John Donne Essay

John Donne’s Valediction Forbidding Mourning is a poem stressing the aspect of love through the use of various metaphors and allusions. Donne’s main influences being utilized in the poem are created from the 17th century metaphysical poetry. The poem in essence is a farewell speech, as is written in the beginning lines. These lines suggest a quiet departure and the syntax of the poem and the meter follow through with traditional rhythm. The speaker does not want a teary goodbye as is read with ‘no tear-floods’. Donne’s alliteration throughout lines 5-8 also give the reader a sense of movement and accenting of the farewell with the phrase, â€Å"twere profanation †¦to tell the laity† in which the ‘t’ sound becomes prevalent and its poignancy points toward an emphasis on the farewell motif of the poem and how the lovers cope with this departure. The purpose of the speaker is to comfort the reader, or the lover in a time of parting. The speaker then requests of the lover that the two part ways calmly and quietly and thus eliminate tears and protests of the departing. The speaker further insists that to part ways in such a platonic fashion alludes to their love being holy. This love however develops beyond the boundaries of the spiritual and is also referenced as being a physical and sexual love. Thus, the poem’s focus is a transformation of the different loves shared by the speaker and the lover and the celebration the two have in these loves which are refined as line 17 points out. The secret that the metaphysical writing gives the reader is that the lovers are so in tune with each other that they are assured, according to the speaker, a happy reunion. It is the sharing of the goodbye that is endearing in the poem, and the way in which Donne analyzes this farewell is also intriguing. Donne’s metaphysics speaks towards the couple’s soul, and it’s joining after being split. This then is a merriment of earthly love or ‘religion of love’. The love being elevated in the poem, is enhanced by the device of metaphor as Donne writes that the love spoken about in the poem is a sacred love. The narrator describes this love as being breed from confidence in love, which gives the two a strength during the parting. Thus, the two are able to endure a brief span of time in which their love will connect them (Nutt 2005). This endurance is made possible by the speaker by emphasizing that the two share a single soul and thus any illusion of division by space, time or distance is inconsequential. This is the extended metaphor of Donne’s poem. The metaphysical conceit in A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning is the comparison of the two unlikely objects of the lovers’ relationship and their two souls being the feet of a drawing compass as seen in the final stanzas. The allusion to feet of a compass, is a metaphor of direction in which love points toward the right direction and the love of the two lovers is merely a circle that has no end, thus, a farewell is of no consequence since it ends and begins in the same instant. Therefore, although the two lovers will be geographically apart from each other, the speaker believes that this will only strengthen their love since the lovers will remain faithful to each other during this separation, thus bringing trust into the equation of Donne’s metaphysics. Another key metaphor used by Donne is that of gold being beaten thin so that it expands and this comparison is made between the love expanding between the two lovers and not breaking (Beliles 1999). Thus, Donne’s use of metaphor through metaphysical aspirations is the main creative elements in his poem. Work Cited Beliles, D. B. Theoretically-Informed Criticism of Donne’s Love Poetry: Towards A Pluralist Hermeneutics of Faith. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. , 1999. Donne, J. Poems of John Donne. vol I. E. K. Chambers, ed. London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1896. 51-52. Nutt, J. John Donne: The Poems (Analyzing Text). Palgrave Macmillan. New York, 2005.