Poetry Slam!: "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne

The speaker in Donne’s valediction (a speech or piece of writing that bids farewell) prepares to depart from his beloved but argues that physical distance won’t diminish their powerful connection. Read the complete text here.

Here are links to our lists for other poems by John Donne: "The Canonization", "The Flea", "Song: Go and catch a falling star", "Death, be not proud", "The Sun Rising"
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. virtuous
    morally excellent
    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:
  2. whisper
    speak softly, in a low voice
    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:
  3. tempest
    a strong storm with violent winds
    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.
  4. profanation
    the act of degrading something worthy of respect
    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.
  5. laity
    members of a religious community who are not clergy
    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.
  6. reckon
    judge to be probable
    Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears,
    Men reckon what it did, and meant;
    But trepidation of the spheres,
    Though greater far, is innocent.
  7. trepidation
    a feeling of alarm or dread
    Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears,
    Men reckon what it did, and meant;
    But trepidation of the spheres,
    Though greater far, is innocent.
  8. innocent
    lacking in sophistication or worldliness
    Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears,
    Men reckon what it did, and meant;
    But trepidation of the spheres,
    Though greater far, is innocent.
  9. dull
    slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
    Dull sublunary lovers' love
    (Whose soul is sense) cannot admit
    Absence, because it doth remove
    Those things which elemented it.
  10. sublunary
    of this earth
    Dull sublunary lovers' love
    (Whose soul is sense) cannot admit
    Absence, because it doth remove
    Those things which elemented it.
  11. admit
    afford possibility
    Dull sublunary lovers' love
    (Whose soul is sense) cannot admit
    Absence, because it doth remove
    Those things which elemented it.
  12. absence
    the time interval during which something or somebody is away
    Dull sublunary lovers' love
    (Whose soul is sense) cannot admit
    Absence, because it doth remove
    Those things which elemented it.
  13. refined
    freed from impurities by processing
    But we by a love so much refined,
    That our selves know not what it is,
    Inter-assured of the mind,
    Care less, eyes, lips, and hands to miss.
  14. assured
    characterized by certainty or security
    But we by a love so much refined,
    That our selves know not what it is,
    Inter-assured of the mind,
    Care less, eyes, lips, and hands to miss.
  15. endure
    undergo or be subjected to
    Our two souls therefore, which are one,
    Though I must go, endure not yet
    A breach, but an expansion,
    Like gold to airy thinness beat.
  16. breach
    a personal or social separation
    Our two souls therefore, which are one,
    Though I must go, endure not yet
    A breach, but an expansion,
    Like gold to airy thinness beat.
  17. compass
    drafting instrument used for drawing circles
    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.
  18. hearken
    listen; used mostly in the imperative
    It leans and hearkens after it,
    And grows erect, as that comes home.
  19. erect
    upright in position or posture
    It leans and hearkens after it,
    And grows erect, as that comes home.
  20. obliquely
    at a slanting angle
    Such wilt thou be to me, who must,
    Like th' other foot, obliquely run;
Created on Tue Apr 09 14:19:20 EDT 2013 (updated Tue Apr 09 14:45:00 EDT 2019)

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