Science and Contradiction in Donne's "A Valediction"

Introduction: Metaphysical Conceits and Scientific Context

English history provides a broad range of influential and famous poets as well as numerous scientific innovations. In the sixteenth century, English poets began creating works that addressed issues such as unreturned love and the greatness of their beloved women. In the early seventeenth century, the so-called metaphysical poets drew on the Petrarchan tradition, challenged it, and ultimately created an entirely new approach to this form of literature by employing wit and unlikely analogies from other disciplines. John Donne is considered the father of metaphysical poetry and ranks among the most famous poets of English literature. In his work, he uses unlikely imagery and establishes far-fetched and extended metaphors, called conceits, to make his work witty and to portray certain images and ideas to his audience.

His poem "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" is a prime example of the poet's use of this imagery, as his ideas are most notably illustrated by ingenious similes and metaphors throughout the work. Donne's main intention in applying such metaphysical conceits was to support and illustrate his assumptions about the value and attributes of his relationship. He argues poetically that the modest and spiritual love between him and his beloved unifies their souls and that it is accordingly superior to more profane forms of love. According to the Norton Anthology of English Literature, "new scientific theories were in the air" during the time of Donne's composition. Galileo, for instance, challenged the universally accepted model of the universe and developed new scientific tools. This scientific setting forms the basis of Donne's unlikely imagery in "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" and was used by him to shape and support his claims. However, this historical background simultaneously creates conflicting images and concepts to his line of argumentation. Thus, Donne's scientific environment is ultimately responsible for the incorporation of imagery into his poem that eventually invalidates and opposes his initial assumptions about the qualities of different kinds of love.

Establishing Spiritual Superiority: Early Stanzas and the Theme of Modest Departure

In the first two stanzas of his poem, Donne seeks to allegorically convey the intention of his work. He first compares the passing away of noble men to the act of bidding farewell in a modest manner. He states that "virtuous men pass mildly away" and that they say goodbye to their souls in a decent way so that their surrounding friends are unable to discern the point of their actual deaths. According to historical sources, Donne addressed the poem to his wife as a farewell poem since he had to leave her for a longer trip to Europe at the end of 1611. Accordingly, Donne wanted to point out in these lines that he and his beloved have to depart in a similar manner from each other by "mak[ing] no noise, / No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move."

Donne subsequently argues that such emotional and sensual behavior would be a "profanation," which according to the OED means a "desecration or violation of that which is held to be sacred" as well as a "degradation." Hence, he characterizes earthly demeanor as inferior and further suggests that his and his wife's love is of a transcendental and superior nature because it is not based on such sensual characteristics. In consequence, Donne addressed his beloved in the first two stanzas to communicate to her that their departure should be modest, as he regards other behavior as earthly and inferior while simultaneously referring to his own spiritual form of love as superior.