Confined Love By John Donne

Some man unworthy to be a possessor
Of old or new love, himself being false or weak,
Thought his pain and shame would be lesser
If on womankind he might his anger wreak,
And thence a law did grow,
One might but one man know;
But are other creatures so?

Are Sun, Moon, or Stars by law forbidden
To smile where they list or lend away their light?
Are birds divorced, or are they chidden
If they leave their mate or lie abroad a-night?
Beasts do no jointures lose
Though the new lovers choose,
But we are made worse than those.

Who e’er rigged fair ship to lie in harbors
And not to seek new lands, or not to deal withal?
Or built fair houses, set trees, and arbors,
Only to lock up, or else to let them fall?
Good is not good unless
A thousand it possesses,
But dost waste with greediness.

― By John Donne