Song: Sweetest Love, I Do Not Go" by John Donne
Stanza 1:
Sweetest love, I do not go,
For weariness of thee,
Nor in hope the world can show
A fitter love for me;
But since that I
Must die at last, 'tis best
To use myself in jest
Thus by feigned deaths to die.
Stanza 2:
Yesternight the sun went hence,
And yet is here today,
He hath no desire nor sense,
Nor half so short a way;
Then fear not me,
But believe that I shall make
Speedier journeys, since I take
More wings and spurs than he.
Stanza 3:
O how feeble is man’s power,
That if good fortune fall,
Cannot add another hour,
Nor a lost hour recall!
But come bad chance,
And we join to it our strength,
And we teach it art and length,
Itself o'er us to advance.
Stanza 4:
When thou sigh’st, thou sigh’st not wind,
But sigh’st my soul away;
When thou weep’st, unkindly kind,
My life’s blood doth decay.
It cannot be
That thou lov’st me as thou say’st,
If in thine my life thou waste,
That art the best of me.
Stanza 5:
Let not thy divining heart
Forethink me any ill;
Destiny may take thy part,
And may thy fears fulfill;
But think that we
Are but turned aside to sleep;
They who one another keep
Alive, ne'er parted be.
Metaphysical Terms and Devices in "Song: Sweetest Love, I Do Not Go"
1. Conceit (Extended Metaphor):
o Line: "But since that I / Must die at last, 'tis best / To use myself in jest / Thus by
feigned deaths to die."
o Explanation: Donne uses the idea of "feigned deaths" to prepare his lover for
their physical separation. The conceit here equates each temporary parting to a
"feigned death," implying that these separations are mere rehearsals for the
inevitable, permanent parting at death. This intellectual metaphor elevates the
emotional situation and reflects Donne’s metaphysical style of using abstract,
philosophical ideas to explain emotional experiences.
2. Personification:
o Line: "Yesternight the sun went hence, / And yet is here today, / He hath no desire
nor sense."
o Explanation: The sun is personified as a being with "no desire nor sense,"
suggesting that it dutifully returns each day regardless of human emotions. This
personification contrasts the speaker's inevitable departure with the sun's reliable
return, and it also highlights the speaker's promise to return, using natural cycles
as a metaphor for human relationships.
3. Hyperbole (Exaggeration):
o Line: "When thou sigh'st, thou sigh'st not wind, / But sigh'st my soul away."
o Explanation: Donne exaggerates the emotional impact of his lover’s sighs,
suggesting that each sigh carries away part of his soul. This hyperbole emphasizes
the deep emotional connection between the lovers, where even small actions like
sighing or weeping are given exaggerated importance.
4. Paradox:
o Line: "When thou weep'st, unkindly kind, / My life’s blood doth decay."
o Explanation: The phrase "unkindly kind" is a paradox, as the speaker describes
his lover's sadness as both kind (because it shows love) and unkind (because it
harms him). This captures the metaphysical tension in love—while her emotions
show care, they also cause him pain, reflecting the complex nature of intimate
relationships.
5. Wit:
o Line: "But since that I / Must die at last, 'tis best / To use myself in jest / Thus by
feigned deaths to die."
o Explanation: Donne uses wit to present the idea of "feigned deaths" as a playful
way of preparing for real death. This clever phrasing suggests that by pretending
to part through these temporary separations, they will both be better prepared for
the inevitable final separation at death. This intellectual approach is typical of
Donne’s witty and metaphysical style, using an abstract concept (death) to explain
the emotional experience of parting.
6. Irony:
o Line: "It cannot be / That thou lov’st me as thou say’st, / If in thine my life thou
waste, / That art the best of me."
o Explanation: There is irony in the speaker’s suggestion that his lover cannot truly
love him if her sadness is causing him harm. While she shows her love through
sorrow and grief, her intense sadness is paradoxically draining his life, implying
that her love is both affectionate and destructive at the same time. This is another
example of the metaphysical complexity in relationships.
7. Conceit (Comparison with Nature):
o Line: "Yesternight the sun went hence, / And yet is here today, / He hath no desire
nor sense, / Nor half so short a way."
o Explanation: Donne compares his journey and return to the sun's daily cycle. The
conceit emphasizes the idea that just as the sun departs but reliably returns each
day, so too will the speaker. This natural metaphor offers comfort to his lover,
implying that physical separation is as temporary and predictable as the sun's
movement, highlighting the continuity of their relationship.
