Love’s Dietby John Donne

Ariana Herrera Denise Bernal

Love’s Diet 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 uponThat which love worst endures, discretion

Above one sigh a day I allowed 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 upon that, I let him see‘Twas neither very sound, nor meant to me.

If he wrung from me a tear, I brined it so With scorn and shame, that him it nourished not; If he sucked hers, I let him know ’Twas not a tear which he had got; His drink was counterfeit, as was his meat;For eyes, which roll towards all, weep not, but sweat.

Whatever he would dictate I writ that,

But burnt her letters when she writ to me;

And if that favour made him fat,

I said, “If any title be

Conveyed by this, ah, what doth it avail,

To be the fortieth name in an entail?”

Thus I reclaimed my buzzard love, to fly

At what, and when, and how, and where I choose.

Now negligent of sports I lie,

And now, as other falconers use,

I spring a mistress, swear, write, sigh, and weep;

And the game killed, or lost, go talk or sleep.

Poem Analysis (stanzas 1-2)● Our modern translation of the first stanza is: how cumbersome, unmanageable, oppressive and

corpulent my love would have grown if I had not dieted, and fed it on discretion, which love suffers least happily, so as to reduce it and keep it in proportion.

Which is describing how he has lost control of his emotions. In this case the emotion is love. Therefore, he has personified love and put it on a diet as if it were its own person.

● Stanza 2: I did not allow my love to sigh more than once a day, stemming from my destiny and my responsibilities. And if sometimes he obtained by stealth a female sigh from my mistress’ heart, and thought he would feast on that, I let him see that it was neither well-founded in sorrow, nor was it intended for me.

Which we have interpreted as a restraint that the speaker has placed on ‘love’. If there were any signs of mutual attraction between him and his ‘mistress’ then he wanted to convince ‘love’ that it was not meant for him.

Poem Analysis (stanzas 3-4)● Stanza 3: If he caused me a single tear, I dismissed it with scorn or shame to the point where it

didn’t nourish him. If he sucked her tear I let him know it was not a tear he had ingested, that his drink was false, as was his meat; since eyes which are always turning about to gaze at everyone do not weep, they merely exude moisture from the effort.

The speaker continues the dieting process. If he were to shed a single tear due to his unrequited love, he would dismiss it so ‘love’ would not feed off of it. And if she cried, he would try to convince ‘love’ that it they weren’t actual tears but sweat coming from her eyes due to the effort of looking at other men.

● Stanza 4: Whatever he dictated to me I would write down, but then burnt the letters. When she wrote to me and that show of favor fattened him, I said: ‘Even if anything is granted to me from her estate by this, what use is it to be the fortieth name in a list of heirs?’

In this stanza the narrator is writing down what ‘love’ is dictating to him, demonstrating his loss of control of his emotions. He would burn her replies in order to avoid ‘fattening’ his ‘love’. He tries to convince himself that he is not her first choice.

Poem Analysis (Stanza 5)● Stanza 5: So I reclaimed my buzzard, my love, to fly only at what, when, how, and where I

chose. Sometimes I rest, neglecting the sport. At other times, as other falconers do, I drive a mistress, like a game-bird, from cover, swear oaths to her, write to her, and sigh, and weep, and the game killed or lost, I go and talk about it, or sleep.

In this stanza, the speaker has finally gained control of his emotions. However, at times he indulges himself in love once again. Love has now become a casual pleasure for him rather than an unreciprocated obsession.

Tone

● AmbiguousIn the second stanza the speaker begins to show ambiguity because he is demonstrating that he is in love yet he tries to restrain from expressing it. “Above one sigh a day I allowed him not,... ‘Twas neither very sound, nor meant to me”

● ResignedIn the last stanza, the reader can assume that the speaker has resigned his efforts to obtaining the attention of his loved one. “I spring a mistress, swear, write, sigh, and weep; And the game killed, or lost, go talk or sleep.”

Diction● Negative yet elevated

Throughout the poem Donne uses elevated language with a negative connotation to give the reader insight to what the speaker feels towards love. He uses words such as unwieldiness, burdenous corpulence, faults, tears, scorn, shame, swear, killed, lost, and weep.

Literary DevicesPersonification- throughout the entire poem Donne personifies his ‘Love’ as if it were its own person who has become corpulent and controlling and must be put under a diet. “Above one sigh a day I allowed him not, Of which my fortune, and my faults had part;”Metaphor- Donne incorporates many metaphors such as the falconers which can be compared to his newfound view on love which is more like hunting that he can enjoy at free will and not an obsession.

“And now, as other falconers use, I spring a mistress, swear, write, sigh, and weep;”Alliteration- Repetition of the W sound is apparent in this line“At what, and when, and how, and where I choose.”

Auditory Imagery- Donne repeats words such as sigh and weep“Above one sigh a day I allowed him not,”

“I spring a mistress, swear, write, sigh, and weep;”

Rhyme Scheme● The rhyme scheme in this poem is consistent throughout the 2-5 stanzas

with a pattern of ABABCC ● The first stanza has a rhyme scheme of ABACBC.● John Donne likes to follow the guideline of an iambic pentameter. In Love’s

Diet it is seen in the 2-5 stanza. “Above one sigh a day I allowed him not,---A

Of which my fortune, and my faults had part; ---B And if sometimes by stealth he got---A A she sigh from my mistress’ heart,---B

And thought to feast upon that, I let him see---C‘Twas neither very sound, nor meant to me.---C

Summary and Theme● In ‘Love’s Diet’ John Donne personifies love in order to distance himself

from his current relationship. The speaker has become so consumed by love that he no longer has the ability to concentrate on other activities which leads to feelings of annoyance.

● The transformation of being an Petrarchan lover to a realistic lover.