Love's Growth by John Donne (1633)

Name: Love's Growth
Author: John Donne

The speaker admits he scarcely believes his love to be as pure as he had thought, because it undergoes vicissitude and season, like the grass; he confesses he must have lied all winter when he swore his love was infinite, if spring is able to make it grow more. He considers that this love, a medicine that cures all sorrow yet does so "with more," may not be a pure quintessence but rather a mixture of all elemental stuffs, capable of vexing soul or sense, and borrowing active vigour from the sun. Love, he concludes, is not as pure and abstract as those who have no mistress but their Muse claim it to be; being compounded of elements like everything else, love sometimes contemplates and sometimes acts. Even so, he clarifies that love is not made greater by spring, only more eminent — just as stars in the firmament are not enlarged by the sun but merely shown more clearly. Gentle love's deeds, like blossoms on a bough, bud out now from love's already awakened root. He offers a further comparison: as one stir in water produces many circles spreading outward, so love's additions are like many spheres that together make but one heaven, since all are concentric to the beloved. Though each spring adds new heat to love, much as princes levy new taxes in times of war and do not remit them in peace, no winter shall abate this spring's increase.

By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Metaphysical Poetry, Love Poetry, Lyric Poetry · 329 words

First lines

I scarce believe my love to be so pure / As I had thought it was, / Because it doth endure / Vicissitude, and season, as the grass; / Methinks I lied all winter, when I swore / My love was infinite, if spring make it more.

But if this medicine, love, which cures all sorrow / With more, not only be no quintessence, / But mix'd of all stuffs, vexing soul, or sense, / And of the sun his active vigour borrow, / Love's not so pure, and abstract as they use / To say, which have no mistress but their Muse; / But as all else, being elemented too, / Love sometimes would contemplate, sometimes do.

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Love's Growth 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, Lyric Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Conceit Poetry
Length: 329 words
Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
Reading fit: Difficult (College Level)

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Genres

Metaphysical Poetry — Donne is a canonical metaphysical poet, and this poem exemplifies the genre through its complex intellectual conceits, abstract philosophical exploration of love through concrete imagery, witty paradoxes, and systematic blending of emotion with rigorous logical reasoning.
Love Poetry — The poem explicitly examines the nature of romantic love, questioning its constancy and purity through seasonal metaphors while ultimately affirming its genuine growth and transformation, making the exploration of love's philosophical and emotional dimensions its central concern.
Lyric Poetry — A short, personal meditation employing first-person perspective to express interior thoughts and philosophical questioning in highly crafted verse, with an intimate, reflective tone and formal structure characteristic of the lyric mode.
Philosophical Poetry — The work conducts a systematic philosophical inquiry into abstract concepts of love's purity, constancy, and essence, examining its relationship to reason and sensory experience, and using logical argumentation structured in verse form.