A VALEDICTION: FORBIDDING MOURNING by John Donne

Stanzas 1-4

They say Donne probably wrote this poem to his wife before his travel to continent.

Again, like all the metaphysical poets, the structure of argumentation is present. The poet cannot deny that there will be physical separation, but he believes that is a problem for those who are not only united by sensual love.

The poet and his lady, instead (on the contrary), share a love which is also non-physical, but metaphysical: the union of two souls which cannot be broken, but expanded through spaces just as gold may be bitten very thin without breaking.

The simile would be quiet ingenious as it is: but Donne, in true metaphysical style introduces another complex simile, surely the most famous of his work. The two lovers are compared to the connected legs of a compass: just as they can be pulled far apart, but never totally separated, so the two lovers may be physically far from each other, but they will always be spiritually united. The compass legs, however far apart, will always draw a circle, a symbol of perfect unity.

The compass = a common emblem of perfection, from Cesare Ripa's "Iconologia" (1625), one of the most popular emblem book in Europe.

The circle drawn by the compass = the ring with the signs of the zodiac. 

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In the first stanza of the poem, the speaking voice introduces a simile that persists in the second stanza. He states that virtuous men die without much confusion, so that it is difficult for their friends to say when is their death's time arrived. They're having a last inner dialogue and they're not afraid of dying because they know their soul won't die.

The speaker thinks he and his beloved should behave in the same way that men do. They should melt (cry) without making any noise. Not crying and sighing too much is necessary if the two lover want to avoid telling the other people their love's difficulties. That would be a profanation of their joys, as their love is so intimate and pure that it is similar to a religion and the rest of the world can't understand and share an idea of love so strong. They are laymen, skeptical and disbelieving.

In the third stanza, the speaking voice exploits the idea of earthquakes. He says that, while an earthquake is something that causes fears and harms, the "trepidation of the spheres" that is the movement of the sky (keep in mind the Ptolemaic theory of the universe) isn't dangerous. The earthquake that happens on Earth must be compared to a physical love. An earthquake, happening on Earth, provokes pain among the people, such as physical lovers suffer when separated because their love is only a earthly feeling. The movement of the sky, instead, doesn't cause any fear (although it is greater) because it happens in Heaven and is a nobler phenomenon. Also the two character's love is nobler than all the others' love as it isn't only physical, but also spiritual, and so it can't and mustn't be corrupted by distance.

In the fourth stanza, the speaker states that absence is unbearable only for the "dull sublunary lovers". At that time, in fact, the Moon sphere marked the border between the perfect and unchangeable world of the higher spaces and spheres, and the corruptible Earth. The sublunary lovers are those whose love is only physical. They can't stand distance because without the body their love is destined to end, as the body is actually the main element that gives strength to the feeling.