A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning is a poem by John Donne, composed of nine quartets.

Starting from the title, a prediction can be made about its theme: the theme of departure for which an invitation is made: not to be mourned.

This is confirmed by the first quartet, where departure is compared to the one of a virtuous man;  it follows that it should not be cause for despair because the man is ascending to heaven. If the departure were  occasion for mourning, it would mean that the two lovers were only concerned with physical love . On the contrary departure is not tragic because their love overcomes body attraction and therefore  cannot be diminished  by absence.

The two souls are joined by something more and that is why distance calls for expansion and does not torn them apart.

In the close of the text , the two lovers relationship and distance is  compared to the two feet of a compass, the one leaning towards the other and  the compass motion implies the involvement of both.

                The language uses a high register and shows the great wit of the poet. There are images from alchemy (the properties of gold), geometric knowledge is shown together with the ones of natural phenomena like earthquakes. The most frequent figure of speech is the metaphor: the compass provides the greatest example which is developed along  three stanzas. Rhymes adds an additional sound effect to every quartet.

               The  image of two lovers supporting each other is rendered by the poem. Their bondage is unbreakable because of the superior nature of their love and they don't need anything but themselves. Their love is perfect, as stated by the compass' metaphor: the circular form it draws are a symbol of perfection. Differently from earthly and sensual love which the poetdoes not approve only if detached from the mind, because the feelings it brings are catastrophic (like earthquakes) and cannot survive distance. As a result, there is an ambiguous image of love: a pure and perfect one opposed to a material and destructive one.