Love's Deity.

Question 1

Overview:

Answer 1

• The speaker of the poem reflects on the cruel nature of the God of love following the experience of unrequited love. The speaker demonstrates the typical petarchan trope of desperation when considering the brutal nature of love.

Question 2

“Godhead”, “God of love”, “ungod”.

Answer 2

• Semantic field of holy imagery.
• Emphasises the powerlessness.
• “Gods” are in control of his fate - facilitating his distorted view of love being unrequited.
• Use of divine reference shows his powerless nature.

Question 3

“to rage, to lust, to write, to command”.

Answer 3

• Presents love as a tyrannical leader.
• Aysndetic listing of the imperative actions - the prefix to all imply the endless demands of the god of love.
• Portraying him as a cruel and commanding leader - manipulates mortal emotions.

Question 4

“falsehood is worse than hate; and that must be,/ If she whom I love, should love me. “

Answer 4

• Symmetry in the final lines of each of the stanzas.
• shows the emphatic lack of progression in the woman’s state of mind.
• Starts that she “must” love her and then “should” - argument weakens.

Question 5

Structure:

Answer 5

• Regular rhyme scheme - mirroring the unrelenting pain of unrequited love.
• Lack of couplets however may be a presentation of a lack of unity.

Question 6

Context:

Answer 6

• Petrarchan tradition of Donne’s time was a chaste and unreachable woman.
• Perhaps embodying the Petrarchan tradition in this poem - Donne typically likes to reject it.