Love's Diet by John Donne (1633)

Name: Love's Diet
Author: John Donne

The speaker describes how large and burdensome his love had grown, so to reduce it and keep it in proportion he puts it on a diet, feeding it only on discretion, the thing love least tolerates. He allows his love no more than one sigh a day, and even that is owed partly to his own ill fortune and faults. If the love steals a "she sigh" from his mistress's heart and tries to feast on it, he exposes the sigh as neither sincere nor meant for him, denying it that nourishment. If his love wrings a tear from him, he brines it with scorn or shame so it cannot nourish the love. If it sucks a tear from her, he declares that tear counterfeit too, reasoning that eyes which roll toward everyone weep not from feeling but merely sweat. Whatever his love dictates, he writes, but when his mistress writes to him, he burns her letters rather than let his love feed on them. If such a favour from her fattens his love, he dismisses its worth, asking what good it does to be conveyed a title as merely the fortieth name in an entail. Through this discipline he reclaims his love, calling it a reclaimed buzzard, trained now to fly at what, when, how, and where he chooses. He describes himself as now negligent of the sport at times, and at other times, like other falconers, he springs a mistress, swears, writes, sighs, and weeps as the game requires; and once the game is killed or lost, he simply goes to talk or sleep.

By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Metaphysical Poetry, Love Poetry, Lyric Poetry · 372 words

First lines

To what a cumbersome unwieldiness / And burdenous corpulence my love had grown, / But that I did, to make it less, / And keep it in proportion, / Give it a diet, made it feed upon / That which love worst endures, discretion.

Above one sigh a day I allow'd him not, / Of which my fortune, and my faults had part; / And if sometimes by stealth he got / A she sigh from my mistress' heart, / And thought to feast on that, I let him see / 'Twas neither very sound, nor meant to me.

Open reader

What this Textopian page supports

Love's Diet is listed on Textopian as a poem by John Donne, dated 1633 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Work type: Poem
Author: John Donne
Date: 1633 CE
Language: English
Genres: Metaphysical Poetry, Love Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Satirical Poetry, Conceit-Based Poetry
Length: 372 words
Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

Good citation fit

Work identity for Love's Diet by John Donne
Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
Readability and classroom-planning context
Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph

Similar titles

Genres

Metaphysical Poetry — Donne exemplifies the metaphysical movement through extended conceits, intellectual wit, paradoxes, and philosophical abstraction applied to love and desire; the poem's core technique of comparing love to a trained falcon is quintessentially metaphysical.
Love Poetry — The poem centers on romantic love and desire as its primary subject, examining the emotional and physical dynamics between lover and beloved through the speaker's meditation on controlling affection.
Lyric Poetry — The work expresses personal emotion and reflection through a singular voice contemplating internal states, feelings, and attitudes toward love, characteristic of lyric verse.
Satirical Poetry — The poem employs irony and mockery to critique courtly love conventions and the artificiality of romantic devotion, presenting the speaker's calculating manipulation with wry, comic detachment.