Lines 1706-1926 Summary

The narrator turns towards the rose garden to seek the rose. He notices the hedges surrounding the rose plot, especially the thorns in this hedge. Cupid comes out from behind a fig tree and shoots his five arrows, one after the other into the narrator, first Beauty, then Simplesse, then Curtesye, then Company, and finally Fair-Semmblaunt. The narrator strives to pull the arrows out of his heart so he can continue towards the rose garden, noticing that the wounds do not bleed. However, the points of the arrows remain fixed in his heart. Each time he is struck by an arrow, the narrator swoons, but his desire for the Rose increases.

Lines 1706-1926 Analysis

The allegorical significance of this passage is very clear. The young man falls in love, smitten by the woman's beauty, innocence, good manners, and general charm also...