A Veldiction Forbidding Mourning is a John Donne’s poem written in 1611.

This is Valediction divided into nine stanzas. In the first two stanzas the poet introduces the theme with a comparison: there are two lovers who have to separates.

Following stanzas deals with the problem of the physical absence of the partner: it is material, only for “dull sublunary lovers”, on the other hand, the love of the Two Lovers is so refined and “Inter-assured of the mind” so they don’t have to worry about missing “eyes, lips, and hands”.

In the last three stanzas the poet use the image of the “stiff of compasses” to portrays two lovers’ souls. In order to make a circle, one of the stiff has to separate from the other, but, in the end, it comes back to the star and, when you close it, two stiff returns together as only one soul.

The poem is composed by nine four-line stanzas, which has the rhyme scheme ABAB.

There are some figures of speech, in particular comparisons (v.1-8;v.24;v.26).

Most meaningful is the comparison from two lovers’ souls and the compasses’ stiffs. With this image poet makes the power of true love clear: absence of the beloved is not important, because, even if we are not together, our souls will not ever divide.