Forbidding Mourning free essay sample

John Donne cleverly uses one of the most famous of metaphysical conceits in stanza seven of A Valediction Forbidding Mourning. A metaphysical conceit is like an extended metaphor, in which the poet compares to extremely different objects; usually the comparison involves an abstract concept or emotion, like love, and some other completely random object. John Donnes conceit in stanza seven definitely features a completely random object to be making an appearance in a love poem a compass! Here, Donne compares the lovers souls to the points of a compass: Thy soul, the fixd foot, makes no show To move, but doth, if th other do. Donnes elegant conceit is both ingenious and moving. He uses the physical object to show the heart-felt closeness of the two lovers; when the other far doth roam, It leans, and hearkens after it. Discuss the central message of A Valediction: Forbidding mourning. I would argue that the overwhelming central message of this excellent poem regards the love that the speaker has for his wife, and the way that their years together have forged a kind of connection that is more spiritual than physical. The way in which the poem presents their love as being a force that cannot be separated, even by death itself, is incredibly moving, and forces us to think about the nature of love and how it endures even in the face of darkness and death. One of the most striking and beautiful images of this poem helps us to understand the special nature of the love between the speaker and his wife, who possess a love that is so much refined: 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 thother do. By describing their souls as being like the two feet of a compass, the speaker makes it clear of the kind of union that characterises their relationship. Even when the two feet are apart and separate, they are united, and this unity is shown in the way that, when the other foot far doth roam, the foot that remains in one place leans, and hearkens after it / And grows erect, as that comes home. The overwhelming message of this poem therefore concerns a love that is so based in unity and trust that even death itself cannot separate the two souls of the speaker and his wife. gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt;gt; The subject of the simile about metallurgy begun in line 17 is the refining of gold, in which all dross and impurities are removed and only the purest and most valuable gold remains. The speaker also refers to the malleability of gold to suggest that even when lovers are apart they are still united, just like a sheet of delicate gold foil (line 24) that stretches between the loved ones so that they are still and always connected to each other. This metaphor supports the conviction that this love is deep and lasting; not merely valuable as some readers who have not digested all of the previous stanzas will reply. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Explain the conceit in lines 25-36 of A Validation and what suggests about love. A conceit is an extended, clever metaphor that is usually considered pushed to its end degree. In Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, Donne is speaking to his wife, whom he must leave to go on a trip abroad. Throughout the poem he has used a variety of metaphors to explain that he and his wifes love is superior to everyone else and that it can more easily undure a separation, because it is so strong. He uses a conceit in the last three stanzas of the poem to better illustrated how their relationship works. He says, if we are two people, then let us be two like the two legs a compass. (The kind of compass you would use to draw a perfect circle. He explains that he is the fixed foot in the center it holds the other leg in position and keeps it in line so that it can do its job, and return to where it started and therefore make a perfect circle. If Donne, then, is the moving foot he is the one that must run, but because of her steady love, he will return, and make me end where I begun. The is a great example of a metaphysical conceit in poetry. Compasses are NOT an obvious symbol of love, but with twleve short lines he makes his love and connection to his wife perfectly clear! It is very clever, extended, and pushed to the limit. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 9-12 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. The third stanza of the poem, which includes lines 9-12, compares dramatic upheavals on earth and in heaven. Lines 9-10 address these upheavals on earth, specifically as they are manifest in earthquakes (moving of th earth line 9). The poet is saying that these phenomenon bring fear and wonder to men and cause great destruction and turmoil, but upheavals in the heavens (trepidation of the spheres line 11), although more significant, receive less notice because we cannot physically see nor feel them. By introducing this theme, the poet is setting the stage for a comparison of physical vs. spiritual love later in the poem. In A Valediction Forbidding Mourning, line 5, how is the image of melting relevant to the poem? Line 5: So let us melt, and make no noise Let us remember that the speaker of this poem is telling his wife not to mourn him when he dies, as the title suggests. The first two stanzas of this unforgettable poem therefore urge the wife to behave with quiet dignity when they part, just as virtuous people die without drama or display. You need to be aware that the first stanza is a simile which offers the comparison of people parting with dignity to show the wife how she and the speaker of the poem should part: 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: Like this, therefore, the speaker encourages his wife to say goodbye to him. The image of melting in the poem is thus used as a metaphor to reinforce this image rather than spontaneously and quickly burn, they are to express their feelings and love for each other slowly and with respect, just as candles melt slowly and gradually not with tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move, because, as the speaker says in the second stanza, to react in this undignified manner would actually spoil the sacredness of their love. No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move The speaker then speaks of dramatic events of heaven, how large and momentous they are, but how innocent they are as well, because people on earth can not feel their effects: But trepidation of the spheres, Though greater far, is innocent He moves on to the basis of his argument, the argument for why the two lovers should not mourn their time apart. His claim is that a parting between lovers is impossible (in a metaphysical sense). He suggests first that they share a soul, because both of their souls are made of the same material and so are the same. Therefore, by sharing a soul, they can not be divided: 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. As seen above, their souls can not be separated but only expanded with the space that divides him. He moves on to argue that, if they do indeed have two separate souls, those souls are so interconnected that the same is true they can never really be apart.    No matter where one of them goes, the other will be a foot that grounds the other soul in place so that it may return, as in a circle: 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. It is a clever, spiritual argument to stop the sorrow of a separation, and is an excellent example of metaphysical poetry, which mixes the spiritual with the earthly in its expression.