The Prohibition by John Donne (1633)
The speaker warns a woman against loving him, insisting he forbids it, not to spare himself the ruin already spent on sighs and tears in becoming what she once was to him, but because so great a joy would exhaust their shared life at once. He asks that, lest her love be frustrated by his death, she take heed of loving him, if she loves him. He then warns her equally against hating him, or triumphing too greatly in such a victory, not because he would act as his own avenger and answer hate with hate, but because she would forfeit the title of conqueror if he, her conquest, perished through her hatred. Lest his reduction to nothing should diminish her, he asks that, if she hates him, she take heed of hating him. Finally he asks her to do both at once, to love and hate him together, so that these extremes might cancel each other's office and neither could destroy him alone. She should love him so that he may die the gentler way, and hate him because her love is too great for him to bear. Alternatively, he asks that the two passions, love and hate, consume themselves rather than him, so that he may go on living as the stage on which her love and hate are played out, rather than being made a triumph or trophy of either. Lest she undo her own love and hate together with him, he closes by asking her to let him live, loving and hating him both together.
By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Metaphysical Poetry, Love Poetry, Lyric Poetry · 295 words
First lines
Take heed of loving me; / At least remember, I forbade it thee; / Not that I shall repair my unthrifty waste / Of breath and blood, upon thy sighs and tears, / By being to thee then what to me thou wast; / But so great joy our life at once outwears. / Then, lest thy love by my death frustrate be, / If thou love me, take heed of loving me.
Take heed of hating me, / Or too much triumph in the victory; / Not that I shall be mine own officer, / And hate with hate again retaliate; / But thou wilt lose the style of conqueror, / If I, thy conquest, perish by thy hate. / Then, lest my being nothing lessen thee, / If thou hate me, take heed of hating me.
Similar titles
- Air And Angels by John Donne
- The Indifferent by John Donne
- The Paradox by John Donne
- Loves Deity by John Donne
- The Blossom by John Donne
- A Fever by John Donne
Genres
- Metaphysical Poetry — Donne is the quintessential Metaphysical poet; the work exemplifies the movement's trademark use of elaborate conceits, paradoxical logic, and intellectual argumentation about love and passion rather than mere sentiment.
- Love Poetry — The poem's central subject is romantic love and its dangers; it addresses the beloved directly with complex warnings about the consequences of passion and emotional extremes.
- Lyric Poetry — The poem is a personal, emotional utterance designed for oral delivery or singing, capturing the speaker's intimate thoughts and feelings in a structured, musicalized form.
- Dramatic Monologue — The speaker directly addresses another person throughout with imperatives and conditional clauses, creating a dramatic tension between the speaker's voice and the implied listener's position.
Tags
metaphysical poetry · love poem · paradox · emotional conflict · restraint · longing · wit · conceit · internal struggle · desire · philosophical · first-person narrative
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The Prohibition 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, Dramatic Monologue, Philosophical Poetry
- Length: 295 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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