Critical analysis of the poem “Good Morrow”

7 Powerful Insights Good Morrow

Introduction:

“The Good Morrow” is a morning love poem (called an aubade) written by the English poet John Donne, probably in the 1590s. An audabe is a love poem which usually takes place at dawn. There is also dramatic monologue. A dramatic monologue is a poem written in the first person which lets the readers into the thoughts and feelings of the speaker. In this poem, the speaker talks about love as a powerful and amazing experience, almost like a religious awakening. The poem suggests that romantic love can have the same effects as religion.

Through love, the speaker feels their soul come alive. Because of love, the speaker no longer cares about the outside world. In love, the speaker finds a sense of immortality, or living forever.

This idea can be seen as surprising or even a bit rebellious for two reasons. First, the poem suggests that all love, even love outside of marriage, can have this transformative and enlightening effect. Second, it compares romantic love to the joys and deep insights of religious devotion.

About the Author of The Good-Morrow: John Donne

John Donne was a very famous English poet and preacher. He was born in 1572 in London, England. Donne loved learning and reading as a child. He went to some of the best schools, like Oxford University and Cambridge University, but he didn’t finish his degree because he didn’t want to follow all the rules of the time.

Donne was very smart and had a lot of different interests. He wrote poems, letters, and even speeches. His poems are special because they mix big ideas like love, faith, and science with everyday feelings. People call his style “Metaphysical Poetry” because he used clever comparisons to explain deep thoughts.

Donne’s life wasn’t always easy. He married a woman named Anne More, but her family didn’t approve. Because of this, Donne lost his job and struggled with money for many years. Still, he stayed in love with Anne and wrote beautiful poems about their relationship.

Later, Donne became a priest in the Church of England and wrote many sermons. People came from far away to hear him speak because his words were so powerful.

John Donne died in 1631, but his poems, like The Good-Morrow, are still loved today. They teach us about the magic of love, the mystery of life, and the power of faith.

Summary:

Phase One: Life before Love

In the first phase, life before love, Donne says that life was meaningless. He describes it as a time without any excitement or joy. They were like children who needed others to take care of them. They didn’t really understand life. He says they were in a deep sleep, and life was boring and inactive. Donne didn’t care about anything else, and if he had any desire for beauty or dreams, it was all about getting her love.

Phase Two: Discovering Love

In the second stanza, Donne explains the second phase, which is discovering love. He has met his beloved, and now they are living happily together. He welcomes this new life and wishes it a “Good Morning,” which is where the title of the poem comes from. Donne tells his beloved that they should make their small room their whole world and not worry about new discoveries or anything else happening outside.

Phase Three: Living in Love

In the third stanza, Donne talks about the third phase, which is living in love. He says his beloved is very beautiful, and he keeps looking into her eyes while she looks into his. They can see their reflections in each other’s eyes. Donne believes that if they truly love each other, even death won’t be able to end their love.

Themes:

Love as an Awakening:

“The Good Morrow” by John Donne celebrates love as the greatest joy, almost like a religious experience. Before the lovers found each other, their lives were dull and childish. But once they met, it felt like their souls woke up. Their love is so powerful that it changes how they see the world, making their small room feel like the whole universe. The speaker suggests that their love gives them the same deep insights and immortality that religion promises. The poem implies that all true love, even outside of marriage, can be as holy and transformative as religious devotion.

Exploration and Adventure:

“The Good Morrow” was written during the Age of Discovery, when Europeans explored new lands. This influences the poem’s second and third stanzas, which mention “sea-discoverers,” “new worlds,” “maps,” and “hemispheres.” The poem compares exploring new lands to the pleasures of love and finds love more exciting. The speaker suggests that instead of seeking adventure, the lovers should focus on each other, making their room their whole world. This “lovers’ world” reflects the larger world, showing that true love contains all of life’s experiences. There’s no need for outside adventure because love itself offers everything.

Microcosms and macrocosms:

In the line “And makes one little room an everywhere,” Donne shows the connection between the small world of the lovers’ room (microcosm) and the larger world or universe (macrocosm). He suggests that their room contains everything they need, like a whole world. Donne uses the term “an everywhere” instead of just “everywhere” to imply that there might be many “every wheres,” but it doesn’t matter because their love makes their small room complete and sufficient, like their own entire universe.

Writing style of John Donne as special reference of his poem The Good Morrow:

Metaphysical Conceits:

Donne uses elaborate and surprising metaphors to compare very different things. In “The Good Morrow,” he compares lovers’ eyes to mirrored spheres reflecting each other’s souls. He also says their love is like a complete world, needing no further exploration.

Conversational Tone:

Donne writes in a direct and informal way, talking to his beloved directly and using everyday language like “by my troth.” This creates a feeling of closeness and makes the reader feel part of the speaker’s experience.

Intellectual Complexity:

Even with his casual tone, Donne’s poems are intellectually challenging, using philosophical and religious ideas. In “The Good Morrow,” he mentions the legend of the Seven Sleepers and talks about spiritual love and the connection of souls.

