A rival practicing the ways of love is indeed a strange wonder of God; him and love—how could you have ever believed him?

In this couplet, the poet is brimming with gentle mockery and exasperation at his rival's pretension of true devotion. He calls it an irony of nature—a sheer marvel of God—that someone so deceitful could claim to know love, and he lovingly chides his beloved for being naive enough to fall for it. It beautifully captures the sting of jealousy mingled with disbelief at how easily an insincere lover can mislead the heart.