If meeting you depends upon intermediaries or strangers, with just how many people can one possibly cultivate closeness?

In this couplet, the lover offers a wry and witty complaint about the exhausting social barriers guarding the beloved. If winning a moment with the one you adore requires flattering a never-ending circle of intermediaries and rivals, the heart quickly wears out. It captures that relatable exasperation where true love is simple, yet the world demands endless diplomacy just to reach it.