Linda's Poetry :)

The Broken Heart
By: John Donne

He is stark mad, whoever says,
That he hath been in love an hour,
Yet not that love so soon decays,
But that it can ten in less space devour ;
Who will believe me, if I swear
That I have had the plague a year?
Who would not laugh at me, if I should say
I saw a flash of powder burn a day?

Ah, what a trifle is a heart,
If once into love's hands it come !
All other griefs allow a part
To other griefs, and ask themselves but some ;
They come to us, but us love draws ;
He swallows us and never chaws ;
By him, as by chain'd shot, whole ranks do die ;
He is the tyrant pike, our hearts the fry.

If 'twere not so, what did become
Of my heart when I first saw thee?
I brought a heart into the room,
But from the room I carried none with me.
If it had gone to thee, I know
Mine would have taught thine heart to show
More pity unto me ; but Love, alas !
At one first blow did shiver it as glass.

Yet nothing can to nothing fall,
Nor any place be empty quite ;
Therefore I think my breast hath all
Those pieces still, though they be not unite ;
And now, as broken glasses show
A hundred lesser faces, so
My rags of heart can like, wish, and adore,
But after one such love, can love no more.

Thesis: Donne uses imagery, metaphor, personification and tone to reveal the speaker's belief that the nature of love is fleeting and ephemeral*.

***Ephemeral: short-lived; tansient, momentary or brief.

1. Based on the contents of the poem, what do you believe is the speaker's attitude towards love? Are there specific lines that lead to this conclusion?

2. How does the tone change between the first two stanzas and the last two stanzas? Does the speaker's attitude towards love change over time?

3. At the end of the first stanza, Donne uses analogies to explain the speaker's view of love. How are these analogies relevant?

4. John Donne is known for the striking imagery within his poems. What examples of imagery in this particular poem stand out and have the most effect?

5. Throughout the poem (mainly in stanza two), John Donne uses personification to describe love's effects. How does giving 'love' human characteristics help readers further understand Donne's feelings?

6. There is no solid proof of when this poem was written but people believe it was written somewhere between 1612 and 1623. Based on the information given about John Donne's life, is it possible that he wrote the poem for his wife after she passed away? Or do you believe it was just another poem he wrote with no particular meaning behind it?

John Donne (January 1572- March 1631):

Donne was born in London to a prominent Roman Catholic family but converted to Anglicanism during the 1590s. He was an English poet, preacher and a major representative of the metaphysical poets* of the period. His works are notable for their realistic and sensual style and include a variety of sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations and sermons.

His early career was marked by poetry that bore immense knowledge of British society and he met that knowledge with sharp criticism. Despite his great education and poetic talents, he lived in poverty for several years, relying heavily on wealthy friends. He spent much of the money he inherited during and after his education on womanizing, literature and travel.

In 1601 Donne secretly married Anne Moore with whom he had 12 children. His wife died on 15 August 1617, five days after giving birth to their twelfth child, a still-born baby. However, after the death of his wife, he did not remarry, which was quite unusual for the time, especially as he had a large family to bring up. In March of 1631, John Donne passed away.

***The metaphysical poets were a loose group of British lyric poets of the 17th century, who shared an interest in metaphysical* concerns and a common way of investigating them, and whose work was characterised by inventiveness of metaphor.

***Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world.