In the Indifferent by john donne, how would you translate this line "Let me, and do you, twenty know"?

Question

http://www.netpoets.com/classic/poems/022045.htm

Answer 1

My God can you believe something so erotic was written by a minister 500 years ago?

John Donne was a true enigma -- he was a man of God, but he was also very much a man of the flesh. He married an ancestor of Sir Thomas More who was a minor at the time, and briefly went to jail for it. He went on to sire twelve children with her and she died - worn out.

His dilemma in all his poetry is the love of God vs the love of woman. And truly he believed in having the best of both worlds.

This poem is written to women in the plural. "Will it not serve your turn to do as did your mothers ?" This is seduction at its finest.

The line you ask about is referring to women - twenty of them in fact. He is asking them to "let him" = and then goes on to tell him they can rob him but not bind him. They can possess his heart, but not his mortal soul. Notice the title is "The Indifferent". Is physical love with one woman much different with another?

I am quite familiar with Mr. Donne's work and have always been a fan. I do not know the date of this poem. Could this have been written during the time when he was fighting for the legality of his marriage - explaining that making love to a 16 year old girl was no different than making love to any other woman? It would be interesting to date it and see if it comes from that period.

Hope that helps. Donne's life story and his poetry are very interesting. My favorite is the Holy Sonnet 14. That very clearly shows his confusion between church and the flesh. Pax - C

Answer 2

The speaker asserts that he can love any woman, provided she be unfaithful ("so she be not true"). He goes on to reassure her that she has no need to be "torment[ed]" by the possibility that men actually are faithful, because "we are not." Thus, when the speaker says "Let me, and do you, twenty know," he means, "let me know twenty [women]" and "let you know twenty [men]." "Knowing" almost certainly means more than "meeting"; given the willingness of the Metaphysical poets to engage in frank sex talk, the poem encourages to see this as "knowing" in the biblical sense -- i.e. sex.

Answer 3

You're going to get fired today, anyway. I have a feeling you're not very sneaky... and your boss banned you from this place. I think you should try extra hard not to laugh at fart jokes. I know it's tough... but think of your drug habit.