“A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” is a famous love poem by John Donne. It was published after his death. Read to poem’s summary here.
“A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” is a metaphysical poem by John Donne. The poet leaves his wife Anne and travels to France for a few days. And in this temporary separation, the poet wrote this poem to console his wife. The poem calls for patience in temporary separation, and the love between the poet and his wife is said to be intense and special.
Themes
- Love and Distance
- Physical Love vs Spiritual Love
Symbols
Drawing Compass, Circle
Summary
At the very beginning of the poem, John Donne gives an example of the death of a good or pious person. He says that when a pious person dies, he dies so peacefully and quietly that no one can question whether he has breathed his last or not. The poet asks his wife to take this death as a model. Their temporary separation should be just that peaceful and quiet. On the other hand, the expression of sorrow and lamentation diminishes the quality of love.
The poet convinces his wife that their love is not ordinary, so it is better to keep their temporary separation hidden from the public eye. Common worldly events, such as earthquakes, are visible to the human eye. But cosmic events, or the solar system (which is as special as the poet’s love), remain hidden from the public eye.
The poet further consoles his wife that the common man’s love is based on a physical relationship, and hence they cannot bear even a temporary separation. But the love of the poet and his lover is extraordinary, special. So physical distance is not a big thing for them.
He said that even if the two true lovers stay at opposite ends, their souls are never separated even if their bodies are different. Rather their souls live together or in the same place. He says that just as a fine metal expands when it is struck, in the same way, a lover and his beloved stay apart from each other for some time but their love grows day by day.
Then the poet compares them to the two legs of a drawing compass.
He reasoned that when the two legs of a compass are moved slightly away from each other to draw a circle, the fixed leg leans slightly towards the moving leg. The poet compares his wife to the fixed leg. And the poet is the moving leg, which will return exactly to the starting position after drawing the circle.
Through this poem, the poet wants to make his wife understand that she has nothing to mourn or lament. Their distance is temporary. It is only physical distance, spiritually they will stay beside each other.
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