Since this line ends with the word “dear” and the speaker imagines a man watching his love through the bushes, readers may think of the Diana Actaeon myth. In this myth, a hunter comes across Diana bathing naked in a pool. To punish him for watching her, Diana turns him into a stag and he is torn apart by his hunting dogs. The myth symbolizes the danger feminine sexuality poses to men. While the speaker does not directly allude to this myth, the imagery in this stanza suggests that her body and sexuality are perceived as threatening by her society and therefore confined.
