A Valediction Forbidding Mourning
-- John Donne
As virtuous men pass mildly away,
And whisper to their souls to go,
Whilst some of their sad friends do say, “Now his breath goes,” and some say,“No”.
So let us melt, and make no noise,
No tear-floods, nor sigh- tempests move;
‘Twere profanation of our joys
To tell the laity our love.
Moving of th’ earth brings harms and tears;
Men reckon what it did, and meant;
But trepidation of the spheres,
Though greater far, is innocent.
Dull sublunary lovers; love
whose soul is sense--cannot admit
of absence, ‘cause it doth remove
The thing which elemented it.
But we by a love so much refined,
That ourselves know not what it is,
Inter-assured of the mind,
Care less, eyes, lips and hands to miss.
Out two souls therefore, which are one, Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to aery If they thinness beat.
If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two;
Thy soul, the fix’d foot, makes no show
To more, but doth, if th’ other do.
And though it in the centre sit,
Yet, when the other far doth roam,
It leans, and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as t hat comes home.
Such wilt thou be to me, who must,
Like th’ other foot, obliquely run;
Thy firmness makes my circle just,
And makes me end where I began.
Introduction :
A valediction Forbidding Mourningis one of the better known poems of John Donne for its conceit of the compass. It was written in 1611. The poem was addressed to the poet’s wife. It was written on the occasion of the poet’s departure for France with Sir Robert Drury. It is a typical metaphysical poem, remarkable for its ingenious comparisons, mockery of the sentiments,display of logical arguments and use of hyperbole.
Stanza1
Virtuous men are not afraid of death they pass away quietly, and gently ask their souls to depart from this world without any fret or fever, even though their friends are sad at their death,and want that they should live here for sometime more. Others do not want them to die at all.
Stanza2
Speaking to his wife the poet says that like virtuous people, let them also bid good-bye to eachother without making any noise about it. The poet does not want to raise floods by their tearsnor tempests by their sighs. It would be a vulgarisation of their love, to mourn and weep and inthis waytell the world of it. Their love is something sacred and they must not defile it. The poet is actually making fun of the ordinary lovers who often make a show off of their love.
Stanza3
Moving of the earth, as during an earth quake, bring disaster and frightens people. People calculate the damage it does. But the movement of the sun and other heavenly bodies, though much greater, causes no damage and people are not afraid of it. Their parting is like the trepidation of the heavenly bodies and so it is not to be dreaded.
Stanza 4
Stupid, earthly lovers, who are united solely by the senses, cannot endure the absence of the object of their love. For absence removes the physical self of the beloved on which their love is based.
Stanza5
Their love is so spiritual and refined that even they themselves do not understand its real nature. They are sure that their love will not diminish by the absence of the beloved. Theirs is aspiritual passion that the physical self, eyes, ears, lips, hands etc do not matter at all to them.
Stanza6
Their souls are one and they are rather more strongly united by the temporary separation.The departure of the poet would not cause any breach in his love. Rather it will expand, like gold,when beaten, does not break but expands wider and wider.
Stanza7
If their souls are considered as two, they will be like the two legs of a compass. Her soul is the fixed foot which does not want to move itself but is made to move because the other soul (the other foot of the compass) moves.
Stanza8
The beloved is like the fixed foot of the compass which remains fixed at the centre. But it leans and follows the other foot when it moves, and grows erect and unites with the moving foot and then it returns to the starting point after completing the circle. Similarly, his going away would be like the moving of the foot of a compass and they would be united when he returns home.
Stanza9
The beloved has the same relations with the lover as the fixed foot of the compass has with the moving foot, which moves and draws a circle. It is the firmness of the fixed foot that enables the moving foot to draw the circle correctly, and then return to the place where it began. Similarly, it is the firmnessof her love that enables him to complete his journey successfully and then return home.
About rhyme scheme
The nine stanzas of this Valediction are quite simple compared to many of Donne’s poems, which utilize strange metrical patterns overlaid jarringly on regular rhyme schemes. Here, each four-line stanza is quite unadorned, with an ABAB rhyme scheme and an iambic tetrameter meter.
Questions and answers
1.“So let us melt...sigh-tempests move,” What is special about the figure of speech?The poet tells his wife not to mourn at the time of his parting. He does not want to raise floods by their tears nor tempests by their sighs. The poet is actually making fun of the ordinary lovers through the two powerful metaphors-“tear-floods” and “sigh-tempests”.These two metaphors are drawn from nature.
2.“Twere profanation...laity our love.”Commenton the poetic devices used in this line.
The poet says that their love is something sacred that they must not desecrate it by making a show of their sorrow at the time of his departure. It would be a vulgarisation of their love,to mourn and weep and in this way tell the world of it.
3.“Dull sublunary Lovers’ love.” Comment on the poetic devices used in this line.