Sensuality and Passion:

Donne openly expresses physical desire and the power of love to change people. In “The Good Morrow,” the speaker’s awakening is linked to realizing the depth of their love and the fulfillment it brings.

Formal Structure:

Despite using unusual metaphors, Donne sticks to a strict structure in “The Good Morrow.” The poem has three seven-line stanzas with an ABBAACC rhyme scheme. Each stanza’s first six lines are in iambic pentameter, ending with a line in iambic hexameter, creating a rhythm that fits the poem’s themes.

Shifting Perspectives:

Donne often changes viewpoints in his poems. In “The Good Morrow,” the speaker reflects on their pasts and celebrates their unity with their beloved.

Wit and Paradox:

Donne uses wit and paradox to surprise and engage readers. In “The Good Morrow,” he claims their love goes beyond time and death, saying “If our two loves be one, or thou and I / Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.”

Central Symbols in “The Good-Morrow” by John Donne

Dawn and the “Good Morrow”:

The poem’s title, “The Good Morrow,” symbolizes more than just the morning. It represents a spiritual awakening of love. After spending the night together, the lovers have a new understanding and appreciation of their connection, symbolized by the start of a new day.

Little Room:

The “little room” symbolizes the transformative power of love. Even though they are in a small physical space, their love is so strong that it makes their room feel like the whole universe. Their love turns this little room into everything they need.

New World:

When the speaker wakes up next to their beloved, it feels like entering a “new world.” This symbolizes how love changes their view of life, creating a new, shared reality separate from the outside world.

Geographical Metaphors:

References to distant lands like the “Indies” and “Antipodes” symbolize the vastness and depth of the lovers’ connection. These faraway places represent the endless exploration and discovery they experience within their love.

Immortality:

The poem ends with the idea that love transcends death. The lovers’ devotion and unity are so strong that their love will last beyond their physical lives, suggesting that their love is immortal.

Hearts:

In “The Good-Morrow,” the lovers’ hearts symbolize their deep emotional bond. Although Donne didn’t know the heart pumped blood, he knew it was vital for life. Here, the heart represents a person’s true character. Seeing each other’s hearts means the lovers know each other very deeply and honestly.

Poetic Devices & Figurative Language:

Enjambment

When a sentence continues to the next line of a verse without pause, it is called an enjambment. For example –

If ever any beauty I did see,

Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.

End-Stopped Line

An end-stopped line is a line of verse that ends with a punctuation. For example –

But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?

Caesura:

A caesura in poetry is a pause (with a comma, semicolon etc.) in the middle of a line. For example –

Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?

Apostrophe:

In poetry, an apostrophe is a figure of speech in which the poet addresses an absent person, an abstract idea, or a thing. For example –

In this poem, the speaker directly addresses their beloved, expressing their feelings and thoughts as if speaking directly to them, even though the beloved may not be physically present or able to respond.

Allusion:

An allusion is an indirect reference to something of historical, cultural, political or literary importance.

Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?

Anaphora:

Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of each line of a poem, speech. For example –

Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,

Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown,

Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.

Rhetorical Question:

A rhetorical question is a question that is asked not to get an answer, but to make a point or to emphasize something. It’s a way for the speaker to make a statement rather than seek information.

“Where can we find two better hemispheres,

Without sharp north, without declining west?”

Alliteration:

Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the beginning (or, stressed syllables) of nearby words.

Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?

In the line “Seven Sleepers” the /s/ sound is repeated again then it is called alliteration.

Assonance:

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close to each other in a sentence or phrase.

Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?

/e/ sound in the above line is repeated again and again is called assonance.

Consonance:

Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds at the end of the neighbouring words.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,

Here in the three words /n/ sound is repeating again and again in “thine”, “in”, “mine”.

Chiasmus:

Chiasmus is a rhetorical figure in which words, grammatical constructions or concepts are repeated in reverse order.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine.

Conceit:

The conceit is an extended metaphor between two meanings of the word ‘awaking’. It is the literal awakening from sleep that happens in the morning, which is inferred, and also the more abstract spiritual awakening that Donne mentions directly in ‘our waking souls’.

Parallelism:

Parallelism is also called syntactic parallelism. It is a poetic technique where writers repeat grammatically similar words or parts of a sentence throughout a poem or text. For example –

‘That none do slacken, none can die.’

Sibilance:

Sibilance is a figure of speech in which a hissing sound is created within a group of words through the repetition of “s” sounds. For example –

In the phrase “Seven Sleepers” the repetition of /s/ sound is heard.

Form:

Each seven-line stanza is rhymed ABABCCC, and each can be divided into two units: a quatrain and a tercet. The initial quatrains are rhymed ABAB, while the final tercets are rhymed CCC. To make matters even stranger, the poem’s meter is irregular. The first six lines of each stanza are in iambic pentameter; the final line is in iambic hexameter.

Meter:

In “The Good Morrow,” John Donne uses two different rhythms, or meters, in each stanza. The first six lines of each stanza follow iambic pentameter, which means they have five pairs of syllables where the stress falls on every second syllable. The last line of each stanza switches to iambic hexameter, which has six pairs of syllables, known there as an alexandrine, making it longer and less common in English poetry.

