body resides the soul. The speaker describes the soul as the "lord" or commander of all emotions. But the emotions are "rebel powers" because they cause a person to rebel or act against goodness. They bring harm to the soul. Yet, at the same time, the soul (personified) provides the emotions (also personified) with fine and elegant military uniforms (or "array"). By this Shakespeare means that the soul is somehow the seat or center of our emotions. Our emotions come from our soul. This is a paradox. If our emotions come from our soul, then how can our emotions be harmful to our souls? At the end of this quatrain, the speaker asks this very question. Why does the soul create such powerful emotions within us (line 4) when those same emotions cause the soul to suffer and become weak (line 3)? This is a large and, of course, inexplicable (or unexplainable) philosophical question. In short, Shakespeare is asking this: why does a man act in a way that is harmful to himself?
Related questions are asked in the second quatrain. The speakers uses the metaphor of the "fading mansion" (an old, large house that is falling apart) to describe the body because the body houses or contains the soul. However, the body is fading. It will eventually die. So, the speaker asks the soul this: Why is it spending so much money on a house that will fall apart? In other words, why is the soul pouring out so many emotions on the body when the body will soon die? The body, the speaker's next question implies, is nothing but food for the worms.