How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
Wash, dress, be brief in praying:
Few beads are best when once we go a-Maying (27-28)
It's a sin to miss May Day, but lazily skimming through your morning prayers? No problemo. This poem discourages physical and philosophical inertia, the kind that drags your hand back to the snooze button when a new day of possibilities beckons. But religious inertia is encouraged.
Quote #5
Some have despatch'd their cakes and cream
Before that we have left to dream: (47-48)
Here the speaker tries to fill Corinna with FOMO on all the fun happening without them. He contrasts her dreams with the rich, sweet, delicious, three-dimensional pleasures of the real world. Corinna might be dreaming about being Queen of England, but that imaginary fun has nothing on a cream cake being eaten in real time.
Quote #6
Come, let us go while we are in our prime (57)
It's essential to go now, while they are young and happy and in love. If he can't rouse Corinna to get in the May, then before you know it, they'll both be haggard and limping. Or at least that's the hyperbole he wants her to believe. He's actually speaking about laziness in general, which procrastinates and wastes time and watches opportunities drift by like bubbles. And suddenly you wake up 99 years old and realize you've done nothing.