The Anniversary by John Donne | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Anniversary is a romantic metaphysical poem written by John Donne that was published in Songs and Sonnets, Donne's poetry collection in 1633. The poem was probably written in 1599 as it recalls the poet's first meeting with his teenage wife-to-be, Ann More, in 1598. It is a metaphysical love poem in which Donne used extended metaphors and paradoxes, however, this poem is much simpler than that of other poems of Donne. There are no difficult allusions and references. He wrote this poem simply and directly.

Theme of The Anniversary:

The Anniversary is a typical metaphysical love poem. The metaphysical treatment of love is different from what is found in conventional romantic Elizabethan lyrics. The approach here is intellectual, not emotional. Love is idealized and intellectually analyzed in this poem. The central theme of the poem is fidelity in love. The poet meditates on the timelessness of the world of love. Time rules and commands the created world, where all things, including the mighty sun, grow older, as it rolls on. Love is also a subject of the world of time, and does not remain beyond its authority. The very idea of the celebration of the anniversary of the lovers’ first meeting implies this. As the inhabitants of the world of time, the lovers, no doubt, grow old, but their love is not haunted by the hurrying chariot wheel of time. This has no ‘to-morrow’, ‘no yesterday’. Love, therefore, lives out of the bound of decay, caused by the continuous march of time. While all other things to their destruction draw, love only has ‘no decay’. It, of course, runs with time, but never runs away from the lovers, but ‘truly keepes his first, last, everlasting day.’ The lovers are, no doubt, also destined to die. But their bodies only perish. Their souls escape from earthly bodies and pass into the blessings of heaven. Yet, love is not a matter of spiritual blessing only. Its unique, distinctive nature is perceived in its absolute monarchy on earth in the true and noble attachment of the lovers to each other. It is not enough consolation for the lovers to know the spiritual union of their souls after their earthly death. What makes love perfect, and unique is the mutual trust and devotion of the lovers. Love is not immortal, but it can be made noble, unique, and great by the lovers’ conduct.

Structure of The Anniversary:

The poem is 30 lines long and composed in three stanzas. Each stanza has ten lines, and the poem is largely in the iambic meter, with the first, second, and seventh lines being tetrameter and the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, and tenth lines being pentameter. Donne uses the timelessness of Love while still remaining in the realm of time as a paradox for this metaphysical poem. The poet says their love has no yesterday, yet, they are celebrating their anniversary, it is a paradox. Another paradox is the uncertainty in fidelity. In the third stanza, the poet asks a rhetorical question ‘Who is as safe as we?’ and the beloved is supposed to answer ‘Nobody.’ But the question itself shows the doubts of the poet. The poet claims that they are both kings to each other and 'each other’s subjects,' introducing not only the troublesome possibility of treason against each other (i.e. infidelity) but also the idea that having more than one ‘king’ is surely a bad idea, at least in the same ‘kingdom’.

There is no distinct rhyming scheme in the poem.

Summary of The Anniversary

Stanza 1 Lines 1-10

All kings, and all their favourites,

All glory of honours, beauties, wits,

The sun itself, which makes times, as they pass,

Is elder by a year, now, than it was

When thou and I first one another saw :

All other things, to their destruction draw,

Only our love hath no decay;

This, no tomorrow hath, nor yesterday,

Running it never runs from us away, But truly keeps his first, last, everlasting day.

The poet says, addressing his beloved: ‘Everything, all kings and their courtesies, all glory, beauties and wits, the sun itself, by which we measure time, are older by one year than when you and I first clapped eyes on each other. Everything else, however, is in decline, moving towards its own death, whereas our love is different from theirs because it knows no decay. Our love has no tomorrow, and no yesterday because it’s timeless; our love runs and runs, but never runs away from us; instead, it remains as strong as the day we first met.’ Their love never changes; it is the same as it was in the beginning and will continue to be the same till the end. Their love is eternal.

Stanza 2 Lines 11-20

Two graves must hide thine and my corse,

If one might, death were no divorce,

Alas, as well as other princes, we,

(Who prince enough in one another be,)

Must leave at last in death, these eyes, and ears,

Oft fed with true oaths, and with sweet salt tears,

But souls where nothing dwells but love,

(All other thoughts being inmates) then shall prove

This, or a love increased there above,

When bodies to their graves, souls from their graves remove.

In the second stanza, Donne continues: ‘When we die, beloved, we’ll be buried in separate graves; if we weren’t, then even in death we would remain together. But if we are to be buried separately, then we must go the same way as other princes (We’re so empowered by the strength of our love that we’re pretty much princes ourselves, of a kind) and leave each other in death. ‘But souls which are full of love and nothing else, as ours are (because all our other thoughts are ‘inmates’ or prisoners of our love for each other: i.e. our love dictates every thought in our heads), will discover that, when bodies are buried in the grave, the souls rise up from the bodies – because our souls will rise from our corpses to find each other again.’ Our love will increase still more in heaven when after death our bodies sink into the grave and the souls ascend to heaven.

Stanza 3 Lines 21-30

And then we shall be throughly blessed,

But we no more, than all the rest.

Here upon earth, we are kings, and none but we

Can be such kings, nor of such subjects be;

Who is so safe as we? where none can do

Treason to us, except one of us two,

True and false fears let us refrain,

Let us love nobly, and live, and add again

Years and years unto years, till we attain

To write threescore, this is the second of our reign.

In the third and final stanza, Donne says, ‘Then, when our souls are united even in death, we will be thoroughly blessed – but then so will everyone. It’s here on Earth, while we live, that you and I are truly special: we are like kings, but we are also like subjects (because I am your subject, but also your king; likewise, you serve me, but I also serve you, so you’re both my king and subject too).

‘Who is as safe as we are? No one else can do treason to us, so we’re safe from harm; because you are my only subject, and I yours, only the other one can commit treason against us (and that’s hardly going to happen, right?).

Let us live without fears – founded or unfounded – then, and let us love as befits kings, for many more years to come, until we die aged seventy (threescore). This is the second year of our reign, for we are kings.’

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