The theme of awakening is also apparent in Donne’s use of religious imagery. However, it is interesting to question whether Donne’s change in religion from Catholicism to Anglicanism may have affected his poetry in terms of his use of visual imagery. For example, the only use of direct Christian imagery in the poem is in the line;
Or snorted we in the seven sleepers’ den?
This metaphor is derived from the tale of seven Christians who were imprisoned in a cave and slept for hundreds of years, until they were finally awakened. On first sight, if one is familiar with religious tales such as this ( and the audience who read Donne’s poems when they were first written were all accustomed to and knowledgeable about religious tales), one interprets this line as a metaphor of the idea that, in the past, the two lovers went through life asleep and unaware, and have only now fully woken up to a new true love. Alternatively, one could also assume that this metaphor is also relevant to the poet; one could argue that Donne has woken up to a new Anglican life and security from Catholic persecution.
The use of a conceit, a type of metaphor or simile, is typical of Donne. He employs it as an image of comparison extended throughout the whole of the poem, establishing a relationship between two different things. However, in a conceit it is the striking nature or strangeness of the comparison which is important. The main conceit which runs throughout the whole of this poem as a background theme is the unison between the two lovers physically waking up in the morning and the lovers spiritually awakening to a new love. Conceits are also used in many other ways in the poem – comparing the two lovers to careless babies and sea-discoverers; comparing the eyes of the poet’s lover to hemispheres and stating that the two lovers are better than the world.
As well as the careful structure and fitting imagery of the poem, Donne’s clever use of language is also prominent, from his bright metaphors to his witty connotations. For example, in the first verse, the poet compares his actions in his past relationships to those of babies;
were we not weaned till then,
But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?
The word weaned means to be coaxed away from something, and in this case it probably implies that the two lovers, until now, had been deprived of a pure love since they were too immature and maybe self-indulgent to know what this meant. Also, it was customary for affluent citizens to send their children into the country to be breast fed by wet nurses. Moreover, the possible sexual connotations, such as the pun on the word country, (surprisingly, erotic punning has been around for a long time) might indicate that in their childish state their loves were merely physical.
At the beginning of the second verse, the poet describes how after their awakening, the two lovers no longer need fear the loss or desertion of another, for since love itself controls all other loves, their own love controls all other loves;
And now good morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love, all love of other sights controls,
Donne is maybe making a simple acknowledgement that love is so powerful that it can control love of lesser things, or one could imagine that ‘controls’ betrays a desire for sexual control in the speaker.
At the end of the verse, Donne makes a short conclusion which can be summarised as; ‘what does it matter//although we live in a physical world, each possesses a world, and each is one’. This argument ends with a paradox – how can each lover have a world, and be a world? This seeming contradiction resolves itself when one realises that each lover is the other lover’s world, an ironic riddle of chopped logic.
In the third and last verse, the poet looks into his lover’s eyes, and sees his own face reflected in it;
My face in thine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest,
Where can we find two better hemispheres
Without sharp north, without declining west?
What ever dies, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.
The place of the word appears at the end of the first line clarifies the image of each person’s face reflected in the other, but the word could also carry with it a suggestion of falseness, or appearance rather than reality. Also, as the poet describes how his lover’s eyes are better than any hemispheres, he suggests that the earth is not in fact a perfect globe. However, the words north and west carry with them another meaning; north is a traditional symbol of coldness, and west of things in decline. Donne is maybe stating that in their future relationship, his lover will not be cold and his powers will not decline. The line What ever dies, was not mixed equally is explained by medieval medicine; according to this ancient science, death occurs when the elements that make up living things are unequally mixed.
The overall mood of the poem is celebratory, as the poet celebrates his love and unity with his lover. In fact, the mood expressed is generally the same as the mood evoked; the poet contemplates his past and present relationships in a serious and intellectual tone, but cannot avoid throwing in the odd sexual undertone, giving the mood evoked a more humorous and witty feel. Donne’s tone is intellectual in its clever use of imagery and metaphors, yet colloquial; this is shown firstly by Donne’s rough metre.
