Love Between the Lines

李秋凝

Abstract ：John Donne began life as the son of a prosperous London merchant who died when he was only four. His mother， a strong Catholic and daughter of John Heywood， a well-known writer and dramatist. As a young boy， he was an excellent student， going to Oxford University at the age of 12 and possibly Cambridge later， as well as Lincolns Inn， one of the law schools of the time.[1] He secretly married Lady Egerton's niece， seventeen-year-old Anne More， daughter of Sir George More. Donne dearly loved his wife， but they lived in relative poverty and difficult circumstances for a good many years. Donne wrote poetry all his life. In his 20s and 30s， he wrote some of his famous lyric poems， including the collections Satires and Songs and Sonnets. Donne is one of the most famous Metaphysical poets in the world. He came back into favor in the early twentieth century with the support of poet like T. S. Eliot and other modernists. Since then， he has maintained his position as one of the most admirable poets in British literature.[2] Donne's poetry embraces a wide range of secular and religious subjects. He wrote cynical verse about inconstancy， poems about true love， Neoplastic lyrics on the mystical union of lovers' souls and bodies and brilliant satires and hymns depicting his own spiritual struggles. In this paper，the author focus on two groups of comparisons to demonstrate her understanding. The first part is the different attitudes the laity and Donne take towards love. The second part is how the laity and Donne react when they are faced with separation.

Key words ：Love； Valediction； Contrast；Eternity；Metaphor

Izaak Walton told us it was addressed to Donnes wife on the occasion of his trip to the Continent in 1611. Donne had many forebodings of misfortune， which were verified when his wife gave birth to a stillborn child during his absence.Still，Waltons linkage of these events with this poem was only a speculation.[3]

1.Different attitudes towards love

Donne opens the poem with a simile involving dying：

As virtuous men pass mildly away，/ And whisper to their souls，to go，/Whilst some of their sad friends do say，/“ The breath goes now，”and some say，/ “ No.”

Here the good are eager to escape this life and find their home in heaven.Back on earth the mourners are not sure if the dying person has actually passed away. The first stanza may be a little elusive， and the second stanza makes it clear that the speaker is addressing his beloved wife：

So let us melt， and make no noise，/No tear-floods， nor sigh-tempests move；/Twere profanation of our joys /To tell the laity our love.

In the third stanza， the speaker brings up a contrast between the laity and Donne. In the second stanza， Donne wrote that they should melt silently and leave without “tear-floods” and “sigh tempests”. In addition， there is no need to tell the laity their love because this action means profaning their love. This implies that when the laity are together they are probably fond of communicating with others about their love loudly. While Donne thought they must keep their devotion secret and not expose it to the world that cannot understand it. It was often assumed that love would be destroyed if it were made public.

Similarly， next stanza also tells the similar thing. Speaker brings up a contrast between earthquake and， which can cause tremendous damage and make people wonder why God is angry with them， and the movement of the celestial spheres in the old（Ptolemaic） astronomy， which has little impact on the earth. From the striking contrast， we can come to the conclusion that love cannot be measured by how much influence it causes.

More often than not， deep love is silent and inconspicuous.Just as the well-known Chinese saying goes “大音希聲，大象無形”. In current multiplex society， more and more people choose to say “I Love You” directly to the people who they love. This is indeed an excellent way to show love and pleasure to others. However， when saying “love” is becoming more casual in our daily life， there might arise some other problems. If someone keeps claiming that he loves me， I suppose it will be hard to distinguish whether he is serious or not. Worse still， everyone has desire， as long as we are used to such kind of statement， its nature to ask for more.As a result， I will stick to the opinion that love does not need too much verbal praise or declaration.

