Meaning & Analysis
A lover's purse is easily opened—so flimsy that even the weakest tie (like a cobweb or leek's leaf) suffices—implying that lovers are prone to spend freely or carelessly.
Insights
Generosity and Extravagance
The proverb suggests that lovers are quick to part with their money, either in gifts, entertainments, or in pursuit of their beloved, as their financial restraint is easily overcome.
Imprudence in Passion
It also hints at the lack of financial caution that often accompanies infatuation—love loosens the purse-strings, rendering lovers vulnerable to waste or exploitation.
Self-Sacrifice
The saying can be read as a reflection of the willingness to sacrifice material wealth for emotional or romantic fulfillment.
Symbolic Weakness
The ‘cobweb’ and ‘leek’s leaf’ are chosen as images of the utmost fragility, emphasizing how little it takes to persuade a lover to spend—almost nothing restrains their impulse.
Cultural and Social Satire
The proverb gently mocks lovers (and sometimes friends), echoing a tradition of viewing love as a form of financial folly, and warning of the material consequences of unchecked passion.
Companion Sayings
It aligns with related proverbs such as ‘Love locks no cupboards’ and ‘Friends do tie the purse with a cobweb thread,’ situating love (and sometimes friendship) in opposition to thrift.
Rhetorical Devices
Metaphor
The use of ‘cobweb’ and ‘leek’s leaf’ as ties for a purse is a vivid metaphor for extreme looseness or lack of restraint.
Imagery
Concrete and whimsical imagery makes the proverb memorable and visually evocative.
Antithesis
Implicitly contrasts the expected strength of a purse-string (to hold money securely) with its actual weakness in the hands of a lover, heightening the irony.
Transcription
Quotations
Suters tye their purses with cobwebs.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.