The poem
What is it men in women do require? The lineaments of Gratified Desire. What is it women do in men require? The lineaments of Gratified Desire.
The look of love alarms Because 'tis fill'd with fire; But the look of soft deceit Shall Win the lover's hire.
Soft Deceit & Idleness, These are Beauty's sweetest dress.
He who binds to himself a joy Dot the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in Eternity's sunrise.
i think this poem is trying to say that love is a decieving concept that most people believe to be a grand feeling to experience but in reality it is something that can cause great suffering and pain.
Love is something poets love to dwell on. Blake's tone seem to mirror some of his contemporaries. For example, Spenser's "What is Love" has a somewhat bitter tone:
If queens and soldiers have play'd high for hearts,/
It is no reason why such agonies/Should be more common than the growth of weeds.
Charlotte Dacre has some fun asking the lover this:
You tell me that you truly love;/Ah! know you well/what love does mean?/Does neither whim nor fancy move/The rapture of your transient dream?
I'm glad that love survives rejection. One of the hardest tasks is to be an honest person in the area of love. There is risk involved in handing someone Your Heart.