"Confined Love"
By John Donne

Some man unworthy to be possessor
Of old or new love, himself being false or weak,
Thought his pain and shame would be lesser,
If on womankind he might his anger wreak ;
And thence a law did grow,
One might but one man know ;
But are other creatures so?

Are sun, moon, or stars by law forbidden
To smile where they list, or lend away their light?
Are birds divorced or are they chidden
If they leave their mate, or lie abroad a night?
Beasts do no jointures lose
Though they new lovers choose ;
But we are made worse than those.

Who e'er rigg'd fair ships to lie in harbours,
And not to seek lands, or not to deal with all?
Or built fair houses, set trees, and arbours,
Only to lock up, or else to let them fall?
Good is not good, unless
A thousand it possess,
But doth waste with greediness.



The poem called “Confined Love”, written by John Donne is based on Donne's observation that men, as a whole, are restricted from fulfilling their full potential by not only being allowed to “love” as many women as they please but by creating a reality in which love can be recognized as a polygamous love, rather than a monogamous one.

Donne says that certain men are “false and weak” because they follow this unsaid rule of a monogamous marriage and by following this rule they are “unworthy to be possessor of old or new love”, The speaker argues against this point by stating a question: “But are other creatures so?” By asking this, Donne insinuates that other creatures, whether it be animals, insects or aliens, are not participants of this rule, and are able to mate with whomever is available to them at the given time. This idea that Donne observes is in the first stanza, where another point is hidden in the quote: “Thought his pain… his anger wreak”. Here, the speaker gives us a logical explanation for which the reasons for man's anger toward women are evident, and can be avoided by instituting the destruction of this “false and weak” rule, creating men who are “unworthy...love”. By ending with the question of animality versus humanity, Donne gives readers the comparison that humans, like other free animals, should have the choice to choose whomever is available to them at the given time.

In the second stanza, the false reality is divulged and continued by the sarcastic comment “Are sun, moon, or stars by law forbidden… their light” in which Donne brings in the natural life to light once again for inspecting. He does this because in theory, the natural world has no laws at all, but only reactions with one another, thus creating the polygamous style of naturality. Because of our monogamous ways, “... we are made worse than those”, by following the law we are disavowing nature's intentions of having the freedom of multiple lovers without ramifications. By creating this observation, Donne assumes that nature's intent was to have the freedom of polygamous actions.
The third and final stanza stands to further emphasize the speaker's point, which is, in its simplest form, that men were intended to live like nature's creations with the freedom to lay with as many lovers as men want. Donne does this with his opening line “who e’er rigg’d fair ships to lie in harbours”, thus breaking down the law against (a) polygamous relationship(s) and lowering the value of said law and stating that men were built for the purpose of crusading with the freedom to not stop in only one partner, but encouraged to seek out more. In this stanza, he compares men to ships and their grand quest of seeking a new dock to harbor. He restates this premise further into the stanza by saying “... built fair houses, set trees, and arbors” and that they should not be locked away or set to rot in inconceivable isolation with one another, but instead be exposed to the elements, tried and tested for what they are worth, showing their greatness and gaining their experience with every harbor they dock. Donne further reinforces this statement with his last lines “A thousand it possesses, But doth waste with greediness”, ending his observation with a testament: that men should not be confined to one partner, but be shared, and celebrated for their experience and knowledge.

Do you agree with a polygamous world?