Meaning & Analysis
A marriage based solely on love, without financial resources, brings pleasure and happiness at night (in intimacy or affection), but leads to hardship, worry, or regret during the day (in practical affairs).
Insights
Romance Versus Reality
The proverb juxtaposes the pleasures of romantic passion with the difficulties of daily life, warning that love alone is insufficient for enduring happiness when unaccompanied by material means.
Duality of Human Experience
It captures the dual nature of relationships: emotional or physical satisfaction can coexist with practical suffering, suggesting that successful marriage requires both affection and security.
Caution Against Idealism
The saying serves as a caution against entering into marriage on feeling alone, advocating for a balance between emotion and prudence.
Historical and Social Context
The proverb reflects early modern anxieties about marriage, echoing a long tradition of folk wisdom that views matrimony as both an economic and emotional contract. Similar proverbs appear in Italian and Spanish collections, revealing the universality of the sentiment.
Gender and Power Dynamics
In societies where financial security was crucial to stability—especially for women—the saying warns of the dangers of poverty in marriage, linking material lack to daytime ‘sorrow’ and domestic stress.
Psychological and Practical Reflection
Modern research confirms the strain that financial hardship puts on relationships, often transforming initial passion into daily frustration or conflict. The proverb remains relevant as a reminder of the interplay between love and livelihood.
Comparison With Related Proverbs
Companion sayings—‘Love will cool 'twixt a pair of sheets if there be not wherewithal to keep them warm,’ and ‘More belongs to marriage than four bare legs in a bed’—underscore the need for practical foresight alongside romance.
Rhetorical Devices
Antithesis
The stark opposition between ‘good nights’ and ‘sorry days’ dramatizes the proverb’s message, contrasting pleasure with hardship for rhetorical impact.
Parallelism
The balanced phrasing (‘good nights and sorry days’) gives the proverb a rhythmic, memorable quality.
Euphemism
‘Good nights’ and ‘sorry days’ serve as gentle euphemisms for intimacy and hardship, respectively, allowing the proverb to express its wisdom indirectly.
Transcription
Quotations
Fy on Loue without Mony!
Who marrieth for love hath pleasant nights, but sorrowfull dayes.
Who marries for love hath good nights, but sorry dayes.
Who marrieth for love, and no money, hath good nights, but sorry dayes.
He who marries for love, in the night-time hath pleasure, in the day-time sorrow.
*Ital. Hispan.
(He who).
(hath merry Nights and sorry Days).
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.