The Attitudes to Love Addressed in Loves Alchemy and Twicknam Garden

The Attitudes to Love Addressed in Loves Alchemy and Twicknam Garden

Twicknam Garden was a poem written by John Donne in 1607. It is one of

John Donne's late pieces of work and is thought to be written about

his patron and his feelings for her. Compared to his patron he was a

much lower class, almost a beggar compared to her. Twicknam Garden

shows a very unique outlook on love, it shows definate bitterness

towards love, but in a more reserved way than Loves Alchemy, Twicknam

Garden disdains love, but shows some respect towards the feeling.

Whereas Loves Alchemy holds a completely different outlook and

resentment to the feeling completely and wishes that this feeling had

never been felt at all.

Donne starts off Twicknam Garden with

"Blasted with sighs, and surrounded with tears"

This shows he is very emotional about the subject, and even thinking

of it makes him cry. He then goes on to say he wishes to find a cure

for this feeling, to receive a new feeling, and to stop the pain he

feels from his love for his patron:

"Hither I come to seek the spring,

Receive such balms, as else cure everything"

Donne expresses feelings of resentment towards the feelings he

possesses, as if they are something external, which have possessed

him. This seems more as if he has done something wrong, but does not

blame it on himself, blames it on another factor. He cannot take

responsibility for his own mistakes, and instead likes to think as if

he has been decieved.

"But O, self-traitor"

In Twicknam Garden Donne talks about how love can act as a poison and

how it can have more bad effects than beneficial,

"The spider love, w...

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...a being quite critical of women in general, saying

that they cannot be trusted.

"And take my tears, which are love's wine,

and try your mistress' tears at home,

For all are false, that taste not just like mine"

"Nor can you more judge a woman's thoughts by tears,

than by her shadow, what she wears"

Shows his ultimate untrusting nature towards women, brought about by

his latest passion. Donne says all tears that taste not like his own

are false, quite an arrogant and self centered view, but saying

something quite profound. No one knows what it is like to feel how

another does, people can feel similar, and have been in similar

situations, but no one feels the same emotions and feelings when

treated in specific ways. This means everyone's tears would "taste"

different, and so some therefore seem false.