What Thing is Love?

George Peele

George Peele earned his B.A. in 1577 and his

M.A. in 1579 at Oxford. When he returned to
Oxford on business in 1583, two years after his
departure for London, he managed the
performance of two Latin plays by William
Gager for the entertainment of a Polish prince.
The rest of his life was spent pursing varied
literary efforts, some of which met with
moderate success. Peele, however, seems to
have been given to excesses, so he spent much
of his life in debt. He died before he reached
age 40 and remains today a relatively unknown
author.

George Peele 1558-1596

WHAT THING IS LOVE by George Peele

What thing is love? for sure 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,
And evermore hath been a god,
Since Mars and she played even and odd

 The poem examines the various

forms of love. A rhetorical question
opens the poemWhat thing is
love?and an answer is expected,
but the speaker explains for sure
love is a thing. The choice of the
word thing infers something
simple, yet mysterious. Eventually,
the speaker describes love as a
gradual thing from a prick to sting,
which stresses the pain of love.
In contrast, the third line views the
soothing aspect of love as
something pretty, but the repetition
of the word casts some doubt on that
truth.

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Content

 The fourth line reveals the real intent of the ironic

beauty to describe love as a fire and coal. Thus,
Love is uncontrollable, passionate and
destructive. This destructiveness is so pervading
that it destroys the whole being of any man who
falls under its spell.
Line six, however, presents the limitation of the
speakers knowledge in describing love And,
as my wit doth best devise.

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Content

He continues with his description of love in line

seven by identifying its location in ladies eyes,
where men are made to fall in love. The poem
concludes with the permanent impact of love on
men.

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Theme

This poem is about love's impact. The speaker

notes that love ("a pretty, pretty thing) is
accompanied by pain (a pricka sting.)
Men are being warned of the subtleties of love
as it "creeps in at every hole." Men should be
careful of "ladies' eyes." Once a man has been
snared by "love's piercing darts," he will have
his heart broken because love is so strong, even
comparing it to a "mighty lord."
Men must be careful because they will think
"With Venus he in heaven doth lie" when they
place love (or a woman) on this pedestal or
"mount so high." However, Mars and she,
will play games of "even and odd" with men to
confuse them and to take advantage of their
lovesickness.
The dominant theme relates to the perils of
being in love, including its destructiveness.

What Thing is Love is lyrical

fifteen-line poem.
It uses its title to build the
rhetorical question applied in
the first line to define love. This
is subsequently followed by
various attempts to describe the
various forms and nuances of
love.
The first four lines use
anaphora to begin each
definition (it is); then, the
definition of love becomes
more complex as the speaker
identifies its destructive nature.

Form and Structure

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Poetic Devices

The poem is metaphorically

compares love to a prick, a
sting, a pretty thing, a fire, a
coal, flame to portray the
complexity and
destructiveness of love.
The uncontrollable nature of
love is accented as it
make[s] such holes into our
hearts.
Love is personified several
timesin ladies eyes and
as a greatlord.
There is an allusion to
Cupids darts, which cause
men to fall in love.

The rhetorical
questions initially
convey a doubtful
voice on what
exactly love is. The
various scenarios
listed by the
speaker reveal an
inquiring tone that
is embittered by
the symptoms of
love.

Tone

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Sound Devices

The rhetorical question

launches the variations of
love listed, and this sets the
speculative tone of the
poem in motion.
To further accentuate the
simplicity and yet the
complexity of what love
is, repetition is used in a
very simple sentence
structure. This is followed
by a complex exploration
of love in lines 5 to 10.
The repetitive alliteration
of p in prick, pretty
presents love as simple so
as to complement
the thing in line one.

The sense of doubt of what love is, which

pervades the poem, is marked
by caesuras .These are also used to
contrast some key symbols of what love
is such as fire [and]coal.
The same effect is what the end-stops of
the poem tend to achieve as they draw
attention to the caution that love
demands.
The use of couplets
(AAABBCCDDEEFFGG) attempts to
capture what love is to depict a more
precise definition of love.

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Sound Devices

 Monosyllabic
words comprise the
poem, making it
easy to understand.
One of the
strengths of the
poem is its
symbolism with
words such
as prick, sting, coal,
which also have
metaphorical
implications.
Ironically, Cupid is
the blind son of
Venus in loves
piercing darts.

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Diction

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http://literatureencore.net/?p=74
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/george-peele

Works Cited