Triple Fool

THE TRIPLE FOOL. by John Donne

"I am two fools, I know,
For loving, and for saying so
In whining poetry ;
But where's that wise man, that would not be I,
If she would not deny ?
Then as th' earth's inward narrow crooked lanes
Do purge sea water's fretful salt away,
I thought, if I could draw my pains
Through rhyme's vexation, I should them allay.
Grief brought to numbers cannot be so fierce,
For he tames it, that fetters it in verse.

But when I have done so,
Some man, his art and voice to show,
Doth set and sing my pain ;
And, by delighting many, frees again
Grief, which verse did restrain.
To love and grief tribute of verse belongs,
But not of such as pleases when 'tis read.
Both are increasèd by such songs,
For both their triumphs so are published,
And I, which was two fools, do so grow three.
Who are a little wise, the best fools be."

A plethora of knowledge may lead you to look like a fool but, if you experience love you might become near sighted and dumb, and in "The Triple Fool" by John Donne, this is expressed when someone in the poem falls in love. For example, the speaker realizes that he is in love and not only does he realize this but rather than letting go of this potentially dangerous emotion, he decides to tell everyone about it: "I am two fools, I know- For loving, and saying so/ In whining poetry" (1-2). Love can make people think abnormally, and soon everything seems happy and good. These people that fall into love's trap become delirious to the truth. Donne is saying how it was foolish of him to become love drunk. What he should've done was stop himself while he was still in his "right-mind."

Another way love can turn one into a fool is when the speaker believes that writing about love will make things work out rather than facing it head on in reality. "I thought, if I could draw my pains/ Through rhymes vexation, I should them allay/ Grief brought to numbers cannot be so fierce" (7-9). The speaker realizes that although he once used writing as a form of therapy, writing about his situation only increases his pain. Because he looks back on his situation, he feels worse then before. Making himself feel worse when he is suppose to be making himself feel better makes him a fool for even trying such a thing.

When dealing with love, nothing can make it better except time and patience and forgiveness. To even think that you could make it better without waiting first, is foolish. One can not rush through the recovery of a broken heart, nor can you rush into love. Throughout the poem the speaker says how he is foolish even though he is learning. This foolishness comes from his confession that he is in love. A result, or rather consequence, of him being in love is that he becomes blind to the world around him. 



This blindness of love is very much like Shakespeare's King Lear. When the great king loves his daughters so much he is "blind" to their idea of taking his kingdom and leaving him with nothing. The king is under the impression that he can divide his kingdom amongst his daughters and simply go from castle to castle and still retain his King-like powers, but the responsibility of the kingdom's well-being would now be a burdon of his daughters. However, this idea, and his love for his daughters, leaves him completely vulnerable for when the daughters accept his kingdom, but do not grant him the permission of staying with them. They take his kingdom, but leave him with nothing.