Poem`A Valediction: Forbbiding Mourning`by John Donne

A VALEDICTION FORBIDDING MOURNING

A Valediction forbidding mourning ' is in itself a unique poem written by J . Donne in

1611 , a time when what was being contended in social spheres related as to instances of

the movement of the earth

Galileo himself stated in one line Yes it moves

Literally Galilean theories were being scrutinized as to contents of truth and fiction

Naturally this social stratus leads to ideological influences of different natures in many

people particularly poets

Like Bacon , Donne wanted all thing included in his poems

, inventions geography and

speculation about the universe (mtsn .org .uk /cer /fire /mourning .htm

Donne wrote in 1572-1631 in age of ' great scientific progress and discovery (mtsn .org .uk /cer /fire /mourning .htm

A valediction ' certainly affirms and asserts as well as mirrors society in this state

The poem itself when read along merely once emanates an eerie air of tranquility

I state eerie as the tranquility within the sea of words is almost adaptable but also if not

scrutinized carefully otherworldly

J . Donne indeed was a metaphysical poet and to be metaphysical literally means to look

at things fro outside a normal humans range of perception

Looking at the poem itself , it moves trough a gradual transfiguaration starting form love

between two people on a human sphere to the extension of this beyond realms of fantasy

The actual structural content is not what , I would regard as its forte

It lacks internal or external rhyming schemes , an element of run end on lines or any

consistent punctuation to its stanzas

As afore mentioned , the only logical structures may cease at two

In the first instance we have the clear division of the poem into 7 stanzas all of

approximately the same length of lines

Second of all we have the normal beat de dum , de dum through out , also recognized as

iambic pentameter , which also has the content of five feet and is common with many live

poems

However rather than these two components been regarded as important it is the imagery

which I would state has prevalence

The imagery maintains the eerie tranquility set from the first stanza but does so by the use

of comparisons and metaphors which literally create a duality between what we may

regard as human love and the love between Donne and his wife ' to whom he wrote this

poem at point of departure (Norton critical edition ) poetry John Donne

Focusing on the onset of tranquility , what has created this in the first stanza

The answer to this is rather straight forwards and belies in the of death

Death , which many of us relate to as a painful moment is being described with the use of

words such as mildly and a whisper

These two words are so powerful , it feels almost as if the readers or listeners presence is

an intrusion hence we maintain a secluded silence ourselves and read the words Now his

breath goes ' and No ' with the same whisper surrounding...