Unlike the poem “To His Coy Mistress,” where love only refers to outward appearance, in “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” the speaker also recognizes the spiritual and emotional aspects of love. The speaker seems much more reasonable and understandable with respect to the meaning of love. Although melancholic, the tone in the first three stanzas shows the rationality of the speaker as he begs his love to “make no noise, / No tear floods….” during their period of short separation. He simply asks her not to profane her love with this type of reaction but to prove her love by acting the way “virtuous men” do upon their deaths; he does not feel that she should lament over uncontrollable circumstances. Although the speaker must depart and his physical love must temporarily leave the woman, his spiritual and emotional love endures. Not only does the tone confirm the speaker’s rationality but his sincerity as well. In stanzas four and five, the speaker says that their love has so much more potential than “dull sublunary lovers’ love” because they do not place total emphasis on physicality, they “Care less, eyes, lips, and hands to miss.” Contrary to Marvell’s poem, where the speaker’s love subsides as his mistress ages, two souls “endure not yet / A breach, but an expansion….” in Donne’s poem. One may describe the tone of the remaining four stanzas as persuasive. At this point, the speaker tries to convince his lady of the perfection and constancy of their love.
Although the tone reveals two contrasting definitions of love, the diction shows how these differing perceptions form the underlying themes of each poem. In “To His Coy Mistress,” the theme deals with time or the lack of it as the opening line states: “Had we but world enough, and time….” The past tense verb had immediately implies that a person’s lifetime does not last infinitely. Conceiving of love as only physical and sexual, it should come as no surprise that the speaker tries to take advantage of his mistress’s youth while her beauty and sexual drive remain intact. This explains why he uses depictions of death such as marble vaults, worms, dust, ashes and graves to prompt her in the second stanza. The final stanza further reveals his intentions. By frequently using the word while, Marvell stresses that the speaker and his mistress only possess a limited amount of time to “let us sport… / Like amorous birds of prey” and “Tear our pleasures with rough strife.” Thus, you can decisively assert the theme: seize moments of sexual enjoyment before time expires.
The emphasis of love in the theme of Donne’s poem differs from that of Marvell’s in that the diction does not refer to the swiftness of time but on the difficulties of separation. The word “valediction” in the title introduces this theme because it means “a bidding farewell.” In other words, the speaker must leave his lover, but he urges her not to have sorrow, he “forbids her from mourning.” Throughout the poem, the speaker stresses to his lady not to shatter their love with grievances but to remain strong and accept the situation. Because he believes in more than just physical love, he wants her to recognize that separation does not destroy love but only brings about new kinds of love. The word “melt” in line five suggests that the magnitude of love will remain the same, but the bond of the two lovers will change from a physical union to both an emotional and spiritual union. Donne also incorporates words like refined and expansion to reflect the speaker’s attitude about his departure and the ultimate effects it will have on their love; the speaker sees the separation only as a means to increase and better their love. The theme clearly states the importance in maintaining composure upon separation. Because love continues regardless of location, mourning does not serve any purpose.
Not only does the tone and diction of each poem contrast, but also the primary figurative language device each poet uses. In “To His Coy Mistress,” Marvell uses mostly imagery. Although the first stanza includes depictions of time, it also contains sensations of time. Marvell chooses lines like “Love you ten years before the Flood, / And you should, if you please, refuse / Till the conversion of the Jews” so that a person may imagine the impossibility and impracticability of the speaker’s comments. He is obviously flirting and flattering his mistress with other intentions in mind. In stanza two, the various images of death like “Deserts of vast eternity” bring about frightening feelings of emptiness and lifelessness. These images warn the mistress to act fast because of her proximity to the grave. Within the final stanza, feelings of passionate intensity return with images such as “soul transpires / At every pore with instant fires.“ One can just sense the burning for love and pleasure.
Unlike Marvell, throughout “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” Donne uses metaphors. The speaker reveals his attitude toward separating with a metaphor in stanza three. Similar to the way planets and stars move but remain in orbit, the lovers may move apart from one other, but their love will continue. In stanza six, Donne compares the lovers’ love to gold. He attempts to suggest that gold is pure and easily manipulated; therefore, their love much like the gold can withstand change. Again, in the final three stanzas, Donne metaphorically compares the two lovers to a compass. As long as his lady remains “firm” or “fixed” like the fixed foot in the center of the circle, she can anticipate her love’s return as he completes his journey, his path around the circle.
Poems may share certain characteristics, but they often possess unique attributes. Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” and John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” similarly concentrate on the subject of love. However, each poet contrasts in his conception of love and the way they choose to disclose this conception through tone, diction and other figurative language devices. By recognizing the differences, one comes to value and appreciate each poem’s significance.
