A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning by John Donne | Summary, Analysis, Explanation
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A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning is one of the finest love poems of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras that was written in 1611-1612 by John Donne. The poem was published posthumously in 1633 in Donne’s collection Songs and Sonnets. John Donne was bound to a trip to Continental Europe and before leaving his beloved pregnant wife Anne alone, he wrote this poem.
The poem has 36 lines composed in nine stanzas, thus each stanza has four lines. Unlike other poems by John Donne which often have a strange rhyming scheme, A Valediction rather has a simple form with a consistent rhyming scheme ABAB in all stanzas. All the lines of the nine stanzas are in Iambic tetrameter.
Themes of A Valediction:
Just like in many of his other poems, Donne explains his philosophy of love, death, and spirituality while using some surprising conceits. The poem can be considered as an example of Carpe Diem poetry. A Carpe Diem poem suggests or promotes a particular way of living while reminding the reader that death is continuously lurking behind.
The poem begins with a description of a group of friends standing around the deathbed of a virtuous man. They discuss imminent death while the poet turns that feeling into enthusiasm towards life. He then suggests the importance of love and how his love for his beloved is spiritual in nature.
A Valediction is a metaphysical poem and Donne offers some surprising metaphors, conceit, and imagery in this poem. The very prominent imagery is that of troublesome disastrous weather patterns. Donne uses these weather patterns to describe the love of a different couple and then he suggests why his love for his beloved is of higher spiritual value.
The most important conceit offered by Donne in this poem is that of a compass. Donne compares his relationship with his wife Anne to the compass. Donne describes the compass as ‘stiff’ with a ‘fixed foot’ that doesn’t waiver around. It is his wife’s part. The other part of the compass is the poet himself that continues to roam around. The steadfastness of his wife always brings him back to her. The compass represents the balance between the couple.
However, the most bizarre, yet meaningful conceit is the comparison between the calm and peaceful death of a virtuous person and the mature spiritual love of a loyal couple.
Summary of A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
As virtuous men pass mildly away,
And whisper to their souls to go,
Whilst some of their sad friends do say
The breath goes now, and some say, No:
The poet begins with an image of death. A virtuous man is on his deathbed. He led a virtuous and honorable life and now he is about to die peacefully. Donne expresses death here as ‘whispering tone’s soul away.’ Donne uses onomatopoeia (Whisper) here. The man is surrounded by his well-wishers and friend. His death is so calm that his friends are unable to decide whether he passed away or not. They ask each other if the breath is going on or not. The man led a satisfactory life and even at his death, there is no need for mourning, desperation, and dissatisfaction.
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.
The reader may wonder why the poet depicted a death scene in the first stanza. In the second stanza, he offers his insight. He specifically wrote this poem for his wife before going away on a sea voyage, leaving her alone. The poet compares the peaceful death of a virtuous man to the love between him and his wife. He suggests to his wife that though they are going to separate for a while, their separation shouldn’t accompany ‘tear-floods’, and ‘sigh-tempests.’ The poet belittles other couples who show their passion in open. He suggests that his relationship with his lover is way better and respectable. It will be profanity to show their joys of meeting and sadness before he departs away to ‘laity’ or common people. So the poet is saying that though, unfortunately, he is forced to go away while leaving his wife alone, their relationship is so mature, strong, and superior to relationships of others who fail to control their passion, that they will bear this troublesome time with complete calm. The poet says that their farewell should be as mild as the uncomplaining deaths of virtuous men,
Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears,
Men reckon what it did, and meant;
But trepidation of the spheres,
Though greater far, is innocent.
The poet further suggests that his relationship with his wife is superior to the relationships between other couples. He says that the separation of a common couple is like an earthquake that brings a lot of harm, fears, and suspicion. However, he is also going away from his wife but they are no common couple, they are superior. Unlike the earthly people, their love is celestial. Just like the earth, other celestial bodies like the spherical Sun, or moon, also go through trepidations but they cause no harm no fear. His relationship is not like a showy earthquake, but it is much more genuine and powerful like the movement of celestial spheres.
Also, the poet suggests that his going away is no big deal and there is no need to cry and complain as if some disastrous earthquake has occurred.
Dull sublunary lovers' love
(Whose soul is sense) cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove
Those things which elemented it.
