John Donne's poem, "The Triple Fool," evokes a tone of self-pity and grief from an unrequited love through his use of sorrowful diction and creative imagery.
"The Triple Fool" creates a feeling of self-pity and grief from an unrequited love that is illustrated through John Donne's choice of words. For example, the author feels he is "two fools" because he loved and for "saying so in whining poetry." One can be a fool for doing something unwise, but to be twice a fool for essentially the same reason causes heightened distress. When the author talks of writing his words down in "whining poetry" he knows he is just droning on about his grief. Another example is when he discusses "draw[ing] my [his] pains" away. He is talking about bringing the sorrow of his unrequited love to the surface in order to write it down in poetry. This might seem like a relief for John Donne, but until it is written down he mourns what never was. These instances clearly show John Donne's tone of self-pity and grief of an unrequited love through his use of sorrowful diction.
John Donne uses superb imagery to show the reader his emotional condition before writing his poetry. Before expressing his feelings in poetry John Donne overcomes his self-pity and initial emotional breakdown by crying as described by "purg[ing] sea waters". The author uses extraordinary imagery with the earth, meaning his body, and the sea, meaning his tears, to show what he goes through before writing down his poetry. This clearly illustrates the author's anguish towards his unrequited love. He believed his intense feelings of rejection could be "tamed" by confining them in poetry or "rhymes vexations". The author utilizes poetry as one may utilize a diary or personal journal in an attempt to pour out their emotions in writing. Being "tamed" also causes one to think of a wild animal being tamed. A tamed animal is forced to keep its wild emotions silenced.