Thanks for the poem and your explanation. I was drawn to the conceit of the gold thinning out but maintaining its essence. I was planning to write a letter to my wife and this certainly gives me a lot of inspiration.
This series and Donne’s poetry is asking me to consider a different side of life. I often operate in the “hear and no” moving from job, to family, to concerns. I appreciate looking at life from a different perspective and taking the time to think about love and death in a meaningful way.
When I read this poem before your newsletter I thought, “This is about death.” 😆 Then I read your wonderful explanation and it makes sense. I did get lost in the second half and thought…”is this a riddle?” Well…kind of. I love what the poem means and thank you for teaching us.
Karen, I knew we were going to be reading this so I grabbed my copy last night before bed. It did not help :-) Without your professor's take on the text I was a bit lost.
But oh, such discoveries! Thank you for illuminating the compass imagery--now the "expanding and going out yet while still being one" makes perfect sense.
I especially like the last line, "And makes me end where I begun."
Donne's phrase, "Like gold to airy thinness beat" immediately reminded me of the Apostle John's description in Revelation, as translated in the Authorized Version*:
"and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass... and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass." (Revelation 21:18, 21)
*The Authorized Version, known also as the KJV, was commissioned by King James I, who, according to Isaak Walton recommended John Donne for ordination after meeting him.
In answer to the question about how much Donne and his contemporaries knew about gravitational waves, Donne's German Lutheran contemporary Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was laying the foundations of planetary gravitational theory and by 1600 had published a treatise titled 'In Terra inest virtus, quae Lunam ciet' [In the earth is a force which moves the moon]. The Scandinavian astronomer Tycho Brahe, an older contemporary of Donne and Kepler's mentor, developed astronomical equipment such as the armillary sphere, an often pictured device with interlocking rings that move to model objects in the sky. Donne's shift from planetary motion to the movement of a compass may not be quite so abrupt as it seems, since compasses would have been used in the drawing of planetary diagrams.
The more closely I read the poem, the more I see the apparently abrupt topic shifts in stanzas are actually being subtly foreshadowed in previous stanzas. The second stanza, using the image of grief for death from the first stanza says: "No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move".
Floods and tempests are natural disasters, as are earthquakes, referenced in the third stanza beginning: "Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears". The third then progresses to planetary movement, and the fourth stanza holds the idea of planets in the phrase "sublunary lovers". The fourth stanza ends: "Those things which elemented it."
The reference to elements invokes the idea of elemental metals, i.e. silver and gold, in which the chemistry of Donne's day was most keenly focused. The fifth stanza carries on the idea of elemental metal with, "But we by a love so much refined", a thought that the sixth stanza ends with, "Like gold to airy thinness beat." But the word "expansion" just before that line has also recalled the expansion of the heavens, the movement of the planets, a movement traced by compasses, leading to the poem's final image.
Donne specializes in these kind of connections. His poem 'The Crosse' uses the word 'cross' in all of its possible senses - across, crossroads, contradiction (don't cross me), etc. In my favourite of the Holy Sonnets, numbers 16, he uses the word "will" in its multiple senses. The key to Donne's poetry is remembering how elastic the English language is.
I love that: the key to Donne’s poetry is remembering how elastic the English language is. Amen. So few see or appreciate that, especially, sad to say, in my corner or Christianity. Here’s to expanding the corners!
I loved this. I last read this poem about 20 years ago and here it is coming back to me in a totally different way. You illuminated it beautifully with your commentary.
Thanks for the poem and your explanation. I was drawn to the conceit of the gold thinning out but maintaining its essence. I was planning to write a letter to my wife and this certainly gives me a lot of inspiration.
No doubt! 🙂 Pretty cool.
This series and Donne’s poetry is asking me to consider a different side of life. I often operate in the “hear and no” moving from job, to family, to concerns. I appreciate looking at life from a different perspective and taking the time to think about love and death in a meaningful way.
When I read this poem before your newsletter I thought, “This is about death.” 😆 Then I read your wonderful explanation and it makes sense. I did get lost in the second half and thought…”is this a riddle?” Well…kind of. I love what the poem means and thank you for teaching us.
This is funny. Love it, Mel!
Karen, I knew we were going to be reading this so I grabbed my copy last night before bed. It did not help :-) Without your professor's take on the text I was a bit lost.
But oh, such discoveries! Thank you for illuminating the compass imagery--now the "expanding and going out yet while still being one" makes perfect sense.
I especially like the last line, "And makes me end where I begun."
That ending really brings it ALL home, doesn’t it?
Oh! That kind of compass!
That was where I kept getting stuck. Thank you.
Yes! It’s an easy confusion and clearing it up makes all the difference. Glad it did for you!
Donne's phrase, "Like gold to airy thinness beat" immediately reminded me of the Apostle John's description in Revelation, as translated in the Authorized Version*:
"and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass... and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass." (Revelation 21:18, 21)
*The Authorized Version, known also as the KJV, was commissioned by King James I, who, according to Isaak Walton recommended John Donne for ordination after meeting him.
In answer to the question about how much Donne and his contemporaries knew about gravitational waves, Donne's German Lutheran contemporary Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was laying the foundations of planetary gravitational theory and by 1600 had published a treatise titled 'In Terra inest virtus, quae Lunam ciet' [In the earth is a force which moves the moon]. The Scandinavian astronomer Tycho Brahe, an older contemporary of Donne and Kepler's mentor, developed astronomical equipment such as the armillary sphere, an often pictured device with interlocking rings that move to model objects in the sky. Donne's shift from planetary motion to the movement of a compass may not be quite so abrupt as it seems, since compasses would have been used in the drawing of planetary diagrams.
These are amazing insights, Holly! This is really rich history to bring to the poem!
The more closely I read the poem, the more I see the apparently abrupt topic shifts in stanzas are actually being subtly foreshadowed in previous stanzas. The second stanza, using the image of grief for death from the first stanza says: "No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move".
Floods and tempests are natural disasters, as are earthquakes, referenced in the third stanza beginning: "Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears". The third then progresses to planetary movement, and the fourth stanza holds the idea of planets in the phrase "sublunary lovers". The fourth stanza ends: "Those things which elemented it."
The reference to elements invokes the idea of elemental metals, i.e. silver and gold, in which the chemistry of Donne's day was most keenly focused. The fifth stanza carries on the idea of elemental metal with, "But we by a love so much refined", a thought that the sixth stanza ends with, "Like gold to airy thinness beat." But the word "expansion" just before that line has also recalled the expansion of the heavens, the movement of the planets, a movement traced by compasses, leading to the poem's final image.
Donne specializes in these kind of connections. His poem 'The Crosse' uses the word 'cross' in all of its possible senses - across, crossroads, contradiction (don't cross me), etc. In my favourite of the Holy Sonnets, numbers 16, he uses the word "will" in its multiple senses. The key to Donne's poetry is remembering how elastic the English language is.
I love that: the key to Donne’s poetry is remembering how elastic the English language is. Amen. So few see or appreciate that, especially, sad to say, in my corner or Christianity. Here’s to expanding the corners!
In my corner also, Karen.
Well, here we are. In the same corner. At least we have each other!
*of
Thank you for your wonderful "expansion" of Donne's amazing poem, Karen. It truly does become richer and more beautiful with every reading.
It sure does.
I loved this. I last read this poem about 20 years ago and here it is coming back to me in a totally different way. You illuminated it beautifully with your commentary.
I’m so glad you could re-visit it all these years later.