The poem begins with the speaker asking his lover why she is demanding to know if he has been faithful or not. He claims that having been faithful for one evening is enough of a commitment and that it would be wrong to be entirely faithful, as that would be to rob all other women of the chance to be with him.
Here, we see that Lovelace immediately introduces his speaker as being arrogant and self-centered. This character is humorously exaggerated and tries to justify his immoral behavior with foolish arguments. For example, the fact he states that he would be robbing other women if he were to stay faithful to one.
He claims that the beauty of his lover should be enjoyed by other people, while he has a duty to investigate women who look different to her. He claims that he needs to do this like a "skillful minerallist" looking for treasure in the ground. Finally, the speaker concludes his argument by saying that once he has experienced different kinds of women, he can determine for certain that she is the most beautiful, and can return to her.
