Translation
Place me like a seal
Go to footnote numberover your heart, like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death;
Go to footnote numberits zeal is as fierce as the grave;
the lightning thereof is lightning bolts of pure fire,
that burn with a mighty flame.
Paraphrase
Confirm your commitment to permanence by keeping me close to you;
I need you to demonstrate that assurance with strength and authority;
for love is as strong as death;
its zeal is as fierce as the grave;
Love consumes everything else,
it is all-consuming.
Footnotes
1
The seal was a metaphor for permanence, confirmation, or approval.
2
Death (and later the grave) are not symbols, for there is nothing more terrible, more final, more destructive than death. In a sense it is its own symbol because nothing can properly stand for death and communicate it adequately. The reference here is to its power, so it is a comparison of the greatest positive power we know on earth (love) being compared to the greatest negative power we know on earth. Death is universally feared, it is invincible, it cannot be controlled. The song writer is saying here that love is just as powerful, but in a positive way.