“The Indifferent” by Johne Donne

I can love both fair and brown,

Her whom abundance melts, and her whom want betrays,

Her who loves loneness best, and her who masks and plays,

Her whom the country formed, and whom the town,

Her who believes, and her who tries,

Her who still weeps with spongy eyes,

And her who is dry cork, and never cries;

I can love her, and her, and you, and you,

I can love any, so she be not true.

 

Will no other vice content you?

Will it not serve your turn to do as did your mothers?

Or have you all old vices spent, and now would find out others?

Or doth a fear that men are true torment you?

O we are not, be not you so;

Let me, and do you, twenty know.

Rob me, but bind me not, and let me go.

Must I, who came to travail thorough you,

Grow your fixed subject, because you are true?

 

Venus heard me sigh this song,

And by love’s sweetest part, variety, she swore,

She heard not this till now; and that it should be so no more.

She went, examined, and returned ere long,

And said, Alas! some two or three

Poor heretics in love there be,

Which think to ’stablish dangerous constancy.

But I have told them, Since you will be true,

You shall be true to them who are false to you.

 

As the name suggests, I am indifferent to this poem. Well that would actually be a darn lie. I actually enjoyed this poem as the crusader I am, I like me self a bit poetry if you can believe, though it is not often I find myself enjoying a piece of literature that I can’t fully explain myself. For the content of this poem is difficult for me to grasp, if this poem had a beating heart it would attempt to move itself away from me analysis for the me fissure infested brain will produce something that could possibly enrage it, but enough with the stallin’ ‘cuz we gonna get down to business by punching away at this wall of text.

To understand where my disassociation with Mr. Donne’s work come’s we must absorb the content so we shall dig into the meat of “Indifferent”: the words. John first starts of the first stanza clearly describing what I could possibly assume is the love of his life as he starts the first lines and the last two with “I can love”, but each time it ends with something different with line one stating “both fair and brown,” in reference to a description of what is presumably a person, later solidified on lines 2-6 putting emphasis on this indeed is female, but it is the contrast between each line with positive connotations such as “abundance melts”(Donne 2) and “want betrays”(Donne 2). For what abundance does she exude that would melt. I can only assume that beauty for this poem is clearly from the viewpoint of a probably love struck narrator. And what could “want betrays”(Donne 2) possibly mean. From what I have fathomed, her impulses are ultimately her down fall as it uses “want” as a noun rather than a verb, so hence I put together both sides of this one line, I can only presume that her beauty allows her to achieve precarious desires as implied through “betrays”(Donne 2). This duality is continued throughout Lines 3-5. “Loneness best”(Donne 3) and “who masks and plays”(Donne 3) pushes this idea of how her self interests conflict with with masking as playing, as there would be no need to mask one’s self when alone. Line 4 goes from  “country” to “town” explaining how a whole population would bend to her whim and even a small community would do so too. Lastly, “believes”(Donne 5) and “tires” (Donne 5) emphasizing how her ideal can’t come to fruition in this reality you see. The next lines, 6 and 7 are opposites as in the narrator envisions a woman who cries, then contradicts his own words by describing a woman who is hardened and has no tears. Lastly, his lines about loving any, which also includes the reader as I might add made apparent by “you”(Donne) as to emphasize he can love complete strangers, yet makes the ending apparent that a woman with these personality traits can’t exist, so what was the point of describing the intangible. I could possibly interpret this a poem to express what his ideal woman is, and is yet a slow and painful realization that no woman can fit his resume. But if that were that, then why purposely choose contradictory aspects that no human can possibly achieve lest they be damned liars? What could “fair and brown”(Donne 1) possibly mean. I know that I can interpret this by many uncharitable means! I’ll assume for now that it’s meant to describe the physical aspects of a woman, but worst of all how does this very stanza fit into it all? We spent ‘nough time on this advent and dissecting the second stanza we go!

This second stanza, though rich in content, is like opening another puzzle pack. So what is my consensus on this? It appears to be about an abuse of a woman as there are a lot of underlying negative connotations and it starts out with the word “vice”(Donne 10). Vice never has a good connotation as it refers to bad habits, flawed personalities, and products associated with the underworld. With this word as the starter, it sets up the mood, a possible victim. The narrator has put forth inquiries about the woman’s future actions and pressing them questions that only a person with a certain history could possibly answer. For further exploration take a gander at this narration:

“Will no other vice content you?