The poet continues to belittle other couples describing their lesser love as ‘Dull’ and ‘Sublunary.’ Their love is not brightly shining like the moon, but it exists under the moon, or the brightness of the moon (celestial sphere) hides their love. The poet already compared his and his wife’s love as a celestial sphere. He further explains that the love of others is dependent on senses. The soul of their relationship is based on senses like to touch and see, their love is a carnal affair. In such cases, when the two lovers move away or get separated, the poet explains that the love also evaporates. Absence, or separation removes the love between such couples as in absence, or separation, they cannot see or touch each other.
But we by a love so much refined,
That our selves know not what it is,
Inter-assured of the mind,
Care less, eyes, lips, and hands to miss.
The poet dedicates the fifth stanza to explain the spiritual platonic nature of his and his wife’s relationship. The poet says that his and his wife’s relationship is so much refined and pure that they themselves are unable to grasp its spirituality, their love has got mysterious qualities. Their love is not completely carnal and it is much less dependent on eyes, lips, and hands. Thus, even in separation, these senses of touch and vision won’t be missed as the two lovers are bound mentally, spiritually, and despite being separated physically, they won’t feel any separation as on mental, spiritual levels, they will remain close, as one.
Our two souls therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to airy thinness beat.
In the sixth stanza, the poet strengthens his idea about the spiritual relationship between himself and his wife. Donne employs a simile and compares his love relationship to gold, the purest, malleable metal. He declares the nature of his relationship that has made the two souls of his and his wife as one. This oneness allows them to bear the physical separation. The poet suggests that his, going away, is not a breach of their relationship, rather it is just an expansion. They may physically remain apart, still, their soul is one. The poet explains this expansion by using the example of gold which stretches when it is beaten.
If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two;
Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if the other do.
In the seventh stanza, Donne says that even if it is not so, even if their souls are not combined, they are not one, then also, their relationship has tied their two souls in the manner of a stiff compass in which there are two parts, one is his wife which remains ‘fixed footed’ and doesn’t wander. The other part is the poet himself who continues to wander and move away, yet, is tied to the ‘fixed foot.’His wife is the steady soul that remains grounded and doesn’t show. Like the fixed leg of a compass, it never moves independently but shows balanced movement when the other leg moves.
Donne used exaggerated simile here. He presented his relationship with his wife ‘as’ a stiff twin compass with two legs.
And though it in the center sit,
Yet when the other far doth roam,
It leans and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as that comes home.
Donne continues the conceit in the eighth stanza and explains how his wife leans like a string when he wanders away and succeeds in bringing him back. It is like the fixed leg of a compass doesn’t move by itself. But when the other leg moves away under the magnetic effect, the fixed leg, bound to the wandering leg bents and leans towards the other leg. This stretched bond hearkens of pulls back the wandering leg at its place. Similarly, Donne’s wife leans towards him when he is away and pulls him back home. Once the fixed leg gains its original position, it again becomes stiff and erect.
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 begun.
Donne continues the explanation of his conceit in the ninth stanza and concludes the poem. He explains how the fixed leg of a compass keeps the wandering leg intact while allowing it to move in just balanced circle. In the same manner, the firmness and loyalty of his wife make his trips and tour just. And just like the wandering leg of a compass, he also always comes back to his home, from where he began. The poet declares that no matter where he goes and what he does, the firmness of his wife will always bring him back to his home.
Donne wrote this poem to his wife to make her strong enough to bear the separation. First, he explained why mourning or complaining about his going away is useless. He raised the spiritual love between his wife and him and explained how they are two bodies but one soul, and thus, physically they may separate, on a spiritual level, they are one. He compared his relationship with gold. Then the poet further strengthened his point of why mourning and complaining at his separation from his wife must be avoided. He explains that even if he and his wife are two different souls, they are bound to each other like the two legs of a compass. He compares his wife with the fixed leg as she is not the one who is going away. He describes his wife as a firm, loyal and just character who hearkens the poet to remain just, loyal and bound to her. The firmness of his wife’s character is what brings the poet back to his home whenever he goes away.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss a few more poems by John Donne, including his religious works and then we will move towards other metaphysical poets of the same era. Please stay connected with the Discourse, thanks, and regards!
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