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John Donne- A Valediction Forbidding mourning £5.49
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  3. CCEA
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  5. English Literature
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  7. Unit A2 1 - The Study of Poetry - 1300-1800 and Drama

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John Donne- A Valediction Forbidding mourning

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This is a comprehensive analysis of John Donne's poem 'A Valediction Forbidding Mourning.' It provides information on the context, form and structure and language and imagery of the

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  • May 16, 2017
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  • 2015/2016
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A VALEDICTION FORBIDDING MOURNING

FORM AND STRUCTURE

- A Valediction is a poem of leave taking
- The poem has a different stanzaic form that most of Donne’s other verse. The rhythm is
much slower (iambic tetrameter) and the tone is much gentler. The constant rhythm has a
reassuring effect (constancy is a dominant theme in the poem)
- The poem is made up of nine quatrains
- The poem is made up of alternate rhyming lines (ABAB)
- The regularity of the stanzaic pattern has a gentle and unassuming effect while also evoking
the dominant theme of constancy in the poem
- However, the poem still has an argumentative, dialectical structure that is typical of
metaphysical verse

LANGUAGE AND IMAGERY

Subject of the Poem

- The poem has autobiographical links to Donne and it is believed that he gave this poem to
his wife before leaving for France, Germany and Belgium in 1611
- The speaker of the poem is comforting his mistress before he goes on a journey (age of
travel, discovery, colonisation etc.)

Body of Poem

Stanza 1

- Line 1: Through the use of the simile, “As virtuous men pass mildly away” the poet
compares his leave taking to the death of virtuous men. The simile belies a speaker who may
be concerned with the possibility of his mortality. The aural effects of the sibilance,
“virtuous men pass” creates a gentle, reassuring tone. There are embedded 17th Century
notions of womanhood in this poem as the male speaker assures his mistress, calling for her
to be passive, restrained and compliant.
- Line 2: The personification “whisper to their souls” has implicit Christian doctrinal
connotations. (spiritual and earthly elements of human condition)
- Line 4: The balanced phrases, “Now his breath goes and some say “No” suggest that it is
hard to tell if someone has died and that the lover should be restrained and comforted by
this

Stanza 2

- Line 1: The collective pronouns, “So let us melt” evoke the unity and harmony of the lovers.
Through the ice imagery, the poet calls for his mistress to be restrained and composed at his
departure.
- Line 2: Through the hyperbolic meteorological imagery, “tear-floods nor sigh-tempests” the
poet again calls for his mistress to be dignified and restrained

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