Air and Angels" by John Donne
Stanza 1:
Twice or thrice had I loved thee,
Before I knew thy face or name;
So in a voice, so in a shapeless flame,
Angels affect us oft, and worshipped be;
Still when, to where thou wert, I came,
Some lovely glorious nothing I did see.
But since my soul, whose child love is,
Takes limbs of flesh, and else could nothing do,
More subtle than the parent is,
Love must not be, but take a body too;
And therefore what thou wert, and who,
I bid love ask, and now
That it assume thy body, I allow,
And fix itself in thy lip, eye, and brow.
Stanza 2:
Whilst thus to ballast love, I thought,
And so more steadily to have gone,
With wares which would sink admiration,
I saw I had love's pinnace overfraught;
Thy every hair for love to work upon
Is much too much; some fitter must be sought;
For, nor in nothing, nor in things
Extreme, and scattering bright, can love inhere;
Then as an angel face and wings
Of air, not pure as it, yet pure doth wear,
So thy love may be my love's sphere;
Just such disparity
As is 'twixt air and angels' purity,
'Twixt women's love and men's will ever be.
Metaphysical Terms and Devices in "Air and Angels"
1. Conceit (Extended Metaphor):
o Line: "Twice or thrice had I loved thee, / Before I knew thy face or name; / So in
a voice, so in a shapeless flame, / Angels affect us oft, and worshipped be."
o Explanation: Donne compares his love to an angel's influence, which can be felt
without a physical form. The conceit here lies in the comparison between spiritual
love, which exists without a body, and the necessity of giving that love a physical
form, much like angels are sometimes believed to need bodies to interact with the
material world. This complex, intellectual comparison is characteristic of
metaphysical poetry.
2. Paradox:
o Line: "But since my soul, whose child love is, / Takes limbs of flesh, and else
could nothing do, / More subtle than the parent is, / Love must not be, but take a
body too."
o Explanation: The paradox here is the idea that love, which is a spiritual and
abstract emotion, must take on a physical form in order to truly exist. Donne
suggests that love needs both a spiritual essence and a physical embodiment, even
though the spiritual is more "subtle" (or profound) than the physical.
3. Personification:
o Line: "I bid love ask, and now / That it assume thy body, I allow, / And fix itself in
thy lip, eye, and brow."
o Explanation: Love is personified as an entity that can "ask" for a body and "fix
itself" in the beloved’s physical features. This personification shows love as
something active, almost like a sentient being, which needs a physical form (the
beloved’s body) to exist in the real world.
4. Wit:
o Line: "And so more steadily to have gone, / With wares which would sink
admiration, / I saw I had love's pinnace overfraught."
o Explanation: Donne uses intellectual wit in this nautical metaphor, where he
compares his love to a ship (pinnace) that is overloaded with admiration. The idea
of love being "overfraught" (overburdened) by the beloved’s beauty is a clever
and witty way of expressing the overwhelming nature of physical attraction,
which needs to be balanced by spiritual love.
5. Hyperbole (Exaggeration):
o Line: "Thy every hair for love to work upon / Is much too much; some fitter must
be sought."
o Explanation: Donne exaggerates by claiming that every single hair of his beloved
is too much for love to handle. This hyperbole emphasizes how overwhelming
and intense physical beauty can be, suggesting that love, in its purest form, cannot
be contained by physical details alone.
6. Juxtaposition:
o Line: "For, nor in nothing, nor in things / Extreme, and scattering bright, can
love inhere."
o Explanation: Donne juxtaposes "nothing" (complete absence) with "extreme"
(overwhelming presence) to explain that love cannot exist in either total
abstraction or extreme materiality. He argues that love must find a balance
between the spiritual and the physical, a juxtaposition that is typical of
metaphysical poetry’s focus on dualities.
7. Conceit (Air and Angels Comparison):
o Line: "Then as an angel face and wings / Of air, not pure as it, yet pure doth
wear."
o Explanation: Donne compares the relationship between love’s spiritual essence
and its physical expression to an angel wearing wings made of air. Just as air is
less pure than an angel’s spirit but is necessary for the angel to have form,
physical beauty is less pure than love’s spiritual essence but necessary for love to
manifest in the real world. This intellectual conceit blends the abstract and the
physical, typical of metaphysical poetry.
8. Irony:
o Line: "Just such disparity / As is 'twixt air and angels' purity, / 'Twixt women's
love and men's will ever be."
o Explanation: There is an ironic comparison in the final lines where Donne
suggests that there will always be a disparity between men’s love and women’s
love, just as there is a difference between air and the purity of angels. The irony
lies in Donne’s subtle critique of the idealization of love, suggesting that this
difference is inherent and unbridgeable.
