the poem starts in medias res. The poet is probably speaking with his errand man. He asks him impossible or absurd questions: to catch a falling star, to make a mandrake root pregnant, to tell him where all the time past is, who split the devil's foot (Devil's foot is believed to be similar to that of a goat), to teach him how to hear the mermaids' song and how to avoid the pangs of envy, to find out what helps an honest mind to succeed. All these questions refer to different fields: astronomy, alchemy, superstition, mythology. They are all CONCEITS, unsual metaphors. The poet questions about the ideal love and the image of the woman, who is finally depicted as inconstant, a calculating liar.