A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" is recognized as one of Donne's most famous and simplest poems. It is his most direct statement of his ideal of spiritual love. Unlike “The Flea,” in “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” Donne professes a devotion to spiritual love that simply transcends the physical. In this poem, the character anticipates a physical separation from his beloved; he invokes the nature of this spiritual love to ward off the “floods of tears” and “storms of sighs” that might otherwise accompany their farewells. The poem is essentially a sequence of metaphors and similes, each describing ways of viewing their separation that will help them avoid the mourning forbidden by the poem's title. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay First, the character explains that his farewell should be as sweet as death without complaint of virtuous men, because crying would be "a desecration of our joys." Then, the character compares the "movement of the earth” harmful to the innocent “apprehension of the spheres”, assimilating the first to “the dull love of sublunary lovers” and the second to their love, “the inter-assurance of the spirit Like the earth which”. rumbles, boring sublunary lovers are all physical, unable to experience separation without losing the feeling that understands and sustains their love But spiritual lovers "don't care, eyes, lips and hands are missing", because, like. the tremor (vibration) of the spheres (the globes which surrounded the earth in ancient astronomy), their love is not entirely physical. Moreover, like the anxiety of the spheres, their separation will not have the harmful consequences of. 'an earthquake Even if it must leave, their souls are one and, therefore, they suffer no breach. If their souls are separate, he says, they are like the legs of a compass: her lover's soul is the fixed foot in the center, and hers is the foot that moves around it. The firmness of the central foot makes the circle drawn by the outer foot perfect: “Your firmness makes my circle right, And makes me end where I began. » The character then states that, since the two lovers' souls are one, his departure will simply expand the area of ​​their unified soul, rather than causing a rift between them. Here, Donne beautifully compares this to the same way in which gold can be stretched by beating it “to a very thin state.” As Donne continues, he says that their souls are "two" instead of "one", they are like the legs of a draftsman's compass, connected, the central foot fixing the orbit of the outer foot and helping it to describe a perfect circle. . This metaphor of the compass shows that the character's love cannot be "perfect" without his partner, who shows the greatest adoration for his lover. The compass is also one of Donne's most famous metaphors. This is the perfect image to encapsulate Donne's values ​​of spiritual love, which are balanced, symmetrical, intellectual and beautiful in its sophisticated simplicity. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our expert writers. Get a custom essay Similar to "The Sun Rising", "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" creates a dichotomy between the common love of the everyday world and the uncommon love of the character. At this point, the character claims that to speak of his love to "laymen" or ordinary people would be to desecrate its sacred nature, and he is clearly condescending towards the boring sublunary love of other lovers. The purpose of this..