One of Donne's most eloquent love poems, "Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," using language pulled from religion, Petrarch, astronomy, alchemy, and geometry.
(1) Religion: "Virtuous men whisper to their souls to go"; "twere profanation of our joys to tell the laity our love"
(2) Petrarch: "tear-floods"; "sigh-tempests"
(3) Astronomy: "trepidation of the spheres"; "dull sublunary lovers' love"
(4) alchemy: "like gold to airy thinness beat"
(5) geometry: "stiff twin compasses"; "thy firmness makes my circle just"
The language serves to evoke the idea that the love between the two lovers is spiritual, strong, private, perfect, and precious. The language is perfectly matched to the figures of speech; in fact, it comprises the metaphors that Donne uses throughout the poem.
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