Will it not serve your turn to do as did your mothers?

Or have you all old vices spent, and now would find out others?

Or doth a fear that men are true torment you?” (Donne 10-13)

This part of the stanza seems to express as it appears a woman has turned to these “vices” (Donne 12) have as she doesn’t want to be a victim as her mother did as the narrator knows enough to ask whether men scare her. But what could this service possibly be that would drive her to want blind herself from the flaws of others as she is finding out others rather than her being found out. Is it a constant that the female lineage of this woman has struck a fear as they all have experienced it too? This all fits well, but this vagueness also allows for the narrative of the fear of bearing a child as it makes it clear that this service is exclusive to mothers. Her realization that she will have to be stuck as mother and uncertainty is grabbing control of her and fear of being shunned if there is refusal. It fits too. It could represent the promiscuous nature of a previous job. She possibly could be a prostitute as vices could refer to her trauma being trafficked for sex. Possibly, possibly, but let’s consider the rest of the stanza while anchoring the ideas to the mind. The second half of this stanza is like a red herring, it keeps the assumptions coming, but never do we get closer and also quite strange in that it’s almost like the narrator is speaking for our possible victim.  I could spend hours trying to rip this poem apart, but to keep this dense let’s go over the lines that make the most sense! “Rob me, bind me not, let me go”(Donne 16)  would imply someone is pleading for their, valuing it over their possessions especially in a precarious situation. “Must I, who came to travail you through” would suggest something laborious either in reference to activity or pregnancy which upholds the narratives we established in the past as it refer to being abused or motherhood. “Grow your fixed subject , because you are true?” This line throws me for a loop. What could be growing, and what does it mean to be true? To break it down, this fixed subject might be something she is focused on, so that leads to many possibilities, but one thing that comes to mind is maybe there’s an unspoken history as the narrator implies that this woman has been tormented before and without her vices she would have to face the truth. But growth could also imply pregnancy and maybe she is starting to embrace the role, become more caring as she is fixated and is becoming true to herself. Becoming a mother? There is no definitive way to tell, but all these interpretations in particular fit with the theme, but complete our understanding to the third stanza we must journey.

When I first came across this stanza, I was stunned. It seems so disconnected from what I established previously. Possible fears. The burden of motherhood. But this stanza takes a tonal shift as it’s far more uplifting, like a last hoorah, yet it doesn’t provide clarity. At first I thought it was possibly about art as it mentioned Venus and as we all know, there are many depictions of her, so could this narrator be in love with art? The fair and brown… Venus? There are many depictions of her, but all of them are of a blond and pale woman as it is representative of the European, and more specifically Greek beauty standards that  were perceived. The only other sensical option is possibly the planet and is to set up the hopeless romantic as the narrator sighs under Venus as his misfortune with love, almost as plead to let the narrator find the one. This is further established by the constant focus on love stating that “Poor heretic in love there be”(Donne 24) as the pursuit of love will drive one mad. Then finally it ends with “But I have told them, Since you will be true, You shall be true to them who are false to you.”(Donne 26-27) as to establish that this “she” the narrator has been making constant reference to has come to terms with herself even when she faces falsehoods.

It’s the infinite possibilities of this poem that is confusing to me from the constant mentions of truths and falsehoods that throw a wrench in my understanding. Though there is flow, the topics within the stanzas themselves seem very loosely connected. The only thing consistent is the progression of being from false to true of the “she” in this poem. Though I couldn’t fully grasp the depth that is “Indifferent” maybe that’s the point John was attempting to portray: you should be indifferent to your history and what matters is that you stay true. Throughout this journey I’ve been seeing many things, but one thing that has stayed true was the woman as she was asked difficult questions she had to grow indifferent to her experiences to answer them. Now, is that the purpose of the poem, to show the benefits of indifference? Who’s to say? I enjoyed interpreting every detail of this poem, but I still feel indifferent to it, as after this it’ll leave my consciousness, not with me. Not understanding is okay, and for as challenging it was fun. Though, I, the crusader of grades mayhaps failed, grasping at straws, I implore you to explore to take the time to find what every piece of this poem could mean as it’s the journey that holds the most weight. 

My time with this poem and come, as for I must continue my journey. ‘Till we meet again!