A Valediction Forbidding Mourning Themes

Since we know "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" was written for Donne's wife Ann, it's not a stretch to call this a love poem. Most love poems, though, focus primarily on the beloved. In this ca...

Donne wrote some pretty saucy poems, but for all his playboy bravado, he stayed married to the same woman until her death. As a religious man, he cherished faithfulness to one's spouse. "A Valedict...

"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" is a love poem, but Donne needs a whipping boy to compare to his all-powerful love. He uses lust. He kicks lust all over England in this poem as a way of showin...

Body and soul, heaven and earth—Donne was obsessed with this central contrast between the life we have to live in this goofy body (I mean, we have to put on deodorant just to keep from smelling f...