Counselor, your advice to renounce love is quite right, but what will happen if word of this reaches the beloved?
The lover gently humors his well-meaning counselor here, conceding that walking away from love is sensible and completely logical. But the magic lies in the sudden pivot of the second line—his real anxiety isn't the suffering of leaving, but the terror of his beloved finding out that he even entertained such a thought. It is a tender portrait of devotion, where keeping faith with the beloved easily outmuscles every rule of worldly self-preservation.
Interpretation note: meanings and explanations may be AI-assisted and should not replace a primary text or scholarly edition. See the editorial policy.
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