The Nature of Love
What thing is love? for well I wot, love is a thing,
It is a prick, it is a sting.
It is a pretty pretty thing;
It is a fire, it is a coal,
Whose flame creeps in at every hole;
And as my wit doth best devise,
Love’s dwelling is in ladies’ eyes:
From whence do glance love’s piercing darts
That make such holes into our hearts;
And all the world herein accord
Love is a great and mighty lord,
And when he list to mount so high,
With Venus he in heaven doth lie,
Since Mars and she played even and odd.
George Peele (1588-1596)