Sweetest Love I Do Not Goe Analysis and Line by Line Explanation

Sweetest Love I do not goe is written by John Donne in 1911. John Donne is known as a Metaphysical poet. Here is a explanation of the poem.

John Donne

Sweetest love, I do not goe,
For wearinesse of thee,
Nor in the hope the world can show
A fitter Love for mee;
But since that I
Must dye at last, ‘tis best,
To use my self in jest
Thus by fain’d deaths to dye.

Explanation: Sweetest love, I’m not going because I’m tired of you, nor in the hope that I’ll find a better love out there, but since I will eventually die, it’s best to amuse myself by dying feigned deaths.

Yesternight the sunne went hence,
And yet is here to day,
He hath no desire nor sense,
Nor halfe so short a way:
Then feare not mee,
But beleeve that I shall make
Speedier journeys, since I take
More wings and spurres then hee.

Explanation: Last Night the sun went down and yet he’s here again today. He’s got no desire or feeling, nor half as a short a life, so don't worry about me, but please believe I’ll make a quicker journeys because I’ve got more incentives than him.

O how feeble is mans power,
that if good fortune fall,
Cannot adde another houre,
Nor a lost houre recall!
But come bad chance.
And wee joyne to it our strength,
And wee teach it art and length,
it self o’r us to advance.

 Explanation: Oh how feeble man’s  power is, that if good luck happens we can't add another hour or recall a lost one. But when bad luck comes, we strengthen it, lengthen it and beautify it, so that it marches over us.

When thou sigh’st, thou sigh’st not winde,
But sigh’st my soule away,
When thou weep’st, unkindly kinde,
My lifes blood doth decay.
It cannot bee
That thou lov’st mee, as thou say’st,
If in thine my life thou waste,
Thou art the best of mee.

Explanation: When you sigh, you don't sigh air, you sigh my soul away; when you weep, both kind and cruel, my life's blood the decays. It can't be true that you love me, like you say, if you, who is the better of me, lay waste my life in yours.

Let not thy diving heart,
Forethinke me any ill,
Destiny may take part,
And may thy feares fulfil;
But thinke that wee
Are but turn’d aside to sleepe;
They who one another keepe
Alive, ne’r parted bee.

Explanation: Don't let your prophetic heart foresee me ill in case destiny takes your place and fulfills your face fears; instead think of us as merely turned aside to sleep. Those who keep one another’s memory alive are never parted.