By stating that poetry should 'teach, delight, and move men to take that goodness into their own hands'[1], it becomes clear why both Philip Sidney in 'Sonnet 90' and John Donne's "Triple Fool" suggest that writing about love is foolish. The poems contain nothing but a lover's melancholy for his beloved and do not 'move men to action', in fact one might say the opposite occurs, for both poets are so critical of themselves that the reader almost feels wait until they stop writing. Arguably, their sense of stupidity stems from the "shame"[2] of being rejected, as this seems to be the recurring theme in their poems, especially since other poems such as Sidney's "Sonnet 63" argue for positive aspects of writing. Sonnet 90 highlights a sense of madness for having written about love, the alternate rhyme of "fame" and shame in lines one and four inextricably link the two together, implying that Astrophil is ashamed of the popularity he is apparently getting from his poems. Furthermore, the lines 'I would not have the name of a poet engraved in my epitaph' (90, l. 7-8) suggest a desire to renounce his name as a poet, and also imply the failure he has received thus far from writing poetry . Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. However, despite his apparent desperation in the poem, he still attempts to proclaim his love to Stella with the phrase "who seeks, who hopes, who loves". , who live except you' (90, l.2), the stress on 'you' emphasizes his complete devotion to Stella while the use of hypermetry ensures that Stella is the thing he thinks about most in the poem. However, despite this stupidity that they both feel in writing poetry for their loved ones, it could once be argued that the sense of shame in Sidney and Donne's poetry comes not only from their writing but also from the actual rejection of their love interest. This can be seen in 'The Triple Fool' where the irregularity of meter and rhyme scheme have connotations of fickle love. Likewise the use of 'if' in the line 'if she would deny' (Donne, l. 5) highlights her doubt about her beloved's words filling the poem with uncertainty. Therefore, because they cannot blame the person they love for causing them pain, they turn inward and begin to blame themselves and their work. Ironically, they turn to the very thing they blame to belittle it. In this way they can be seen as conforming to the idea of ​​cynicism, which Zizek calls “denial of denial.” It suggests that both Donne and Sidney are aware of their stupidity but do not give it up because the image of a love-struck poet is their social identity. By practicing cynicism in their work, it allows both poets to momentarily free themselves from the constraint of being a male lover and express true feeling about their given identity. The simultaneous recognition that it's silly and the need to write probably makes them seem even sillier to the reader. In contradiction to this, Astrophil and Stella's "Sonnet 63", Astrophil uses "grammar rules"[3] in an attempt to further his relationship with Stella. The use of anaphora on the word "grammar" highlights his erratic behavior and obvious discomfort with Stella who "said twice, No, No." (63, l. 8) to his love. The final point of this line suggests to the reader a very specific refusal; the emphasis on the second «No» further accentuates the strength of Stella's refusal. In contrast to this is Astrophil's distorted sense of "two negatives affirm", which shows him trying to bend the ,1989)