So I came across this quote one day while looking for quotes about thorns and roses, "and he repents on thorns, that sleeps in beds of roses". It sounds very nice, but I can't for the life of me find out what it means. I've looked at it in context of the piece, but I still can't wrap my head around it. Somone on Yahoo Answers asked and the response they got was that it meant someone not being genuinely sorry or something, but I'm not sure that's the case?
The quote comes from Francis Quarles' Emblems, specifically Emblem VII. Link to the entire work is here publicdomainreview.org/collect… (just use the arrow keys to go to emblem vii on page 32, first paragraph).
Can anyone help me decipher what he meant by this line? Alternatively does anyone know any writing sites or blogs that I could probably ask? I'm still diligently researching, but I haven't had much luck. Thanks in advance to anyone who tries to help.
.