By George Peele(1556-1596)

20/25




Presentation by Yabework Abebe Kifetew
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,
Loves dwelling is in ladies eyes,
From whence do glance loves piercing darts,
That make such holes into our hearts.
It is a poem about love
It is very short, with only one stanza
It has 9 lines
It starts with a question, and the rest of the
poem attempts to answer it.
1. What thing is love?
for sure love is a thing.
2. It is a prick, it is a
sting,
3. It is a pretty, pretty
thing;

The first part of line 1 is a
rhetorical question, while the
remaining part of the line refers
to love as an important, tangible
thing. The rest of the poem
attempts to answer the question
In lines 2-3, he describes loves
two contrasting elements. First it
is a prick, a sting, suggesting
dangers and that love can be
painful, but immediately after
contradicts it by saying It is a
pretty, pretty thing, which shows
the speaker still appreciates its
beauty despite the risk of being
hurt

4. It is a fire, it is a coal,
5. Whose flame creeps
in at every hole;
Line 4 portrays love as a fire;
something that burns, that is
passionate. This goes with the
popular definition of love
something passionate, hot, and
exciting, yet also dangerous,
uncontrollable and can burn out
quickly. The coal could suggest
that love is the fuel of life
sustaining and solid. Or, it could
suggest a more powerful and
negative connotation of darkness
and hardness.
The subsequent line(line 5) claims
that loves flame creeps in at every
hole. This reinforces the message
that it is uncontrollable, and
cannot be blocked out. It will find
its way in, and will affect every
part/hole in you.
6. And, as my wit doth
best devise,
7. Loves dwelling is in
ladies eyes,
8. From whence do
glance loves piercing
darts,
9. That make such holes
into our hearts.

In the last 4 lines, the speaker talks
about where they believe love
comes from.
In line 6-7, the speaker states that
loves dwelling is in ladies eyes.
This does not necessarily mean
women are the ones affected, but
perhaps that, in the speakers
opinion, a glance from a lady is
enough to make one fall in love.
Lines 8-9 again gives across the
message that love has the power to
cause severe pain, that is very
overwhelming like a hole in your
heart.
Love:
How powerful it is
It can cause pain, and yet is still a beautiful
thing to experience
It is overpowering, and uncontrollable
Tone has both positive and negative sayings,
but the poem is generally very matter-of-fact like.
It does not dispute anything, it calmly states what
love is. It neither complains or deeply appreciates
love, it merely talks about it.
- Love has the ability to be both good and
bad/pure and dark, but when it is experienced, it
is a beautiful and painful thing. One cannot chose
whether they fall in love or not, but it is
something that can consume them with passion
and feeling. It leaves you with a feeling of
emptiness in your heart, perhaps that had been
yearning for more and was met with the piercing
pain of failed love. Usually, love is painful when
it is not reciprocated.
I mostly agree with the poem, except perhaps the
ladies eyes. I believe love can be painful, but not
always. I think he has described one type of love,
mostly romantic love, but there are other types of
love that do not cause pain or holes in our
hearts. Still, I agree that it is very often something
that causes heaviness in the heart, and I relate to
the speaker in the poem in a way.