"The Triple Fool" is the 17th-century English poet John Donne's witty, rueful reflection on the power—and the limits—of poetry. Heartbroken by unrequited love, the poem's speaker tries to alleviate his suffering by writing a poem about his grief. For a moment, he thinks he's managed to trap his pain in verse. Then he's knocked flat when "some man" sets his poem to music, and he's forced to feel all his heartbreak afresh through the power of the song. Art might "purge" and contain a painful feeling, this speaker concludes, but it can also just give that feeling more power—and "love and grief" will always have the last word. This poem was first published in 1633, two years after Donne's death.
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The Full Text of “The Triple Fool”
1 I am two fools, I know,
2For loving, and for saying so
3 In whining poetry;
4But where's that wiseman, that would not be I,
5 If she would not deny?
6Then, as the earth's inward, narrow, crooked lanes
7Do purge sea-water's fretful salt away,
8 I thought, if I could draw my pains
9Through rhyme's vexation, I should them allay:
10Grief brought to numbers cannot be so fierce;
11For he tames it, that fetters it in verse.
12 But when I have done so,
13Some man, his art and voice to show,
14 Doth set and sing my pain,
15And, by delighting many, frees again
16 Grief, which verse did restrain.
17To love and grief tribute of verse belongs,
18But not of such as pleases when 'tis read;
19 Both are increasèd by such songs:
20For both their triumphs so are publishèd,
21And I, which was two fools, do so grow three;
22Who are a little wise, the best fools be.
The Full Text of “The Triple Fool”
1 I am two fools, I know,
2For loving, and for saying so
3 In whining poetry;
4But where's that wiseman, that would not be I,
5 If she would not deny?
6Then, as the earth's inward, narrow, crooked lanes
7Do purge sea-water's fretful salt away,
8 I thought, if I could draw my pains
9Through rhyme's vexation, I should them allay:
10Grief brought to numbers cannot be so fierce;
11For he tames it, that fetters it in verse.
12 But when I have done so,
13Some man, his art and voice to show,
14 Doth set and sing my pain,
15And, by delighting many, frees again
16 Grief, which verse did restrain.
17To love and grief tribute of verse belongs,
18But not of such as pleases when 'tis read;
19 Both are increasèd by such songs:
20For both their triumphs so are publishèd,
21And I, which was two fools, do so grow three;
22Who are a little wise, the best fools be.
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“The Triple Fool” Summary
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“The Triple Fool” Themes
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The Danger of Making Art About Heartbreak
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Triple Fool”
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Lines 1-3
I am two fools, I know,
For loving, and for saying so
In whining poetry; -
Lines 4-5
But where's that wiseman, that would not be I,
If she would not deny? -
Lines 6-9
Then, as the 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: -
Lines 10-11
Grief brought to numbers cannot be so fierce;
For he tames it, that fetters it in verse. -
Lines 12-14
But when I have done so,
Some man, his art and voice to show,
Doth set and sing my pain, -
Lines 15-16
And, by delighting many, frees again
Grief, which verse did restrain. -
Lines 17-20
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 publishèd, -
Lines 21-22
And I, which was two fools, do so grow three;
Who are a little wise, the best fools be.
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“The Triple Fool” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Personification
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Metaphor
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Simile
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Imagery
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Rhetorical Question
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Sibilance
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Assonance
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“The Triple Fool” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Deny
- The earth's inward, narrow, crooked lanes
- Fretful
- Vexation
- Allay
- Numbers
- Fetters
- Art and voice
- Doth
- Set and sing
- 'Tis
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Triple Fool”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“The Triple Fool” Speaker
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“The Triple Fool” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “The Triple Fool”
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More “The Triple Fool” Resources
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External Resources
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A Celebration of Donne — Watch a celebration of Donne (during which, appropriately enough, some of his poems are set to music) from St. Paul's Cathedral in London, of which Donne was a famous Dean.
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A Donne Rediscovery — Read about a recently rediscovered volume of Donne's poetry, written by hand—and learn about why he didn't want his poetry widely published during his lifetime!
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Poems (1633) — Learn more about John Donne's book Poems, the collection in which "The Triple Fool" was first posthumously published.
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The Poem Aloud — Listen to actor Richard Burton reading the poem aloud.
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A Short Biography — Learn more about John Donne's life and work at the Poetry Foundation.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by John Donne
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