While Donne maintains this meter pattern, he doesn’t always follow strict rules within the lines. For example, in line 12, “Let sea discoverers to new worlds have gone,” there are irregularities. The third foot of the line is a pyrrhic, meaning it has two unstressed syllables, and the last part of the line has a confusing rhythm. Normally, poets aim to keep a regular rhythm, especially at the end of lines, but Donne doesn’t always do this.

In line 12 of “The Good Morrow,” there are irregularities in the rhythm. The third part of the line is a pyrrhic, meaning it has two unstressed syllables in a row, found in the word “discoverers.” The fourth part (“to new”) starts with a regular iambic rhythm, but the last three syllables (“worlds have gone”) are unclear in their stress pattern. They could be scanned as a dactyl (one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones), but “gone” is a strong word and likely has some stress.

Another way to scan it could be as two trochees (stressed followed by unstressed syllables), with the last foot missing a syllable (catalectic). The exact way to scan the line isn’t crucial; what matters is that it doesn’t follow the typical iambic rhythm, which poets usually strive to maintain, especially at the end of lines.

Even when the meter seems correct, Donne often breaks up the rhythm with caesuras, like in the next line, “Let maps to other worlds on worlds have shown.” This means there’s a pause in the middle of the line, which disrupts the smooth flow of the rhythm.

Rhyming Scheme:

The poem “The Good Morrow” by John Donne follows an ABBAACC rhyming scheme in each of its three stanzas. This means that the first line rhymes with the fourth line (A), the second line rhymes with the third (B), the fifth line rhymes with the seventh (C), and the sixth line also rhymes with the seventh (C). This pattern repeats in each stanza, giving the poem a structured and rhythmic flow.

Comparison of The Good-Morrow by John Donne with a Similar Work: Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

Both The Good-Morrow and Sonnet 116 talk about love, but they show it in different ways. Let’s compare them in simple words!

1. Type of Love
   • In The Good-Morrow, John Donne talks about deep, true love between two people. He says that before they loved each other, their lives didn’t feel real. Now, their love makes their world complete.
   • In Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare explains what true love is. He says real love never changes, even when life gets hard or people grow old.
2. How They Show Love
   • Donne uses ideas about exploring new worlds and joining two souls as one. He says love makes everything perfect, like a small, happy universe.
   • Shakespeare compares love to a guiding star for sailors and says it can never be broken, even by time.
3. Feelings in the Poems
   • The Good-Morrow feels very personal, like Donne is talking directly to someone he loves.
   • Sonnet 116 feels more general, like Shakespeare is teaching us about what love should always be like.
4. Message of the Poems
   • Donne shows how love transforms two lives and creates something magical.
   • Shakespeare shows that true love is forever and stays strong, no matter what happens.

Both poems teach us about the beauty of love, but in their own special ways!

Critical Reception and Controversies of The Good-Morrow

When John Donne wrote The Good-Morrow, people found it very interesting and special. Over time, many readers and critics have shared their thoughts about the poem. Let’s discuss what they said in simple words:

1. Why People Loved It
   Many readers loved the poem because it talks about deep and true love. Donne explains how love can make life feel complete and magical. People enjoy the clever comparisons he makes, like love being a small, perfect world for two people.
   Critics also praised how Donne used “metaphysical” ideas in the poem. This means he used big thoughts and creative ideas to explain emotions.
2. What Some Found Difficult
   Some readers thought the poem was hard to understand. Donne used complicated words and ideas, which can be tricky for people who like simple poetry.
   Others wondered why Donne talks so much about exploring new worlds and maps. They felt it made the poem seem more like a puzzle than a love story.
3. Controversies About the Poem
   Some critics argued about whether Donne’s poem is realistic or too idealistic. They asked, “Can love really be so perfect and without flaws?” Some said it’s just a beautiful dream, while others believed it shows true love’s power.
   Others debated if Donne’s ideas about love being a “world” for two people might ignore the challenges couples face in real life.
4. What Makes It Special
   Despite some disagreements, most people agree that The Good-Morrow is a timeless poem. It shows how love can transform ordinary lives into something extraordinary.

Even today, readers and students love discussing this poem because it makes us think about the magic of love and how it changes our world!

7 Powerful Insights Good Morrow

Sources:

Books

• John Donne: The Complete English Poems by A.J. Smith
• Metaphysical Poetry (Penguin Classics) edited by Colin Burrow
• The Cambridge Companion to John Donne edited by Achsah Guibbory

Articles and Journals

• “John Donne’s Metaphysical Imagery in The Good-Morrow” (Studies in English Literature)
• “Themes of Love and Unity in Donne’s Poetry” (Modern Language Quarterly)
• “The Fusion of Thought and Emotion in The Good-Morrow” (Journal of Literary Criticism)

Web Resources

• Poetry Foundation (poetryfoundation.org)
• Academy of American Poets (poets.org)
• British Library (bl.uk)

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