Literary response to John Donne’s ‘A valediction: forbidding mourning’

A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning 

BY JOHN DONNE

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:

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 fears,
   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
Absence, because it doth remove
   Those things which elemented it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In 1611, before departing for a long trip to France and Germany, John Donne wrote the poem ‘A valediction: forbidding mourning’ to his wife, Anne. This beautiful, metaphorical poem explores the uniqueness of their love, argues that their spiritual love will not be hindered by physical departure, and urges Anne to keep her composure.

The poet has displayed a skilful use of literary devices, especially metaphor. John is famous for his metaphysical conceit, which is about constructing a metaphor using two seemingly unrelated objects; the two most striking metaphors are referring to his departure as an old man’s death and his love with Anne as a compass.  In Stanza 1, he describes the quiet death of a distinguished old man, so quiet that his friends are not mourning openly, they make ‘no noise, no tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move’. He is trying to make a point that, the most virtuous man, even when they are passing away, would not make a big scene. He is trying to tell Anne indirectly that, them being refined, spiritual people, should also behave in a similar way. Their departure should be a quiet one, with no strong outburst of emotions, such that they that are consistently well-behaved. Furthermore, he describes his love with Anne using the dynamics of a compass. A compass has a moving foot and fixed foot. He describes his departure as the movement of a roaming foot, and Anne’s stay at home as fixed foot. He writes that the fixed foot ‘leans and hearkens’, to elevate Anne as an affectionate and caring wife, to encourage her to offer quiet support. At the concluding line, he also assures Anne that, he will ‘end where I begun’. By telling Anne that her love is his beginning and ending,  He is telling Anne that if she stays resolute during the separation, it would be a living proof that their love is strong and spiritual. 

Additionally, he uses juxtaposition to distinguish his love from other people’s love. He sets up a binary between physical and spiritual love. To him, physical is love is external, dramatic, emotional and sensory; spiritual love is internal, refined, and platonic. He sees other people’s love is superficial and fleeting, but his love as deep and longlasting. He says, in a condescending tone, that ‘dull sublunary lovers’ love’ is sensory, and will be gone once the sensory experience fade away when the lovers are far apart. While his love, is a spiritual love that is ‘so much refined’, is a love ‘of the mind’, and is not contingent on sensory experience. Although they may not be able to see each other using their ‘eyes’, to kiss each other using their ‘lips’ and to hold each other using their ‘hands’, they will be able to persevere through periods of separation. Using such juxtaposition, he elevates their loves and hopes to convince Anne that their love will last although they are not physically together. 

Furthermore, the usage of enjambment reflects the event of departure. In Stanza 6, he wrote, ‘One two souls therefore, which are one,/ Though I must go, endure not yet/ A breach, but an expansion’. He breaks up the line to emphasise on ‘A breach’, such line structure mimics the event that he is leaving. The enjambment leads the Anne to the departure but also turns around the departure, a breach becomes an expansion, ‘like gold to airy thinnes beat.’ Just like a piece of gold, which does not break under hamming and beating, their departure provides an opportunity to deepen their relationship. A departure may not break but magnify their relationship. There is another enjambment in Stanza 7 to show the wholeness of their relationships. The first two lines of Stanza 7 writes ‘If they be two, they are two so/ As stiff twin compasses are two;’ This is a continuation from Stanza 6. Initially, although he and Anne are two souls, they are considered as ‘one’, but even if they have to be separated into two souls, they can still be like a twin compass. We can see the split of 2 → 1 → 2 → 1 here. This split-join dynamic is to emphasise that physical distance cannot overwhelm their desire for spiritual togetherness. 

Moreover, the simple structure of the poem helps to convey a complex message. Throughout the poem, the poet has been using ornate, elaborated arguments to convince Anne of their spritual love. In contrast, the structure is surprisingly simple, the poem is written in quatrains and uses an ABAB rhyming scheme. This simple structure prevents the already complicated message from becoming incomprehensive. Such simple preserves the complexity and elegance of the message while ensuring understandability. 

In conclusion, this spiritual, metaphorical poem paints love in a quiet, non-intruding, yet firm way. The speaker is clearly romantic, he sees the extraordinary in ordinary object and event like a compass and a person’s death. He also uses literary techniques like metaphors, juxtaposition and enjambment to distinguish his love. To prevent over-complication of the message, he adopts a simple structure of quatrains and an ABAB rhyming scheme. All these techniques help to deliver the central message powerfully: spiritual love has no breakage, no fracture and no departure.