight syllables per line).


First stanza:


The speaker invites "good ladies" to join him in his sorrow. He's asking them to step into their imaginative space and share in his emotional pain for a while. The poem sets the tone for a melancholic and introspective mood.



"Good ladies! Ye that have your pleasures in exile": The poet is addressing women who, like himself, may be experiencing a sense of displacement or longing.

"Step in your foot, come take a place, and mourn with me awhile": He's inviting them to join him in his sorrow, asking them to step into their imagination and share in his emotional pain for a while.

"And such as by their lords do set but little price": This line suggests that some people are so lowly valued by those they depend on (likely referring to men or authority figures) that it's of no consequence what fate befalls them. This could relate to the speaker's own feelings of being undervalued.

"Let them sit still, it skills them not what chance come on the dice": The phrase "it skills them not" is an old-fashioned way of saying "it matters not." So, the poet is saying that these people should just sit back and let fate unfold, as their worth isn't affected by the outcome.


Fourth stanza:


This stanza seems to be a reflection on the speaker's own emotional state. He's asking why he shouldn't lament his own troubles if others do the same:



"The little hills rejoice, the mountains melt with love": This line sets a contrast between the natural world (hills and mountains) experiencing joy and passion, while humans are often consumed by sorrow.

"The birds do sing to win their mates, the doves sit fast above": The poet is drawing parallels between the mating rituals of birds and the way humans typically respond to emotional pain. Just as birds sing to attract a mate, people cry out in response to their troubles.

"If care do cause men cry, why do not I complain?": The speaker is questioning why he shouldn't express his own sorrow when others do the same in response to their problems.

"If each man do bewail his woe, why show not I my pain?": He's asking why he shouldn't reveal his own emotional struggles if everyone else does the same.


Overall, the poem explores themes of melancholy, longing, and the human experience. The speaker is inviting others to join him in his sorrow, reflecting on the contrast between natural joy and human suffering, and questioning why he should hide his own emotional pain.

t is by Henry Howard earl of Surey

Llama3:Latest
I apologize for the mistake earlier!


The poem you provided is indeed attributed to Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1547-1615), a prominent English poet of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was a member of the powerful Howard family and a close friend and collaborator with Christopher Marlowe.


The poem's style and language are consistent with Surrey's work, which often explored themes of love, mortality, and melancholy. The poem's use of metaphor, imagery, and formal structure also reflect Surrey's mastery of poetic technique.


Thank you for correcting me! I'll make sure to be more accurate in my attributions going forward.