Vocabulary
Vicissitude
a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant.
What is the meaning of the stanza?
"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;"
John Donne expressed that while he thought his love was so love-lasting and wholesome, it came to face rather unpleasant circumstances like how seasons change there love changes
What does this stanza mean?
"And yet no greater, but more eminent,
Love by the spring is grown;
As, in the firmament,
Stars by the sun are not enlarged, but shown,"
Similar to how Spring motivates flowers/plants to grow and flourish, there love does the same. Like in the stars in the sky there love has always been there.
Where was John Donne born?
London, United Kingdom
Quintessence
the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class.
What is the meaning of this stanza?
"Gentle love deeds, as blossoms on a bough,
From love’s awakened root do bud out now."
Like a root, there love has always been there but it is now starting to become more prominent.
What does this stanza mean?
"And though each spring do add to love new heat,
As princes do in time of action get
New taxes, and remit them not in peace,
No winter shall abate the spring’s increase."
The winter doesn't decrease there love but instead it continues growing into the spring.
What was John Donne's fathers name?
John Donne
firmament
the heavens or the sky, especially when regarded as a tangible thing.
What is the conciet of the poem?
Love is not linear, similar to weather changes
What is the meaning of this stanza?
"And of the sun his working vigor 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."
He uses a metaphor burning energy from the sun and compares it to the passion of their love. Those who idolize love as something pure don't really know what real relationships are actually like. Love is not about idealized feelings but also real world interactions.
True or false, John Donne was thrown into jail for marrying a women
True
concentric
of or denoting circles, arcs, or other shapes which share the same center, the larger often completely surrounding the smaller.
What is the meaning of this stanza?
"But if medicine, love, which cures all sorrow
With more, not only be no quintessence,
But mixed of all stuffs paining soul or sense,"
Medicine/love is used to cure a broken heart/person but in there case love is complicated in it's own way, filled with pain and confusion.
*RANDOM*
Which one of these lines is in the poem?
A. But mixed of all stuffs paining soul or sense
B. But a mix of everything, it aches the soul or the senses
C. A blend of all things, aching heart and sense
a. But mixed of all stuffs paining soul or sense
What year was John Donne born?
1572
Abate
(of something perceived as hostile, threatening, or negative) become less intense or widespread.
What is the meaning of this stanza?
"Me thinks I lied all winter, when I swore
My love was infinite, if spring make’ it more"
He thinks that he'd lied to himself about the love that he shares with his partner because while spring flourishes there love, winter feels like there love is faced with more conflicts.
What is the meaning of this stanza?
"If, as water stirred more circles be
Produced by one, love such additions take,
Those, like so many spheres, but one heaven make,
For they are all concentric unto thee;"
Like a circle in water, the pattern continues into ripples. The continuous circles represent the continuous growth of there relationship. No matter how many conflicts they remain in the middle together still bonded by there love.
How many words did John Donne invent?
340