By “Dull sublunary lovers’ love’, the poet means that their love is not like that of the earthly lovers, which depends on the senses, but it is something sacred.The assonance of shot ‘u’ sounds in each word reinforces the concept of stupidity of earthly lovers, Whose amorous attachments depend on physical sensation. The alliteration of ‘l’ in the line adds to the beauty of the poem.
4.“Dullsublunary lovers’...of absence...” Explain the brilliant pun on the word“absence”.
The word ‘absence’ gives two meanings. It could either mean the departure of the poet which causes his absence or the absence of sensual pleasures.
5.“Our two souls...thinness beat.” Briefly explain the poetic device used. Do you agree with Dr. Johnson’s observation that the resemblance is the result of “discovery of occult resemblances in things apparently unlike”?
The departure of the poet is not a breach but an expansion, like gold, which when beaten becomes enlarged. Her love is likened to gold. The poet makes a comparison between two apparently unlike things. So Dr. Johnson’s observation is correct.
6.“So let us melt...sigh-tempests move,’ Find the metre.
The metre used in these linesis iambic tetrametre with the rhyme scheme abab.
7.“As virtuous...some say, No.” What is the rhyme scheme?
The rhyme scheme is abab.
8.How can you identify a metaphysical poem?
Metaphysical poetry is characterised by the use of far-fetched imagery, abstrusive arguments, scholastic philosophical terms and suitable logic.
1. Write a short essay on the themes of John Donne’s A Valediction Forbidding Mourning?
The basic themes of the poem A Valediction Forbidding Mourning
a) Love : The poem focus primarily on the true love. The speaker defines the nature of the real love,which is powerful, unconquerable. Real love can't be defeated by distance and it doesn't fall apart at the thought of being apart.
b) Loyalty : As Donne is a religious man, he lived faithfully with his wife and her loyalty, enduring love holds their relationship together.
c) Lust: Lust is just opposite to love, that is lust want to take and love want to give. Lust is connected with earthly or physical attraction but love is something divine which continue even after apart.
d) Spirituality: Donne was obsessed with the central contrast between body and soul, life and death, heaven and earth. In this poem he transcends the body to soul. Spiritual love is not affected by separation for it is not confined to the senses.
e) Separation and reunion : The poem concentrate on the physical separation and the union of true lovers and he brings by saying that earthly love will breaks and cracks when there is separation. The poet says that their love will expand even they are far away.
2. What features of Donne’s A Valediction Forbidding Mourning make it a metaphysical poem?
A metaphysical conceit is just like a metaphor that it is an attempt to connect two unlike things by some common spealitiy with extreme idea.This poem is a typical metaphysical poem, which is remarkable for its sentiments, display of logical fetched imagery, abstrusive arguments and made ingenious comparisons, mockery of the arguments and use of hyperbole. The conceit of the compass is very significant in the poem.Donne claims that his wife is like the centre fixed foot of the compass that stays rooted while the other foot runs around it.The centre foot remains right there by providing stability and certainly to complete the circle. Similarly,it is the firmness of her love that enables him to complete his journey successfully and then return home.
Write an essay of 300 words
1. Attempt a critical appreciation of John Donne’s A Valediction Forbidding what are your views on the metaphysical elements in the poem?
A Valediction Forbidding Mourning Mourning is one of the better known poems of Donne for its conceit of the compass. It is a typical metaphysical poem which was addressed to the poet’s wife. It was written on the occasion of the poet’s departure for France with Sir Robert Drury.
The poem expresses Donne’s positive attitude towards love. The basic theme of the poem is the union of true lovers even when they are physically separated. The poet piles up a number of arguments to prove the point, and thus he persuade his beloved not to grieve at the time of his departure for France. Donne says to his wife that like the virtuous people, let them also accept their separation quietly with no tears or sighs.
Donne is poking fun at the idea that tears would cause a flood, or turbulence of deep sigh is sufficient to let loose a tempest. The poet says that their love is something spiritual and so the physical separation that they endure is not be dreaded. Only the earthly love will breaks and cracks when there is separation. Their love fined that it is not dependent on physical sensation.
The poet further says that love has fused their two souls into one. Therefore, even if he has to go away, their souls would not be separated. His absence would not cause any breach in their love. Rather, his going away, only means that their love would cover a larger area, just as gold, when beaten, does not break but expands wider and wider.
Metaphysical means which is beyond physical - the immortal soul and the existence of a supreme being. Donne employs the famous metaphysical conceit of the compass to prove the nature of their love. They are like the two legs of a compass. She is like the fixed foot of the compass which remains fixed at the centre. But it leans and follows the other foot when it moves, and grows erect and unites with the moving foot when it returns to the starting point after completing the circle. Similarly it is the firmness of her love that enables him to complete his journey successfully and then return home.
The poem is a typical metaphysical poem with its brilliant use of an array of poetic techniques such as metaphor, paradox, simile, conceit, alliteration and rhyme scheme, with objects and ideas drawn from a wide spectrum of knowledge, life astronomy, metallurgy, geology and geometry.
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