Love's Deity by John Donne (1633)
The speaker longs to talk with an old lover's ghost, someone who died before the god of love was born, since he cannot believe such a man, however deeply he loved, would ever have sunk so low as to love a woman who scorned him. But because this god has produced a destiny, and because vice acting as a second nature, custom, permits it to stand, the speaker concludes he must love a woman who does not love him. He reasons that those who made Love a god never meant his power to extend so far, nor did Love himself practise it in his youth. Originally, when an even flame touched two hearts alike, Love's office was only to fit actives to passives indulgently; his true subject was correspondency, mutual love, not one-sided devotion. By this logic, it cannot properly be called love until the speaker loves the woman who already loves him. The speaker complains that every modern god now stretches his power as far as Jove's, claiming as his domain raging, lusting, writing to, and commending. He wishes they could be roused from this tyranny to strip Love of his godhead again, for if that were done, it could not be that he should love a woman who does not love him. Calling himself both rebel and atheist against this god, he asks why he murmurs, as though he already felt the worst that love could inflict. He acknowledges that Love may make him stop loving altogether, or might attempt a deeper plague: making the woman love him in return. Since she already loves someone else, he is reluctant to see this happen, for falsehood would be worse than hate — and falsehood is what would result if the woman he loves were to end up loving him.
By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Metaphysical Poetry, Love Poetry, Unrequited Love Poetry · 348 words
First lines
I long to talk with some old lover's ghost, / Who died before the god of love was born. / I cannot think that he, who then loved most, / Sunk so low as to love one which did scorn. / But since this god produced a destiny, / And that vice-nature, custom, lets it be, / I must love her that loves not me.
Sure, they which made him god, meant not so much, / Nor he in his young godhead practised it. / But when an even flame two hearts did touch, / His office was indulgently to fit / Actives to passives. Correspondency / Only his subject was; it cannot be / Love, till I love her, who loves me.
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Love's Deity is listed on Textopian as a poem by John Donne, dated 1633 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: John Donne
- Date: 1633 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Metaphysical Poetry, Love Poetry, Unrequited Love Poetry, Renaissance Poetry, Lyric Poetry
- Length: 348 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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Genres
- Metaphysical Poetry — Exhibits all defining characteristics of metaphysical poetry: intellectualized approach to love, paradoxes, philosophical questioning, extended conceits comparing love to theology and divine authority, characteristic wit and argumentative structure typical of Donne
- Love Poetry — Central theme throughout; explores the emotional and philosophical experience of loving, the nature of romantic desire and its complications and contradictions
- Unrequited Love Poetry — Core conflict of the poem; explicitly addresses the pain and paradox of loving one who does not love in return, examining the one-sidedness of emotional investment
- Renaissance Poetry — Written during the English Renaissance (late 16th/early 17th century); reflects Renaissance intellectual traditions and humanistic engagement with classical themes and philosophical inquiry
Tags
metaphysical poetry · love poetry · romantic anguish · unrequited love · intellectual paradox · spiritual imagery · devotion · idealization · contradiction · existential doubt · religious conceit · wit and irony