Poem Summaries

Question 1

The Anniversary

Answer 1

Another poem where Donne exposes the idea that love creates a world unto itself as its one that is timeless and unaffected by external factors

Uses metaphysical, and religious conceit in stanza 2

Question 2

A valediction Forbidding Mourning

Answer 2

Poem about the separation between lovers

Physical conceit- really unusual metaphor of a compass used to make a circle- unusual as it itintailly doesn’t seem to make sense, however we understand this conceit is symbolic of thier constant connection to each other regardless of thier physical distance.

Shows the pain of separation
Speaker is Donne himself, likely for Ann. It was pen before his expedition ti Europe. The poem is a celebration of love- the speaker may not come back as such expiations were dangerous, but he’ll always live her.
There are 6 conceits in the poem- 1: he compares his lover to a wise man dying in stanza 1; }as virtuous men pass mildly away”
2: weather imagery, unlike weather which is changable and unpredictable, thier love is constant and everlasting
3: thier love is the opposite to earth quakes and tremors
4: gold; is soft and malleable, but thier love is tough and unchanging
5: he comparison thier love to a compass, “twin compasses are two” the compass is them both be8g connected. While they are physically apart with his be8ng away, theyre souls are always connected, and he will return.
Confident opening, middle is more uncertain, however the conclusion offers assurance of thier love. Overall they both trust in thier love; although there is a fear of death, they know their souls are always connected, and they will always be together.
Context; belief that natural disasters were a sign of sin and hence a punishment, that s9mething was wrong with the divine order: yet thier love is strong; they can’t sin, thier love is stronger than that.

Question 3

The Flea

Answer 3

• early of Donne’s poems
• inferred it was written before his marriage to Ann Moore
• wants to seduce woman, at this point in his life he is still very much a ‘womaniser’ (context: when he was younger Donne spent the majority of his inheritance on woman and alcohol; he enjoyed spending money)
• conceit; using a flea to convince a woman to sleep with him

Question 4

The sun rising

Answer 4

Donne is talking to the ‘sun’- apostrophe. He talks down to the sun in the poem, blaming it for waking him and his lover. This is seen to be blasphemous, as the sun was seen as scared in Donne’s day; therefore for him to treat it this way was outrageous. Hence this also contrasts- in the poem the sun is inferior, however was worshiped
- reflects similar ideas as ‘The Good Morrow’
- tone; confident, mood; arrogant
- poem set in the morning with the speaker waking up next to his lover

Question 5

The good Morrow

Answer 5

Basic iambic pentameter in each line, 13 of the 21 lines are pure iambic pentameter except the last of each line of each stanza which is hexameters
Symmetrical syntax, very regular and consistent; this resembles their love for each other; it is constant and never ending
The last line which is also in hexameter, summarises the poem; that thier love is everlasting and is even stronger than death. “Love so alike, that none can slacken, none can die”
Very sweet sincere tone, and romantic point of view. Opening of the poem references a newborn child being weaned by the mother. This is a metaphor, comparing how they were infants before they had met each other; they were weak and vulnerable, but now as their live has grown, they too have grown up together. “Did, we till we loved? We’re we not weaned till then?”
References to colonialism, and the exploration of the world. The speaker says that they don’t need to explore the world, for they makeup thier own world together. Context- Donne’s himself had been on expeditions exploring the world, he went to fight the Spanish. During this time colonialism was taking place and the world was being discovered, at this t8mr the maps were hear shaped; coniform maps, hence thier live makes up the world, as the world on a map was seen as a heart. There was also a belief that originally humans were shaped like globes, and they tried to attack to Gods, but failed. So as punishment the gods divided them and left them to find their ‘other half’