This is a small essay I wrote for English on the literary conceits Donne used in his writing. As the pre-eminent metaphysical poet, Donne was a master at making surprising comparisons and metaphors, for example comparing his love to a compass used as a mathematical tool. Read on, and you'll see more...
John Donne utilizes several interesting conceits in "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning." In the
first stanza, he talks about the way the soul leaves virtuous dying men. He compares his leaving
his lover to these dying men. In the second stanza,
Donne begins a
conceit that stretches
through most of the poem. He compares their parting to the processing of
gold, first by telling of
the peculiar way gold melts. In later lines, he mentions that their love is refined, much the same
way gold is refined. He completes this extended image in the sixth stanza when he compares
their souls to gold leaf that is able to float in the air. Another conceit intertwined throughout the
poem is a comparison of the lovers to the movements of the earth. This image is begun by the
mixing of lover's
lamentations and nature's storms seen when Donne writes of tear-floods and
sigh-tempests. He continues this metaphor when contrasting dangerous earthquakes and
harmless "shudderings" of the earth. This conceit is rounded out by a line mentioning
"
sublunary" lovers, which refers to the idea of that time that everything under the
moon was
changeable and
imperfect. The last conceit Milton sculpts is a very surprising comparison. He
uses a
compass as his beginning point, and compares two lovers to the legs. He writes that no
matter how far one may travel, they are always connected in the middle and can never be
completely separated. All of these conceit are very effective in helping to contribute to the
meaning of the poem.
Virtuous men were highly respected in that, and all, ages, and so Donne
did well to compare his love with a man of virtue. Gold is such an uncommon and highly prized
object of
beauty, one could not help but enjoy being compared with such a fine substance that
is found so rarely. The way Donne compares his love with the grand motions of the earth also
helps him to celebrate his love very effectively. Finally, while the compass may seem an odd
choice, Donne put it to use in such a way that he was able to create a very memorable image
that works very well as a
metaphor also. In the end Donne has crafted a very impressive poem
about his enduring love that is greatly enhanced by his numerous literary conceits.