A Valediction Forbidding Mourning by John Donne
A dying speaker urges a beloved companion to part as calmly as virtuous men expire, without loud grief, likening their leave-taking to a soul slipping away so gently that watchers cannot agree whether breath has ceased. The speaker asks that they "melt" apart in silence, sparing tears and sighs, since to display their love before ordinary people would profane it. Earthquakes, which alarm men who ponder their damage and meaning, are contrasted with the far greater but harmless shifting of the heavenly spheres. Ordinary earthly lovers, whose love is rooted in the senses, cannot bear separation because absence removes the very thing that composed their affection. The speaker and companion, however, share a love so refined that they themselves cannot define it, and being mutually assured in mind, care less about missing eyes, lips, and hands. Because their two souls are one, the speaker's departure will not cause a break but an expansion, like gold beaten into airy thinness. If the souls are indeed two, they resemble the two legs of a compass: the companion's soul is the fixed foot, which stays at the center yet leans and turns as the other foot roams. The speaker will be like the roaming foot, moving obliquely, while the companion's firmness keeps the circle true and brings the speaker back to end where he began.
By John Donne · First published 1633 · Genre: Metaphysical Poetry, Love Poetry, Lyric Poetry · 378 words
First lines
As virtuous men pass mildly away, / And whisper to their souls to go, / Whilst some of their sad friends do say, / "Now his breath goes," 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.
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A Valediction Forbidding Mourning is listed on Textopian as a poem by John Donne, dated 1633 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: John Donne
- Date: 1633 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Metaphysical Poetry, Love Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Valedictory Poetry, Baroque Poetry
- Length: 378 words
- Structure: 1 section, 9 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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Genres
- Metaphysical Poetry — The poem employs elaborate conceits (particularly the compass metaphor), philosophical argumentation about the nature of love and the soul, and intellectual complexity characteristic of metaphysical verse.
- Love Poetry — The central theme is romantic love between two people, exploring the emotional and spiritual dimensions of their connection and the pain of temporary separation.
- Lyric Poetry — The poem expresses personal, intimate emotion in first person; designed to be read aloud with musical quality and emotional immediacy typical of the lyric form.
- Valedictory Poetry — The poem is explicitly a farewell, addressing the speaker's departure while consoling the beloved and affirming their connection despite physical separation.
Tags
metaphysical-poetry · love-and-devotion · separation · constancy · spiritual-union · elaborate-metaphor · renaissance-verse · platonic-ideals · emotional-restraint · farewell-poem · soul-connection · geometric-imagery