John Donne - A Valediction Forbidding Mourning

This poem is a song composed by John Donne. Reading the title, the reader can not understand the situation. He can only imagine what the song may be about.

Gradually he understand that the song speaks about two lovers that are going to separate for a limited period of time.

The first stanza has got an introductory function. Donne introduces the problem making a comparison between the two lovers and the death of a virtuous man. The situations are sad but he invites the lovers not to mourn, as the virtuous men do when they die. The lovers should not make confusion because they are going to separate.

In the second stanza the poet explains better the concept and introduces a very important element in his speech: "the laity our love". This can be considered the physical aspect of love. In Donne's opinion love cannot be confined to senses only. It should include the mind in order to be concrete, complete and perfect. It is important to find a balance. This is a concept that the intelligent reader can understand reading the song.

In the third stanza the poet makes another comparison between Earth's movement and the lovers' movement. The most important word in this stanza is trepidation. The word "trepidation" is very relevant because it is a feeling that you feel when you are not balanced or when something is unexpected.

In the coming stanza the poet's ideas come clearly to surface: he says that men's love is linked to senses only. The sublunary lovers cannot accept the distance of the beloved.

In the fifth stanza the poet says that, thanks to our mind, our love can continue also when our beloved is not with us. If our love is strong, we do not care of a miss of hands, lips and eyes. These elements are typical of the physical conception of love.

 In the seventh quatrain the reader can find the metaphor of the compass: John Donne compares the two lovers to the two feet of a compass. As a matter of fact they stay together but when one of them moves the other have to be stiff. The poet explains better and underlines this comparison in the next two stanzas. The last one has also the function to conclude the song.

This song can be considered a parody of the conventions of courtly love.