The Spherical Image as the Central Paradox in Valediction: for Weeping
In John Donne's "A Valediction: for Weeping," the speaker consoles his lover before leaving on a sea voyage and begs her not to cry. Crying, the speaker tells his lover this poem at the docks before he boards his ship going abroad. Donne uses a spherical image as the central metaphor in his poem. When Donne uses irony, paradox, and hyperbole including the use of round images such as: coins, globes, and tears he strengthens the spherical conceit. By comparing two "seeming" opposites like tears and love as his conceit, Donne uses the spherical image as the central paradox in "A Valediction: Of Weeping."
Donne opens the poem with the speaker
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The fruit and the emblem are round images describing their tears, the emblem symbolizes both the literal round image and the lover's face (the tear bears her "emblem" or face). As the tear bearing her image falls, the speaker fears the ending of their love if she cries, as the speaker states: "So thou and I are nothing then, when on a diverse shore" (9). In the second stanza, the speaker tries to convince her that they are still together, even when they are separated, and begs her not to weep.
The second stanza opens with a ball image forming out of nothing into a globe. A worker can take "a round ball . . .and quickly make that, which was nothing, all" (12). The globe and their love represent all, because the globe represents all of the entire world, where as, the love encompasses all of their individual worlds or spheres. They, the lovers, have their own worlds, and like in "The Good Morrow" their two worlds become one, where the power of love binds the two hemispheres (in "The Good Morrow") or globes (in "A Valediction:
The universe is created for society to cherish all God’s creations; it could be anything to admiring nature to loving all animals. The expectations for the world are difficult to maintain, so unfortunately, society often leads to major destruction. There is unnecessary homicides, animal cruelty, toxic waste in the rivers and many more heart-wrenching actions that deteriorates the world. As a society, we have to turn a negative into a positive, but firstly, we have to change ourselves before we help others. Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”, exposes all of the humanity issues and suggests that we should fix the world by recognizing our flaws first. The theme of the song is about self-improvement and imagery, tone and repetition are the poetic devices that are used in the song.
The theme of new beginnings and the harness of the past in another natural setting is discussed again in the second stanza, but now with a focus on time. The visual image presented my the passage as the sun hesitating and losing its direction show allow the reader to observe the symbolism of the sun. The sun universally represents time, the rise and set of sun symbolizing the beginning and ending of each day, days leading into months, years, and lifetimes. The rise of the sun is a new beginning, but it "seems to hesitate," and "lose its/ incandescent aim." The new beginning brought on by the rising of the sun was held back and lost "in that second." Hope and the fresh start were halted by the sun, who was not ready to let time pass and continue. The passage concludes with an affirmation of the symbolism, that "the past is brighter yet" than the sun who could not pull the new start cleanly into the future.
“And I their Mapp, who lie Flat on this bed”. He describes his body as a map, a metaphor for his life being a journey, which his doctors attempt to read in order to discover his illness and his suffering and ultimately where his journey ends. In reference to Cartography, Donne refers to bearings, using the imagery of a map to point out that what we see on the western edge of a flat map is also to be found on the eastern edge, showing that he believes life and death are connected to each other. In the final stanza, Donne feels joy at the though of death as he feels he will recover his identity by reuniting with the lord. In the final stanza, he returns to the idea of the first stanza, summing up the poem’s central message with the use of a paradox. “Therefore that he may raise the Lord throws down.” This paradox shows that to rise up to heaven, one must be thrown “down” by death, so therefore one must suffer to be accepted and united in a place where one’s identity is established. His extreme suffering has purged and prepared him for paradise.
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 couplet of this sonnet renews the speaker's wish for their love, urging her to "love well" which he must soon leave. But after the third quatrain, the speaker applauds his lover for having courage and adoration to remain faithful to him. The rhyme couplet suggests the unconditional love between the speaker and his
The Pear tree symbolizes her initiation into womanhood whilst sitting under the tree. This was the feeling of initial inclination towards love and the sentiments of sexual yearning and affection.
In the third stanza, the diction of “heaven” and “noble” allows the speaker to craft an image of an almost godlike juggler. This view of the juggler creates the tone of amazement and ardent which breaks through the previous gloomy description of the earth in the first stanza which “falls/ So in our hearts from brilliance” (lines 3-4). This reveals that the world the juggler has made, unlike the earth which the speaker doesn’t appear to have fond feelings of, is a joyful and light-hearted place that the speaker is easily captivated by. As the juggler “reels that heaven in” (line 16), creates an atmosphere of an almost unearthly experience. This description of the juggler as a master of spiritual elements allows readers to view how the speaker's attitude is uplifted and enlightened.
Williams’s use of imagery is quite evident throughout “Love Poem With Toast”. He uses imagery to emphasize an intricate relationship between two characters in the poem. “Some of what we do, we do to make things happen, the alarm to wake us up, the coffee to perc, the car to start.” In the first line of the first stanza Williams uses vague diction and ambiguous language to convey a sense of drab and somewhat dreary tone. However, once you reach the second line of the poem it is full of imagery to contrast the dreary ambiguous tone of the first line. Contrasting the two lines accentuates the complexity of the relationship soon to be seen further along in the poem. Williams uses this same method of contrast through the second stanza but once we
The second stanza creates a clear contrast between what each person receives in this relationship. When the speaker’s lover puts on their crown of wind-flowers, the only place it leads them is to the surging sea and blowing storms. This person is obviously getting the short end of the stick. Even though they are both receiving love, the effects of it are not always beneficial to both parties. In the relationship between these two people, one prospers while the other is left behind or led awry.
In “Valediction Forbidding Mourning,” the third stanza (lines 9-12) compares the married lovers separation to an earthquake. The idea brings panic and fear to mind and is thought to be catastrophic. Donne then says “Though greater far, is innocent.” (line 12), meaning that while the thought seemed so devastating, in reality it is just an innocent small rumble, or “bump in the road,” that doesn’t have damaging lasting effects. In “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” the sunset is an important metaphor.
In the first stanza it is the semantic field of water: ‘waters’ (twice), ‘sea’, ‘drowning’ and ‘being drawn’. As I mentioned earlier, water is often the symbol of life but it also evokes tears, sadness and despair.
The final stanza of the poem represents the woman going into labor and the delivery of her child into the world. “I wither and you break from me;” (16). This line represents the moment the
In order to describe the form which Donne gives to true love he chooses to create a scene of separation. He insists that when in love, absence is not a cause for despair. Stanza two describes the usual reaction lovers have to separation but explains that such reactions of tears and sighs do not prove one’s love but rather the
The poem, “For That He Looked Not upon Her” by George Gascoigne exemplifies how the speaker suffered from love, something that many people believe one should feel positive about. The title delivers a despairing tone by allowing the audience to believe that the speaker can no longer look the woman he loved in the eye. Conflicting with the despairing tone, the speaker develops a complex attitude with the use of structure, metaphors, diction, and desire.
In the second stanza, the poem compares his love to a plant that does not bloom. The flowers are hidden deep within the plant. The text is expressing that while most would not appreciate a flower that does not bloom, the love described here goes far beyond that of anyone else’s. Inner beauty is admired. The narrator is not ashamed of his love. Yet, he feels as though he cannot compare her to anything of this world. He is entirely consumed by the spirit within her.