John Donne wrote the poem "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" for his wife before leaving on a trip. In it, scholars have found allusions to religious belief, to death, and to science. On the surface, though, he is telling his wife not to be sad because he is leaving. Their love is not like that of ordinary people, the "dull sublunary lovers." He says that these kinds of lovers can't stand to be apart because their love is based on appearances, on physical things, on "care less eyes, lips and hands to miss."
The love shared by Donne and his wife is higher than this. Theirs is a spiritual love. They are as one soul, so that where one goes the other is there as well in spirit. So sadness and tears at parting are not appropriate for them. Their love will grow from the anticipation of reuniting.
See the links below for a discussion of other themes in the poem.
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