Sweetest Love, I do not Go by John Donne
The speaker tells his "sweetest love" that he is not leaving because he is tired of her, nor because he expects to find a more suitable love elsewhere in the world. Since he must eventually part from her at death, he reasons it is best to practice for that separation now by treating this present departure as a kind of jesting rehearsal, dying a "feigned" death in leaving her today. He compares his going to the sun's daily setting: the sun went away the night before and yet has returned today, though it has no desire or reason and no shorter distance to travel than he does. He tells her not to fear on his account, but to believe that he will make a faster journey back than the sun, since he brings more "wings and spurs" to hasten his return to her. He then reflects on the feebleness of human power: when good fortune comes, a person cannot add even one extra hour of joy to it, nor recall an hour once it is lost. But when bad fortune comes, people join their own strength to it, teaching it skill and endurance until it grows strong enough to overpower them. He turns to her grief, telling her that when she sighs, she is not merely sighing wind but sighing his soul away, and when she weeps, her tears are "unkindly kind," causing his life's blood to waste away, since she is the best part of him. He says it cannot be true that she loves him as she claims if she wastes his life by wasting her own in sorrow on his behalf. Finally, he urges her not to let her foreboding heart imagine any harm coming to him, warning that such fears might invite destiny to fulfill them. Instead, he asks her to think of their parting merely as the two of them turning aside to sleep, closing with the assurance that those who keep each other alive in this way are never truly parted.
By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Metaphysical Poetry, Love Poetry, Lyric Poetry · 361 words
First lines
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 / At the last must part, 'tis best, / Thus to use myself in jest / By feigned deaths to die.
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.
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Sweetest Love, I do not Go 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, Baroque Poetry, Dramatic Monologue
- Length: 361 words
- Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for Sweetest Love, I do not Go by John Donne
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Genres
- Metaphysical Poetry — The poem exemplifies Donne's signature metaphysical style through elaborate conceits (the sun's journey paralleling the speaker's travels), wit, paradox, and intellectual exploration of emotion, love, and mortality.
- Love Poetry — The central theme is romantic devotion and the complexities of love, with the speaker addressing their beloved, expressing reassurance about separation and the depth of their emotional bond.
- Lyric Poetry — The poem is a personal, subjective emotional expression designed for recitation or song, focusing on the speaker's inner feelings, intimate tone, and direct address to the beloved.
- Baroque Poetry — The ornate style, paradoxical reasoning, elaborate imagery, and emotional intensity reflect Baroque aesthetic principles, emphasizing complexity and dramatic tension through intellectual and sensory means.
Tags
metaphysical · love poetry · farewell · separation · grief · devotion · melancholy · philosophical · paradox · longing · spirituality · Renaissance