Essay on An Explication of “a Valediction: Forbidden Mourning”

Him citing the words “Toy doll” reminds him of how perfect and doll-like she was to him, as someone who recently ended a relationship would think about. In the second stanza in lines 5-8 the author writes “In you the rivers sing and my soul flees with them” He is describing the beautiful, calming, and gentle voice of his loved one used to sing with. By his soul fleeing with them the author means she sang so beautifully it swept him away with the river’s currents. In stanza 3 lines 9-12 the author writes numerous different literary devices to replicate and describe his love for the woman he lost. The first line in the third stanza the author says

Similarly, the phrase ‘the next moment, you are no longer there’ is perhaps suggesting that he was shocked at seeing her go so suddenly. However, the fact that when she next reappears she is ‘perfectly framed shows us that the joy of seeing her after thinking she has gone for good is a surprise to him. ‘Fragrant survivors of last night’s frost’ shows us that the flowers are strong, which is a suggestion that their love is strong. In the fourth verse the phrase ‘my heart misses a beat at love for you’ shows us that the love was so intense that time seemed to stop too. ‘Knowing a time will come when you are no longer there’ shows us that he is not looking forward to that time and that he knows it is inevitable. ‘Meanwhile let us make sure we clasp each shared moment’ shows us that he wants to make sure they use their time together wisely, and ‘in cupped hands, like water we dare not spill’ shows us they know that their time together is precious.

The third stanza goes on to define the pain, only now in more emotional terms, such as "It hurts to thwart the reflexes / of grab, of clutch" (14-15), as well as the pain of continuously having to say good bye, each perhaps as if for the last time: "to love and let / go again and again" (15-16). These lines reinforce the impression that the first stanza's definition of "to love differently" is in fact an anti-freedom or state of emotional anarchy, now using words like "pester" to describe any separation; the poet is compelled "to remember / the lover who is not in the bed" (16), hinting at obsessive tendencies as being possible components of the relationship. We also learn that she believes love requires work, which she cannot do without her partner's assistance, and that this lack of cooperation frustrates her. She believes this neglected effort is the other party's fault by his failure to do his fair share, thereby leaving her own efforts ineffective, the whole of it characterized as an effort "that gutters like a candle in a cave / without air" (19-20). Her demands of this work are quite broad, encompassing being "conscious, conscientious and concrete" in her efforts and optimistically calling this work "constructive" (20-21) before ending the stanza.

In the first stanza, the writer uses many techniques to convey the feeling of loss, when he says,

When paraphrased, the stanza above states that if the speaker is certain that she and her lover can be reunited again after death, she would enthusiastically take her own life knowing that her lover is waiting on the other side. By saying so, the speaker is considering life worthless if she cannot meet her lover. What many people call the “most valuable gift” is considered to be of no value in the eyes of the speaker if she cannot spend it with the one she loves. In addition to that statement, the author writes in stanza 3:

To start off it is important to realize that a spiritual bond is goes much deeper than a person’s surface needs and desires. A spiritual connection is a bond between two souls and its intense nature allows it to last even the harshest conditions. The speaker and his wife from “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” have a relationship that has reached this level as well, “Dull sublunary lovers’ love / (Whose soul is sense) cannot admit / Absence…” (Donne 13-15). “Sublunary” lovers refers to people whose relationships have not reached a spiritual level. Since, the relationship is “dull” and is physically oriented, the couples rely on intimacy and touch in order for the relationship to thrive. The speaker’s relationship with

In your answer you should consider the ways in which Donne and Jennings use form, structure and language to present their thoughts and ideas. You should make relevant references to your wider reading in the poetry of love (40 marks).

In the first stanza, a speaker who is feeling “weak and weary” (Line 1) is introduced. “Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore” (Line 2), augmenting the somber ambience, the speaker finds

The first stanza seems to be speaking of a past relationship in the second line “Were I with thee” and also in the last line “Our luxury!” The second stanza states that “the winds” cannot avail against “a Heart in Port”, meaning a lover no longer needs a compass or chart on troubled seas. The heart as found “port” or love. The Final stanza talks about how life’s events are better with the involvement of love.

Before his departure, he expresses to her that a man of virtue goes without “teare-floods” and such moves that are “sigh-tempests.” The goodbye, in his eyes, should be a joyous point of reflection on their love, instead of disrespect. Looking inward, the speaker explains that love doesn’t survive through the “trepidations” of the world, but although their love is assured within the mind their physical characteristics will not amount to the importance of their internal connection. An inner connection, according to the speaker, is their joint souls; a soul that will be stretched among the absent areas they have. Consequently, the speaker parallels their relationship to that of a compass and its feet. The feet of a compass, like that of theirs, travels around a circle; though the feet separate, they start and end at one initial point. The speaker’s soul will travel through the universes, but will forever return back to his wife’s heart because it is the center of their relationship- the unit of their

Second of all,the author uses personification establishes the obstacles and challenges faced in order for the speaker to get to his love.In the second stanza,uses objects to describe the travel to get where his lover is awaiting.From the text, “the impalpable ash or the wrinkled body of the log,everything carries me to you ,as if everything that exists,aromas,light,metals,were little boats that sail toward those isles of yours that wait for me.This phrase conveys that the feelings that exist Romantic relationships,contains emotions that both partner share for each other,when conflict begins to arise animosity causes the separation within the relationship from those two people.This may or may not leave mutual feeling for each

In the modern view of long-distance relationships, many immediately assume that the pairing will ultimately result in failure, with an eventual lack of love leading to a broken ending. This belief has largely existed throughout history, with multiple unions dissolved due to one spouse physically departing from the other. However, in John Donne’s Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, Donne presents a speaker in 1612 giving a farewell address to his lover to soothe her worries, emphasizing that the strength of their bond will not deteriorate despite their physical separation. Throughout the poem, Donne uses multiple literary devices to create a heartfelt and evocative speech that serves as an expression of love and loyalty towards a lover left

The playful diction and soft imagery exposes the speaker going slightly mad and crazed because of the feelings they have for someone. He articulates that he does not “love [them] with [his] eyes… [because] [they] [have] a thousand errors” (1-2), expressing that even though they may not be perfect, he has still completely fallen for them. It does not matter that they are visually flawed, he still believes that he loves them. The description of “[not] loving with one’s eyes” reinforces the fact that love is blind; however, in the context of the poem, it emphasizes the speaker’s flamboyant nature and immaturity. Although it is commonly believed that love should be blind, the speaker is acting rather irrationally about his “love”. The speaker’s ears are “[not] [delighted] [by] [his] [love’s] tongue’s tune” (5), illustrating the fact that he really finds no joy

Just as Ariosto combines poetic imagery with astrological concepts, John Donne similarly applies metaphysical conceits which have similar esoteric characteristics. A Valediction of Weeping reads initially as a lovers parting onto 'diverse shore[s]', and with their separation comes the speaker's tears which bear the face of their love. Yet, the weeping the lovers endure within Donne's sonnet shifts away from the Petrarchan display of weeping towards an application of the idea of tears being a form of philosophical consideration. Within Donne's poetry, the tears become 'pregnant', evoking gestational imagery; this unites the notion of the moon as a symbol of fertility with the swelling roundness of the woman being somewhat planetary. Similarly,

Should she ever be far from him he prays that she remember how they stood together in this place and that he came there with great energy and love. He asks she never forget how, after five years, he returned, and felt a greater love for the beautiful place because she was with him.