The punctuation is used to follow the rhythm of normal sound and speech, which creates a break in the line of the poem (or seisura). The effect is dramatic and gives the poem a colloquial feeling. For example, the first line of the poem is regular apart from what: that is to say, with the exception of that word, every second syllable is stressed. The word what disturbs this pattern, since it is brought about by stress, and disturbs the regularity of the line by bringing to it the movement of a natural speaking voice. Moreover, Donne’s cadences add to his unique rhythm of natural speech. A cadence is a movement towards a close of the rhythm at the end of a clause, and because of the pressures of the speaking voice, each cadence is distinctive. There is however, a cadence which occurs a few times in this poem, which is the cadence that rises to form a triumphant conclusion.
Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die
The unique cadence is also reflected in the rhyming of the poem; the first four lines of each verse take the form A B A B, yet the last three lines take the form C C C, supporting and emphasizing the climax in the cadence.
Secondly, the arresting opening of the poem partly illustrates Donne’s informal yet striking tone. To be a reader of this poem is, in a special sense, to be a listener to one lover talking to another. The poem opens quite dramatically on a distinctive note with a question posed by the poet reminiscing about their past relationships. What is immediately present to me is the poet’s individual voice, speaking to someone with a strong sense of occasion that has impelled him to speak.
It might be felt, however, that the dramatic tension is not sustained, and that the poem flags after its vigorous opening. Nevertheless, it is possible to talk about the dramatic quality of Donne’s verse as a whole. For example, Donne’s use of a monologue between poet and his lover and the audience is dramatic in so far as readers are aware of the context or plot which has impelled the poet to speak, namely his celebration of a higher form of love. Moreover, there are also a few rhetorical questions in the poem.
Where can we find two better hemispheres
Without sharp north, without declining west?
These create dramatic swells in the poem, which aid the phrasing and poetic line, just like a crescendo in music. The rhythm of natural speaking and questioning in these areas also illustrate that the narrator is speaking directly to his love (and of course to the reader, or listener).
The question may be asked as to whether male and female readers might respond differently to this poem. For example, an image of male dominance in the poem would probably mean that the poem is directed more towards men than to women. Although there is no such imagery apparent in the poem, the sexual connotation and erotic puns imply that this poem might be meant for a male audience.
On the other hand, this poem is purely about mutual love, and the poet describes how physical love is a negative thing. For example, in the first few lines of the poem, thou and I turn into we. The grammatical transformation could be thought of as an expression of the couple’s mutual love. This equal giving, receiving and unity of love in this poem implicitly elevates the importance of women in a society where male dominance and female passivity were considered to be ordinary. Thus, this interpretation might mean that the poem is addressed to a female audience.
This poem is the first that I have read by John Donne and it has prompted me to read more. What I like especially about Donne is the mix of rich emotions with clever use of the English language through puns, undertones, imagery and rhythm. This is something that I have never seen before in any of the other poetry we have read. What’s more, analysing this poem has meant that I needed to get into the mind of a very intelligent man, and since it is very difficult to understand what is going on inside someone’s head, let alone John Donne’s, I’ve had to make many assumptions and take many different points of view and leaps of faith. To do this, I have had to read a great deal, but even knowing facts about Donne is not enough. It may be helpful to remember that he was a Catholic who became an Anglican, but it does not allow one to explain all that is mysterious about Donne, who I think is a very intellectually and emotionally puzzling man. Of course it is useful and maybe essential to know that the word Let has changed to Although, but none of these facts can help you to pinpoint what is so challenging about this poem. I think there is an inherent strangeness to The Good Morrow (much like that of J. Alfred Prufrock) that, rather than trying to puzzle over, one should learn to live with and enjoy.
Gabriel Kan 3/10/03