“A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” was written by John Donne, who was born in 1572 in a Roman Catholic family, in London. He studied both law and theology and was known as the founder of Metaphysical Poetry, which includes details and comparisons beyond the physical realm. Abstract comparisons are made to a physical or tangible object. Donne’s imagery therefore is eclectic and startling, and we see marks of the metaphysical conceit throughout the poem when the two souls (of his beloved’s and his) are compared to the two feet of a compass, united in the center. The poem was written roughly around 1611 (but published posthumously in 1633), as a valediction or farewell speech to his beloved wife, Anne More Donne, before he left for France and Germany (as reported by his contemporary Izaak Walton). He forbids his wife to mourn their temporary separation because their love is strong enough to bear it. In this poem Donne, elevates the love between his wife and him to a spiritual level, which transcends above the love of earthly lovers.
In the first stanza of the poem, Donne compares his separation with his beloved to the death of virtuous men, when the man’s soul departs from his body. He encourages his wife to accept separation just as virtuous men accept death willingly and gracefully, without any complaints. But the sad friends who mourn their death either accept it or say no to the hard reality. He further exhorts his wife in the second stanza, by saying “So let us melt, and make no noise” (5) i.e. to melt away or depart temporarily without making a big show about it. There should be no flooding tears and crying over the separation, as it will debase their sacred love and profane the joys of their union if the “laity” (ordinary people) saw this emotional display. Donne here treats his love as very unique and above the love that the people of this world experience.
Donne refers to other lovers besides him and his wife, as “Dull sublunary lovers” (13) in the fourth stanza, whose love is limited to their senses below the moon. They can only relate to what they see, hear, touch, speak and feel physically, and therefore cannot accept separation because it takes away all their love limited only to the physical aspect. On the other hand the love that unites Donne and his beloved transcends from the physical aspect above to the spiritual level, where love is felt beyond the body through the soul, therefore physical separation does not affect it at all. He calls his love “refined” in the fifth stanza, i.e. so pure, perfect and beyond the physical that they themselves don’t know what it is. Here he also refers to the intellectual aspect of their love, by saying they are “inter-assured of the mind” (19). This implies that their love has reached such a far-sighted and deep-rooted understanding that they don’t care so much about the physical aspect of their relationship, which involves the eyes, lips and hands. Deep within their souls they can feel the love even if they are away from each other.
In the sixth stanza Donne brings out the two separate entities of his lover and himself, that they are two souls, yet unifies them as one in the strong bond of love. He compares the hardship of their separation to the beating of gold. Even though gold is hammered and beaten (signifying pain) yet it expands, spreads and grows larger. Similarly, the pain of their separation will ultimately turn out for their good, as their love will grow stronger, deeper increasing their fondness for each other.
It is in the seventh stanza now that we see the use of metaphysical conceit when Donne compares the two lovers to the two feet of a drawing compass. There is unity in their separation also, because the two feet are held together by the center top. He calls her the fixed foot, and himself the other moving one.
He describes the state of the two lovers in the form of the two feet of the compass, by saying that even though his beloved stays put or firm being held by the center, yet grows weary waiting for the roaming foot, i.e. Donne himself, to return. And when he comes back home to her she is revived, happy and joyous as ever.
Finally in the ninth stanza, Donne motivates his wife to stay firm like the fixed foot of the compass, so that he may get the support from her to run his race or finish his journey well, and come back to where he started from. Only if she remains firm will his circle be made well and perfect.
In this poem therefore, Donne brings out the perfectness and purity of their love which not only unites the two bodies but their souls as well, in a strong bond. Their love transcends above the physical, because they are so spiritually and intellectually united together that no physical separation can take them away from each other. Some critiques say that Donne was quite a rake before he met Anne, and it was in his relationship with her that he experienced spiritual love. This reflects his deep attachment and love for his wife.
Enotes. 2012. A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. 24 March 2012.
http://www.enotes.com/valediction-forbidding-mourning/lines-1-6-summary#
SparkNotes. 2012. Donne’s Poetry. 24 March 2012.
http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/donne/section5.rhtml
The Wondering Minstrels. 2012. A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning – John Donne. 24 March 2012.
http://wonderingminstrels.blogspot.in/2000/02/valediction-forbidding-mourning-john.html
Cummings Study Guides. 2012. A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. 24 March 2012.
http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/Valediction.html
AVI. 2000. The Metaphysical Poets – Study Guide. 24 March 2012
http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/poetry/metaphys.htm
Gale Cengage. 2002. A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. 24 March 2012.
http://iblog.stjschool.org/snowflake/files/2010/05/A_Valediction_Forbidding_Mourning_eNotes.pdf
