Imagery in John Donne’s physical and metaphysical poems
Imagery in a poem plays an integral role to its themes and messages. Whereas “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” is a strictly metaphysical poem, “The Good-Morrow” is a poem with both the metaphysical and physical. “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” revolves around metaphysical love, eternality, and an inseparable pair. On the other hand, “The Good-Morrow” initially starts off as a lustful poem, but comments on the metaphysical. Both reference planets and large bodies. In “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”, planets, the Moon, and Earth directly relates to the theme of the poem, which is the forbidding of mourning. These celestial bodies have often been considered romantic. The literary devices employed include a predictable rhyme scheme, metaphor, and simile. Meanwhile, “The Good-Morrow” uses the imagery of discovery to make a point about lovers discovering each other in the morning, which is emphasised through literary devices, such as repetition, paradox, and assonance.
The speaker suggests in “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” that his lover should not be sad that he is going away. He achieves this through elaborate comparisons and imagery. One such example is the “trepidation of spheres”. The image of moving planets reminds his lover and the reader that there are physically larger events which are harmless. This line ending also rhymes with the first line of the third stanza. The rhyming here contrasts the “harms and fears” earthquakes bring. In addition, the ever reliable and consistent rhyme is also a representation of the ever present lover, despite his physical passing. The speaker also argues that there should not be any “tear-floods” or “sigh-tempests” when he passes. The imagery of natural phenomena such as flooding and storms, closely associated with sadness and grief, is used to exaggerate the crying and sighing due to a passing. He reasons that it would be a “profanation of [their] joys”. Donne contends crying and sighing is only something “sublunary” people, whose “soul is sense”, do. The alliteration of the s reinforces the view that he and his lover are unique. An implication is that no matter how far apart they might be, their “two souls… are one”. This is a paradox, since two cannot be one. Therefore, the phrase draws attention to the inseparable and eternal nature of the two lovers; their love is so strong, only a paradox could describe it. In the next piece of imagery, he likens the passing to not a “breach”, but rather an “expansion”, much like how gold is beaten to “airy thinness”. This simile also suggests that physical distance will never be able to split the two lovers, while proudly speaking of their love as gold. All of the literary devices aim to create the view that the unique lovers have something inseparable, eternal, but above all, metaphysical.
“The Good-Morrow” has shades of both the physical and metaphysical. While the physical is the focal point of the first stanza, the metaphysical is examined in the second and third stanzas. Initially, in the second line, the alliteration of “Were we not weaned till then?” emphasises the mystery the speaker has of what he and his lover did until they had intercourse. The repetition of the word “till” helps to accentuate this mystery. In addition, the reference to the Seven Sleepers’ den story highlights the time the speaker spends with his lover. The second stanza transitions into the metaphysical aspect of the poem, though it is only briefly touched on. The speaker claims that their souls do not “watch… one another out of fear”, and this is claim is enhanced by the flowing effect of the words. The short, sharp, one to three syllable words create a sense of speed, which in turn is more memorable for the reader. However, the metaphysical is soon replaced by the physical, indicated by the last three lines of the second stanza, all beginning with “let” and focusing on discovery. The lovers are discovering each other and enjoy waking up to each other. Moreover, there is also a repetition of “worlds” and “one”. Combined with the imagery of exploration, which is entirely physical, there is an intense focus on physical love, possession and exploration of one another. This imagery and its connotations are divergent from “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”, which solely focuses on the metaphysical. The final stanza makes a resounding final statement that “none can die”, which is a paradox, to point out the strong love between the two lovers. Donne uses a variety of sound and visual devices to create a poem which has touches of the physical and metaphysical.
The imagery provided in a poem offer glimpses into its themes. While the metaphysical poem “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” uses the imagery of a compass to describe the nature the strong bind between two lovers, “The Good-Morrow” discusses the exploration of the two lovers, as well as the fact that they are not worried that they might lose physical sight of each other. Both poems use paradoxes to highlight the nature of their love, which can only be described by a paradox. Sound devices such as repetition and assonance are also used to create emphasis and increase intensity. These devices help the imagery to create powerful and elaborate metaphors, which in turn help the speaker’s arguments.
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