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— John Donne

Twickenham Garden
by John Donne
When it comes to the theme of
unrequited love, John Donne and
his metaphysical poetry are at
their best! And, in ‘Twickenham
Garden’, beloved Donne gives a
dosage of heartfelt emotions to
the readers.

John Donne is a name and brand in

himself. His metaphysical touch along
with his thought-provoking ideas grip
the readers so deeply that they have to
come to his poetry again and again. Be
it ‘The Good-Morrow‘ or ‘The Sun
Rising‘, each of his poems has
something new to offer. His religious
poetry needs no mention. This poem
centers on a place called Twickenham
Garden that belonged to Donne’s
rumored lover Duchess of Bedford,
Lucy. Here, modern readers can find
some extraordinary conceits that will
awaken their creative energy to decode
the meaning of the text in their way.

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Explore The Creation

1 Summary

2 Structure

3 Literary Devices

4 Themes

5 Analysis, Stanza by Stanza

6 Twickenham Garden as a
Metaphysical Poem

7 Similar Poetry

Summary

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‘Twickenham Garden’ by John

Donne is a metaphysical poem that
expresses the speaker’s anguish
after being deceived by a lady in
love.

The poetic persona of the poem,

Donne’s poetic self, roams around the
Twickenham Garden with a heavy heart.
An emotionless lady has betrayed him
in love. For this reason, he is in a
diabolic mood that makes him think the
“manna” of love is, in reality, the “gall”
of a spider. However, he seeks to be a
part of the garden in the second stanza
of the poem. He wants solace and
wants to express his truthfulness by
being a part of nature. In the last
section, his anguish steps up to his
witty head and makes him say that his
love is way better than all the lovers.
Lastly, he mocks the lady, as a member
of the “perverse sex” and says her
apparent truthfulness kills him.

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Structure
There are a total of three nine-line
stanzas in ‘Twickenham Garden’.
Moreover, the rhyme scheme of the
poem is quite interesting and it is
ABABBCCDD. So the last four lines of
each stanza form two rhyming couplets
preceded by alternative rhyming lines.
Apart from that, the overall poem is
composed of iambic pentameter and
iambic pentameter alternatively.
However, there are few metrical
variations such as the first foot of the
first line. It is trochaic, containing a
stressed syllable followed by an
unstressed one.

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Literary Devices
Donne uses several literary devices in
this metaphysical lyric poem. The poem
begins with a metaphor in “Blasted with
sighs.” Here, he compares sighing to
the blasting of an explosive. Thereafter,
the poet uses a biblical allusion in the
line, “True paradise, I have the serpent
brought.” Moreover, the poet also uses
anaphora in the poem. As an instance,
the second and third lines of the third
stanza contain anaphora. There is a
personification in the line, “These trees
to laugh, and mock me to my face.”
Thereafter, in the third stanza, the poet
uses a metonym for tears in “love’s
wine.” Moreover, this stanza contains
epigram and irony as well.

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Themes
The most impossible theme of the
poem is unrequited love. The poet also
employs several themes such as
frustration, anguish, love, appearance
vs reality, and natural beauty.
Whatsoever, the person who roams
around the Twickenham Garden talks
about his feelings after being ditched
by a lady whom he loved the most. The
feeling of unrequited love makes his
mind gall-like. What he expresses in
this poem depicts his frustrated mood.
Moreover, the poet also presents the
theme of natural beauty that somehow
gives solace to the speaker’s heart.
Most importantly, in this poem, the
speaker also talks about the nature of
love in an angry vein. However, all those
themes make this poem an interesting
piece to read.

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Analysis, Stanza by
Stanza
Stanza One

“ BLASTED with sighs, and

surrounded with tears,

Hither I come to seek the

spring,

And at mine eyes, and at mine

ears,

Receive such balms as else cure

every thing.

But O ! self-traitor, I do bring

The spider Love, which

transubstantiates all,

And can convert manna to gall

;

And that this place may

thoroughly be thought

True paradise, I have the

serpent brought.

Donne’s poem, ‘Twickenham Garden’

begins with the portrayal of the
speaker’s mind. The narrator of the
poem is blasted with sighs and his mind
surrounded by emotional thoughts. For
this reason, he comes to the garden
spring to pacify his burning heart.
Moreover, the natural setting of the
garden balms his eyes, and the
soothing natural sound rings softly in
his ears.

Thereafter, the poet uses a conceit of

the “spider love” that, according to him,
“can convert manna to gall.” So, the
feeling of “love” is like the spider that
feeds on “manna” of insects and its
body turns it into “gall”. The “gall” using
which it kills its prey. For this reason,
this emotion is like a traitor in itself.
Moreover, the poet uses another
conceit of the “serpent” of Eden to
compare it with love. As the speaker
has this emotion in his heart, his sole
presence ironically makes that garden a
“true paradise.”

Stanza Two

“ ‘Twere wholesomer for me that

winter did

Benight the glory of this place,

And that a grave frost did

forbid

These trees to laugh and mock

me to my face ;

But that I may not this disgrace

Endure, nor yet leave loving,

Love, let me

Some senseless piece of this

place be ;

Make me a mandrake, so I may

grow here,

Or a stone fountain weeping

out my year.

In the second stanza, the speaker says

it was wholesome for him if winter
benighted the glory of the place and
“grave frost” covered the trees of the
garden. He wishes so as the trees laugh
at his condition and mocks his mistake.
But he may not endure such a disgrace.
Moreover, he may not leave that place
with love in his heart. Thereafter, the
poet says love lets him be a “senseless
piece” of that place.

In the last two lines, the speaker wants

to be a “mandrake” so he may grow
there or a “stone fountain” weeping out
his memories of the past. It is important
to mention here that the mandrake
plant, also known as Mandragora, was
used in folk medicines for good health.
So the speaker wants to be of some
help even after he is turned into a
voiceless plant.

Stanza Three

“ Hither with crystal phials,

lovers, come,

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.

Alas! hearts do not in eyes

shine,

Nor can you more judge

women’s thoughts by tears,

Than by her shadow what she

wears.

O perverse sex, where none is

true but she,

Who’s therefore true, because

her truth kills me.

Thereafter, the speaker refers to the

lovers who come to that place with
“crystal phials” (phials is a type of small
glass container). Previously he has
wished to be a fountain. So, the water
of the fountain is his tears. Whatsoever,
the lovers come to collect the fountain-
water (that are his tears). The poet
metaphorically compares this water to
“love’s wine” and asks the lover to
compare it with his mistress’ tears. That
person will find that the tears of his
beloved are nothing in comparison to
the fountain-water or the speaker’s
tears.

Moreover, the poet uses an epigram in

the line, “Alas! hearts do not in eyes
shine.” It means one cannot read one’s
true emotions from the eyes. The
speaker has done so and found it to be
a mistake. That’s why he is there, in his
lonely walk through the Twickenham
Garden. Apart from that, he says none
can judge a woman’s thoughts by tears
or by “her shadow what she wears.”
Here, “shadow” stands for the
emotions (specifically the soft ones). In
this way, the speaker paints the picture
of the lady whom he loved.

Lastly, the speaker ironically refers to

the woman as “perverse sex.” She was
not truthful to him. When he came
across this fact, the reality started to
torture him. Using hyperbole, he says,
“Who’s therefore true, because her
truth kills me.”

Twickenham Garden as
a Metaphysical Poem