John Donne's "A Valediction: Of Weeping" and extended metaphor

John Donne

Explication of a VALEDICTION: OF WEEPING by John Donne

The following is a detailed explication of a Valediction: Of Weeping by John Donne. As in much of Donne's poetry, logical argument and the use of extended metaphors or "conceits" are important in understanding the total impact of the poem. A Valediction: Of Weeping is no exception and the three short stanzas of the poem contain a wide and complex web of meaning, which is often open to subtle and various interpretations.

Explication

The first stanza begins with an image of the lovers' tears at parting. The protagonist or speaker in the poem states that as he "pours forth" (line 1) his tears they become a reflection of his lovers face and being.

And by this mintage they are something worth. (Line 4)

In other words, the speaker's entire worth and sense of identity is contained in the lover's face and person, which is reflected in his tears. Following this line of thought, the tears become a total reflection of the lovers' feeling at parting and generate further emotional attachment.

For thus they be Pregnant of thee; (lines 4, 5.)

The metaphor of the tears is extended in the word "Pregnant" to emphasize the fundamental depth and connection between the two lovers. In a manner of speaking, they both create or generate each others existence. The last line of the first stanza also takes the idea of the connection though grief and love to a further level. The concept of pregnancy is extended to become "...emblems of more"; (line 7). This expands the idea of the connection between the lovers and implies that they are connected at a level which is as fundamental as pregnancy and birth. This also leads to the idea that in their separation they, in a sense, both die, as their lives are dependent on one another. This is reflected in the lines,

So thou and I are nothing then, when on a divers shore." (line 9)

The second stanza continues the metaphor of the tears. The conceit or metaphor in extended though an image of the world or globe. The tears become the entire world which encompasses the speaker's life and feelings.

So doth each tear,

Which thee doth wear, globe, yea world, by that impression grow, (Lines 14-16)

This comparison also leads to the insistence in the poem that without each other the two lovers in fact cease to exist and that their essential meaning is dependent on their proximity to one another. The speaker states that Till thy tears mix'd with mine do overflow

This world, by waters sent from thee, my heaven dissolved so. (lines 17, 18)

The tears shed by the two lovers at parting become a flood over the globe or world created by those tears; and this flood of sadness and despair causes the speaker to lose his "heaven."

The third stanza compares the lover to the moon; with its connotations of female influence and power over the earth. This can also be interpreted as showing her influence over him. He pleads with his lover:

Draw not up seas to drown me in thy sphere; (line 20)

The above line refers to the idea that he feels their parting will destroy him entirely. The last lines of the stanza emphasizes the central point that the intensity of leaving one another results in an intense suffering akin to death for both the speaker and his mistress.

Since thou and I sigh one another's breath,

Whoe'er sighs most is cruelest, and hastes the other's death. (Lines 26, 27)

These lines state clearly that the "sighs" of despair only serve to increase the sense of despair and loss and therefore the speaker asks his lover not to "sigh."

The theme of the above poem is clear from the explication. It is essentially a poem about the pain of parting which emphasizes the intensity of love between the couple. The development of the poem reveals a sense of increasing intensity at the prospect of loss and departure with each stanza. The first stanza, which reveals a reflection of the lover though the conceit of tears, serves to express the depth of felt love. This metaphor mutates and expands into a more negative perception, that without one another the two lovers have no existence and become "nothing." This sense of despair intensifies in the final stanza to a point where the "sighs" of sadness and loss are too much to bear for the speaker. Throughout, the poem develops a consistent logic and argumentative structure so characteristic of metaphysical poetry.