straight
immediately, right away.
A word used to describe the speed with which the child (love) will abandon you after receiving your attention. Evokes the image of a sword, blade, or other straight-edged weapon to suggest a source of pain and injury.
folly
foolishness, fallibility, mistakes.
Used to describe what the crying child holds most dear, suggesting a sadistic dynamic between personified love, who joys in others' pain, and the speaker, who experiences the pain first hand.
cozen
to flatter, seduce, convince by trickery.
Used to describe the child's and love's manipulative tendencies. The use of this term relates to the treatment of Cupid (the god of erotic love and desire) in the early English Renaissance, when Petrarchan poets would portray him as a menacing child prone to mischief.
wailing
loud crying or screaming, usually out of extreme pain.
The use of this word to describe the child's and love's reaction to pain evokes the classical Greek image of wailing or mourning women who would participate in public outpouring of emotion. It was one of the only times women of antiquity were granted public space to express themselves. Thus, wailing connotes both extreme devastation and the opportunity to be heard.
deceive
to trick or convince someone of something that is untrue.
failing
destruction or downfall.
flying
fleeing, running away.
firm
solid, enduring, stable.
