Analysis Of John Donne's A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

If one truly loves another, separation from that person should be a completely irrelevant occurrence. This seemingly insensible concept is the central idea of John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” as the persona addresses what seems to be his lover prior to his departure. As the persona comforts his lover, Donne’s message emerges as he argues that separation between lovers should not be any cause for anguish, for any truly substantial bond cannot be shattered nor weakened by any physical distance or barrier. Just as the soul transcends the body, the intertwined pair of souls between lovers is greater than mere natural phenomena, embodying the perfection of divine and heavenly entities. “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” begins

The circle is a loop, an eternal ring with no beginning nor end and as Joseph Rosenblum pointed out in his analysis of “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” is consequently used to symbolize eternal love, embodied in the loop of a wedding ring (cite). The circle also draws connotations of the celestial bodies and heavenly shapes of the planets that revolve and orbit with, at the time of this poem’s construction, what could only be looked at as nearly divine perfection. This connection both shows the sacred spiritual connection that these two lovers have and ties the poem back to its prior metaphors, creating another circle in the narrative of the poem. Even more amazingly, as Rosenblum noted, the poem is divided into nine four-line stanzas and results in the thirty six lines that parallels the three-hundred sixty degree nature of circles. The beautiful shape of the circle has inspired many throughout history with its seemingly cosmic importance in orbits, planets, and proportions, with a notable example being Leonardo Da Vinci’s vitruvian man being depicted within a circle. Donne uses that shape to show the eternal love and devotion between the persona and his lover to show the extent to which a deep care for another can transcend the flaws of the physical world into one of spiritual and divine perfection. His brilliant use of the circle in the poem’s narrative, structure, and

His argument that a true love that goes beyond physical attraction should be fulfilling enough that it is never truly gone and therefore should never need to be mourned has always and still is relevant on the vast spectrum of lovers and the differences between relationships. The poem exemplifies a love to strive for in which lovers have a bond capable of withstanding any obstacle or hindrance and Donne’s persona and lover demonstrate what such a bond might look like. A true love is one that is a spiritual union that can never be broken and therefore never needs to be