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148 Unit 2 ■ Analyzing Comparisons and Representations John Donne ■ A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning 149 UNIT 2

statesman, and scientist Francis Bacon (1561–1626) advocated a scientific process INTRODUCING THE TEXT
based on the observation of nature followed by inductive reasoning about the ob-
servations. While it may sound obvious now, this empiricism — the revolutionary IDEAS IN LITERATURE To help students understand the metaphysical
idea that knowledge comes from our sensory experiences — forms the basis of the A Valediction: Forbidding conceit, demonstrate the use of an actual
modern scientific method. mathematical compass. Begin by sharing the
If Francis Bacon embodied these Renaissance ideals, so did the English Mourning purpose and function of compass as a tool (e.g.,
poet, clergyman, scholar, soldier, and politician John Donne (1572–1631). While to measure distances, to transfer lengths from
Donne’s poetry explores powerful emotional responses to love, death, sex, faith, John Donne one drawing to another, and to draw circles).
and other universal themes, it does so with irony, dazzling wit, and elaborate meta- Next, identify parts of the tool (i.e., the needle/
physical conceits (i.e., comparisons) that highlight his intellectual sophistication. THE TEXT IN CONTEXT fixed foot, the hinge, the compass). Have
Indeed, twentieth-century modernist writers such as T. S. Eliot revered Donne and students explain how parts of the tool work
other “metaphysical poets” of this era for their ability to express both complex English poet John Donne (1572–1631) had a varied career as together to create the drawing. Then, have
thoughts and emotions simultaneously. We can see this skill on display in Donne’s a scholar, lawyer, member of Parliament, and Anglican priest. students identify the lines of the poem that
famous poem “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” (p. 149). But he is best-known as a major “metaphysical poet” of the six- The Picture Art Collection/Alamy describe the movement of the compass and
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
Today writers and artists continue to draw upon the power of metaphor. Pop teenth and seventeenth centuries, along with Andrew Marvell, parallels to human relationships and emotion.
icons such as Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, and others use concrete George Herbert, and several others. The poet John Dryden later
and familiar objects to make comparisons to complex human emotions. coined the term to describe the striking style and subjects of his
immediate predecessors. In contrast to the sweet and smooth IDEAS IN THE TEXT
cadences of poetry in the previous century, Donne’s verse is rough, energetic, and
striking; where earlier poets used more obvious metaphors and similes, Donne’s com- Devotion Spirituality
parisons are clever, surprising, and intellectually demanding — making comparisons Romance Connection
between human emotions and the natural world. This was true of other metaphysical Separation Metaphysics
poets as well, who, like Donne, incorporated irony and paradox into their work. These
stylistic elements matched the poets’ themes, which ranged from love and sexuality LITERARY CONCEPTS
to mortality and the individual’s relationship with God. The following poem provides a
good example of a “metaphysical conceit”: an elaborate extended metaphor. Speaker Simile
Perspective Metaphor
Comparison Contrast
A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
1 As virtuous men pass mildl y a w a y , TEXT RESOURCES
As virtuous men pass mildly away,
And whisper to their souls to go,
And whisper to their souls to go,

Whilst some of their sad friends do say TRM The following reusable graphic
The breath goes now, and some say, No: organizers can be found in the Teacher’s
Resource Materials on the digital platform.
2 5 So let us melt, and make no noise,
So let us melt, and make no noise,
The Thinker statue is located on Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs were used with this sample chapter.
Describing a Character’s Perspective

the grounds of the Musee Rodin, No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move; Analyzing Shifts and Contrasts
’Twere profanation of our joys
Paris. 3 ’Twere profanation of our joys Explaining the Function of Words and Phrases
To tell the laity our love.
What qualities or characteristics davidf/iStock/Getty Images To tell the laity our love. Explaining the Function of Comparisons
Moving of th’ earth brings harms and fears,
could this statue represent to both 4 Moving of th’ earth brings harms and fears,
its original Renaissance audience 10 Men reckon what it did, and meant;
and to contemporary viewers? But trepidation of the spheres,
Though greater far, is innocent.
Dull sublunary lovers’ love
(Whose soul is sense) cannot admit 1 STRUCTURE This stanza establishes a social
context: it is expected that individuals accept
their own deaths peacefully while loved ones
mourn.
2 REFERENT The speaker uses a first-person
plural pronoun in reference to himself and an
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unnamed character that is addressed throughout
CRITICAL APPROACHES the poem.
Archetypal 3 TENSION The speaker repeats the pronoun
In the medieval era, the archetypal eternity to time and back again. This “our” to illustrate an ambiguous tension in the
meaning of the circle shifted from the motion is the archetypal pattern of Love’s text. He may mean that if his lover openly mourns
domain of the perfect heavens to an universe, the principle of coherence his death, the meaning of their relationship will
appropriation by humanity: thus, it joining matter and spirit throughout all diminish. And, if they make their relationship
became a dual representation that was levels of reality.” public, it will ruin the depth of their love.
both sacred/sacrosanct and earthly/
common. Literary theorist John Freccero 4 CONTRAST As in line 6, the speaker
writes that Donne’s use of the compass compares his death to other unexplainable or
and the circle still impacts how we unforeseeable (yet inevitable) forces of nature.
understand it today: “With its whirling This situates his loving relationship within the
motion, Love’s compass describes the greater setting of the entire universe as opposed
expansion of the lovers’ spirit from to a meaningless interaction between two mortal
individuals.

John Donne A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning 149

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