A Valediction Forbidding Mourning Lyric Poem - 1324 Words

The title of this lyric poem is ‘ A valediction forbidding mourning’ - written by John Donne - in the first person point of view. The speaker is a man and most likely a saint who would not participate in acts that are profane. A valediction is a farewell message. As seen in the title, forbids his wife from sorrowing over their separation, the poet decides to present reasons why his embassy to France will not occasion grief or anxiety. He accomplishes this through a series of conceits - similes and strikingly unusual metaphors. Donne is a metaphysical poet who uses metaphoric conceit in his poems by comparing two incredibly unlike things such as love and demeanors. Death is used as a metaphor in the departure of his wife. First, he†¦show more content†¦This culminates in the brilliant pun on absence, which means not just being elsewhere but lacking the fleshly propinquity and sentience of eyes, lips, and hands mentioned in the subsequent quatrain. The love of the laity is dependent upon things, or body parts. Such love is rudimentary, basic, and carnal. But we by a love so much refined,/That ourselves know not what it is,/ Inter-assured of the mind/ Care less, eyes, lips and hands to miss. The poem concludes with the employment of two conceits or super-ingenious metaphors. The departure of the poet is not a breach or separation but an expansion, Like gold to airy thinness beat. And finally their conjoined souls are a pair of compasses. Anne at home is the fixed foot and leans in the direction of the traveling foot, steadying it and assuring that it will come full circle. (And yes, there is a sexual aspect to and grows erect.) Donne compares the love he shares with his wife to a compass. (Stanza 7 of the poem). Mockery of idealized, sentimental romantic poetry, as in Stanza 2 of the poem. Gross exaggeration (hyperbole). ..In the sixth stanza, Donne begins a paradox, noting that his and his wifes souls are one though they be two; therefore, their souls will always be together even though they are apart. .Stanza 6 also presents a simile, comparing the expansion of their souls to the expansion of beaten gold. ..Donne also uses alliteration extensively. FollowingShow MoreRelatedElements Of Metaphysical Poetry1092 Words   |  5 Pagesdemonstrate concepts such as love and death. Metaphysical poems have the elements of metaphors, metaphysical conceits, paradoxes, and analogies. Metaphors and metaphysical conceits, a type of extended metaphor, are used to show a connection between two things that are not similar and to prove the speaker’s point in his poem. Paradoxes, statements that seem contradictory but suggest a truth, are used to help readers to think about the subject in the poem in a different way. Analogies, another characteristicRead MoreJohn Donne1376 Words   |  6 PagesJohn Donne is the name in English Literature who gave new direction to the literary activities of his age. He is in a sense founded the metaphysical lyric, which was practiced by scare of writers. As Dowden says, â€Å"We are told that in the decline of the greater poetry of the Elizabethan period, a meta physical school arose and that John Donne was the founder or the first eminent member of this school.† John Donne set up a new tradition in versification by and large Donne must be regarded as an originalRead MoreCharacteristics of Metaphysical Poetry876 Words   |  4 PagesWhat is a metaphysical poem? Metaphysical poetry is concerned with the whole experience of man, but the intelligence, learning and seriousness of the poets means that the poetry is about the profound areas of experience especially - about love, romantic and sensual; about man s relationship with God - the eternal perspective, and, to a less extent, about pleasure, learning and art. Metaphysical poems are lyric poems. They are brief but intense meditations, characterized by striking use of witRead Morethatcher4803 Words   |  20 PagesHopkins, â€Å"The Windhover†, â€Å"I wake and feel the fell of dark†¦Ã¢â‚¬  2. William Shakespeare, Sonnets 1-7 3. John Donne, â€Å"Valediction Forbidding Mourning†, â€Å"The Flea†, â€Å"Hymn to God, My God in my Sickness† 4. George Herbert, â€Å"The Collar†, â€Å"The Altar†, â€Å"Love III† 5. Andrew Marvell, â€Å"To his Coy Mistress† 6. T.S. Eliot, â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†, â€Å"Journey of the Magi† 2. Poems for individual reading: 1. William Shakespeare Sonnet 73 (â€Å"That time of year†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) 2. John Donne, â€Å"Holy Sonnet I† (â€Å"ThouRead MoreMetaphysical Poetry By John Donne1590 Words   |  7 Pagesand roguery, much occupied with secret love-making, elopement, imprisonment, and lawsuit over his marriage, but he later turned a saintly divine and ended as the illustrious Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. His poems can be divided into two categories: â€Å"the youthful love lyrics, published after his death as Songs and Sonnets in 1633, and the later sacred verses†, published in 1624 as Devotions upon Emergent Occasions , which show the intense interest Donne took in the spectacle of mortalityRead MoreThe word Wit has multiple definitions, most of which metaphysical poets use in their distinctive1400 Words   |  6 Pagesmain features of metaphysical poetry and explore the relevance of wit and conceit in relation to John Donne’s works. Furthermore, I will endeavour to make connections between John Donne, the person and John Donne, the poet. By analysing different poems I will draw on Donne’s history, poetic style, and era to ascertain whether Donne’s use of wit is a defect or limitation. The poet, John Donne was born into a Roman Catholic family in London, England in 1572. Although not of the aristocracy, Donne’sRead MoreThe Relationship Between Donnes Religious and Secular Verse.2284 Words   |  10 PagesDonnes love poetry and his religious verse have an extremely close relationship and this manifests itself in the presence of religious imagery and reference in his love poems, the presence of imagery in his religious poems that is more akin to that from courtly love, and in his style and technique. It is this sense of Donnes individuality that creates two types of poetry that, for all their differences, are strikingly similar. The holy sonnets refer to the old love poet characteristics