John Donne’s A Valediction

On John Donne

’

s

A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

By

Annie

A

Valediction:

Forbidding

Mourning

is

a

magnificent

poem

written

in

1611

by

John Donne, one of famous Elizabethan poets. It

’s said that

John Donne wrote it to his

wife

as

a

farewell

speech

when

he

was

about

to

travel

to

France

and

Germany

.

The

poem tenderly comforts the speaker's lover at their temporary parting, asking that they

separate

calmly

and

quietly

,

without

tears

or

protests.

The

speaker

justifies

the

desirability of

such calmness by developing

the

ways

in which

the

two share a

holy

love,

both

sexual

and

spiritual

in

nature.

Donne

treats

their

love

as

sacred,

elevated

above that of ordinary earthly

lovers.

He argues

that because of

the confidence the

ir

love gives them, they are strong enough to endure a temporary separation.

The

most

outstanding

linguistic

feature

of

this

poem

is

its

innovative

metaphysical

conceit.

As

we

know,

in

English

literature

conceit

is

generally

associated

with

the

17

th

century

metaphysical

poets,

an

extension

of

contemporary

usage. In the

metaphysical conceit,

metaphors

have a

much

more purely conceptual,

and

thus

tenuous,

relationship

between

the

things

being

compared.

Helen

Gardner

observed

that

“a

conceit

is

a

comparison

whose

ingenuity

is

more

striking

than

its

justness”

and

that

“a

comparison

becomes

a

conceit

when

we

are

made

to

conce

de

likeness while being strongly conscious of unlikeness.”

Reading

through

the

whole

poem,

it

’

s

not

difficult

to

find

there

is

bizarre

and

unexpected

imagery

and

symbolism

used

by

Donne.

At

the

beginning

of

this

poem,

the

poet

compared

his

departing

with

his

lover

to

the

death

of

the

noble

man.

“

As

virtuous men pass mildly away

, And whisper to their souls, to go

”

. As a virtuous man

dies,

he knows that

he

has

reconciled

himself to God and

will

therefore be accepted

into

heaven.

Thus

he dies

in peace and calm, and the people surrounding

him at

his

deathbed are sad, but

not anguished. In

the same way

, when

two

virtuous

lovers part,

there is no pain, because they know that each will be true to the other, even when they

are apart. The people

surrounding the dying

man are quiet partly so as

not to disturb

him. In the same way

, Donne said that too much outward show of emotion on the part

of one

lover would

just disturb the other.

He presented

his own opinion of departing

for

the

first

time

in

this

poem:

true

love

can

endure

the

trial

of

departing.

And

the

departing between

lovers should be calm and peaceful,

“

So

let

us

melt, and

make

no

noise

”

,

because

true

love

is

built

on

the

communication

of

the

two

souls

but

not

on

physical

connection.

Although

departing

is

bitter,

the

souls

of

the

two

have

melt

together.

They

should

separate

from

each

other

by

making

no

noise

and

not

explain

love by tear-flood and sigh-tempest just as the laity do.

In the

third stanza, the poet

used two peculiar

images

to describe the difference

between

true

love

and

love

of

the

laity

.

To

the

common

people,

separation

with

the

lovers

is

like

the

moving

of

the

earth,

which

means

the

end

of

everything

including

love.

The

poet

compared

the

departing

between

true

loves

to

the

movement

of

the

celestial

bodies.

Although

its

influence

is

bigger

than

the

moving

of

the

earth,

it

is

mysterious.

In the sixth stanza,

“

A breach, but an expansion, Like gold to airy thinness beat

”

.