Analysis Of A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning By John Donne

Since the earliest of times, women are said to be very emotional individuals. They cry, they laugh, they yell, and then cry some more, all in the span of a day. Compared to men it may seem like women even exaggerate their emotions. There are instances, however, where both men and women should show an equal amount of emotion, yet they still do not. In John Donne’s poem, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” the author is leaving for some time and he remains unusually calm even though he will be without his wife. Through metaphors, Donne is able to explain to his wife that she needs to stay calm because their love is strong and they will surpass it all. In the first two stanzas, Donne utilizes one of the most bizarre and unromantic metaphors to explain why they should part peacefully. He states that just like you cannot tell when an old man stops breathing on his death bed, “As virtuous men pass mildly away / The breath goes now, and some say, No;” (1,4) in that same way they should “…make no noise, / no tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move;”(5-6). Donne is telling his wife that she should not cry nor make a big deal about their separation. That they should part peacefully just like an old man dying.
He compares his love with “Dull sublunary lovers’ love” (13) and explains that they “…cannot admit / Absence, because doth remove / Those things which elemented it.” (14-16). The superficiality of the lust that earthy lovers share, does not enable them to be without each other. In contrast, their love is “..so much refined… / Inter-assurèd of the mind, / Care less, eyes, lips, and hands to miss.” (17, 19-20). He does not share a lustful love with his wife but rather a love that connect them not only physically but mentally too and because of this, his wife should not be worried about his