If the healer applies camphor to soothe the wound, the fire only flares up twice as much; do these wounds of the heart ever accept being indebted to a balm?

This couplet plays brilliantly on the paradoxical nature of camphor, which was used in traditional medicine for its cooling properties, yet is intensely flammable. When the well-meaning physician tries to cool the lover's wounded heart, the remedy only acts as fuel, making the agony of love blaze twice as bright. Ultimately, the poet suggests that true heartache carries a fierce dignity—it would rather burn proudly than suffer the humiliation of being indebted to an ordinary cure.