2.Separation to the laity and to Donne

When the laity part， they will find that they cannot stand the pain at all. Because their soul is sense， its practically impossible to admit any absence. Obviously， there are too many real examples surrounding us. They are deeply attached to each other when they are together， making others envious. Nonetheless， as long as they are apart for further studying or working， everything begins to crumble. In my opinion， all the bad endings result from their unsteady love foundation. All their connection is based on daily touching of eyes， lips and hands. In the nature of things， their so-called “love” is just a rough relationship. Even if it can last for several decades， it cannot be called “eternal love”. On the contrary， Donnes love is “so much refined” and more deliberate than the laitys. For him， the cutting-off distance between his wife and him is not a breach， but “an expansion like gold to airy thinness beat”. Just like a Chinese proverb goes， “愛比金堅”， which means their love is quite firm， regardless of any realistic obstruction. In class， we have discussed this key point seriously. As a matter of fact， I have just known that love is like rose， candy， or something like that， but never thought that love can be compared to gold. In majority peoples eyes， love is something very romantic and beautiful while gold is a kind of metal， which is icy and emotionless. But Donne noticed one of golds unique characteristics， expansion. In Donnes mind， their farewell was not a break of their connection， but an expansion. No matter how much pressure it has to bear， it will just become further， thinner， without cracking. In other words， it means that they were still together. No matter how far they were apart， they two were always one. Donnes understanding opens a door to a brand new world for me. I cannot help myself thinking of the lovers nowadays. A large number of them cannot treat departure sanely. To them， the other ones left is filled with danger and risk and he or she cannot feel the sense of security any more. From my perspective， this is exceedingly naive and selfish because everyone is independent. So can we have the right to force anyone to stay around us in the name of love under no circumstances？

Maybe it is hard to experience the feeling that two peoples souls are one， so Donne gave us another vivid metaphor， which is really touching：

If they be two， they are two so/As stiff twin compasses are two；/Thy soul， the fixed foot， makes no show/To move， but doth， if the other do./And though it in the center sit，/Yet when the other far doth roam，/It leans， and hearkens after it，/And grows erect， as that comes home./Such wilt thou be to me，who must/Like the other foot，obliquely run；/Thy firmness makes my circle just，/And makes me end，where I begun.

In Donnes mind， his wife and him comprise a compass——his wife was the fixed foot while Donne was the other mobile one. As the moving leg returns to its center， the fixed leg returns to its more confident， strong vertical position， creating a perfect circle. Pythagoras once said “the most beautiful figure is the sphere among the solids and the circle among plane figures.”[4] Its clear that the circle represents unity， wholeness，oneness. So its not hard to speculate that Donne was aimed at describing the eternal and perfect love between his wife and him. In my understanding， I do believe what Donne wanted to express was much more than this. Apart from eulogizing the eternity of love， I read another potential message from it. Lets imagine， without any leg， the compass will never draw a circle integrally. So its obvious that the two feet are both of great importance， so is love. If either of the two lovers doesnt put his or her heart and soul into the relationship totally， there will be existing crack， gap gradually. Sooner or later， the circle of love will not be intact any more. The final result waiting for them must be a break-up.

To sum up， love is an eternal topic in literary field， whether in China or in any other country. Through the ages， there are indeed existing tremendous great works to eulogize love. It seems that everyone is aware of love beginning with the sentences they once read. Firstly， the works give us an initial impression of love. Then， we experience love in person to prove the authenticity of the works. Eventually， we spend our whole life-time learning to ponder love itself， moving in circles. After studying the simple and straight-forward poem， I find that all I could say is it is so moving. I did read numerous poems that eulogizing love during the past few years. From these reading experiences， I understood what love is， how the feeling is when you love someone and how great love is. These are all the things I have learned. Yet， when it comes to Donnes Forbidding Mourning， after all the analyses Ive made and the data Ive consulted， I believe that I have fortunately witnessed the most fantastic love around the world. It can be seen that love is a lesson and art ，and love is the need to care and train. It struck me that always being a passive receiver is not a wise alternative， whether in love，friendship or kinship. To some extent， I want to start endeavoring to giving my love to people surrounding me.

參考文獻：

[1][2]（美）納爾遜.英國經典詩歌閱讀與欣賞：從多恩到彭斯[M].北京：中國人民大學出版社，2009：20.

[3]吳偉仁.英國文學史及選讀[M].北京：中央民族大學出版社，2007.

[4]李正栓，楊 麗.大膽奇特的想象雅致入理的比喻——鄧恩的《告別辭：莫悲傷》賞析[J].名作欣賞，2003（12）.

（作者單位：河北大學）