Spheres
Donne’s fascination with spheres rests partly on the perfection
of these shapes and partly on the near-infinite associations that
can be drawn from them. Like other metaphysical poets, Donne used
conceits to extend analogies and to make thematic connections between
otherwise dissimilar objects. For instance, in “The Good-Morrow,”
the speaker, through brilliant metaphorical leaps, uses the motif
of spheres to move from a description of the world to a description
of globes to a description of his beloved’s eyes to a description
of their perfect love. Rather than simply praise his beloved, the
speaker compares her to a faultless shape, the sphere, which contains
neither corners nor edges. The comparison to a sphere also emphasizes
the way in which his beloved’s face has become the world, as far
as the speaker is concerned. In “A Valediction: Of Weeping,” the speaker
uses the spherical shape of tears to draw out associations with
pregnancy, globes, the world, and the moon. As the speaker cries,
each tear contains a miniature reflection of the beloved, yet another
instance in which the sphere demonstrates the idealized personality
and physicality of the person being addressed.
Discovery and Conquest
Particularly in Donne’s love poetry, voyages of discovery
and conquest illustrate the mystery and magnificence of the speakers’
love affairs. European explorers began arriving in the Americas
in the fifteenth century, returning to England and the Continent
with previously unimagined treasures and stories. By Donne’s lifetime,
colonies had been established in North and South America, and the
riches that flowed back to England dramatically transformed English
society. In “The Good-Morrow” and “The Sun Rising,” the speakers express
indifference toward recent voyages of discovery and conquest, preferring
to seek adventure in bed with their beloveds. This comparison demonstrates
the way in which the beloved’s body and personality prove endlessly
fascinating to a person falling in love. The speaker of “Elegy 19.
To His Mistress Going to Bed” calls his beloved’s body “my America!
my new-found land” (27), thereby linking
the conquest of exploration to the conquest of seduction. To convince
his beloved to make love, he compares the sexual act to a voyage
of discovery. The comparison also serves as the speaker’s attempt
to convince his beloved of both the naturalness and the inevitability
of sex. Like the Americas, the speaker explains, she too will eventually
be discovered and conquered.
Reflections
Throughout his love poetry, Donne makes reference to the
reflections that appear in eyes and tears. With this motif, Donne
emphasizes the way in which beloveds and their perfect love might
contain one another, forming complete, whole worlds. “A Valediction:
Of Weeping” portrays the process of leave-taking occurring between
the two lovers. As the speaker cries, he knows that the image of
his beloved is reflected in his tears. And as the tear falls away,
so too will the speaker move farther away from his beloved until
they are separated at last. The reflections in their eyes indicate
the strong bond between the lovers in “The Good-Morrow” and “The
Ecstasy” (1633). The lovers in these poems
look into one another’s eyes and see themselves contained there,
whole and perfect and present. The act of staring into each other’s
eyes leads to a profound mingling of souls in “The Ecstasy,” as
if reflections alone provided the gateway into a person’s innermost
being.
