Go, and Catch a Falling Star
2015/4/7
1
Go and Catch a Falling Star [1]
• 1. It is a song from John Donne's collection Songs and
Sonnets, in which all pieces could be sung out. Also, it is
one of John Donne's negative love poems. The main idea is
that there is no true love in the world. It consists of three
parts. The first part shows that everything listed here is
impossible. The second part says that anywhere and
anytime people couldn't find true love. In the third part, the
poet says that even if the impossible things were proved
possible he couldn't believe it.
The rhythm of the poem deviates from the conventional
poems of the time. It consists of 3 nine-lined stanzas. With
the exception of the 7th and 8th lines, the poem is written in
iambic tetrameter and the 5th and 6th lines end with a
feminine ending. The rhyme scheme is abab ccdd d.
2015/4/7
2
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
Go, and catch a falling star [2],
Get with child a mandrake root [3],
Tell me, where all past years are [4],
2. Line 1: This is an uncommon abrupt
beginning of a poem. The verbs
“ go ” and “ catch ” here indicate
that the poem is addressed to
some listener. To catch a falling
star is impossible.
Or who cleft the Devil's foot [5],
Teach me to hear Mermaids singing [6],
Or to keep off envy's stinging [7],
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.
2015/4/7
3
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
Go, and catch a falling star [2],
Get with child a mandrake root [3],
Tell me, where all past years are [4],
Or who cleft the Devil's foot [5],
Teach me to hear Mermaids singing [6],
Or to keep off envy's stinging [7],
3. Line 2: Mandrake is a type of
plant from which drugs may be
made, especially those causing
sleep. The mandrake root is
forked like the lower part of the
male body. According to the
Bible, the female could beget a
child on a mandrake root. The
normal order of the sentence is
“ Get a mandrake with child ” .
But to get a mandrake with
child is a supreme impossibility.
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.
2015/4/7
4
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
Go, and catch a falling star [2],
Get with child a mandrake root [3],
Tell me, where all past years are [4],
Or who cleft the Devil's foot [5],
Teach me to hear Mermaids singing [6],
4. Line 3: It is similar to one
famous sentence given by
the medieval French poet
Villon “ Mais ou sont les
neiges d'antan ” , which
means “ Where has last
year's snow gone? ” It is a
question impossible to
answer.
Or to keep off envy's stinging [7],
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.
2015/4/7
5
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
Go, and catch a falling star [2],
Get with child a mandrake root [3],
Tell me, where all past years are [4],
Or who cleft the Devil's foot [5],
Teach me to hear Mermaids singing [6],
5. Line 4: cleft: the past form of
cleave. It is believed that the
foot of the Devil is like that of
the ox or the sheep. There is
no possible answer to this
question.
Or to keep off envy's stinging [7],
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.
2015/4/7
6
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
Go, and catch a falling star [2],
Get with child a mandrake root [3],
Tell me, where all past years are [4],
Or who cleft the Devil's foot [5],
Teach me to hear Mermaids singing [6],
Or to keep off envy's stinging [7],
6. Line 5: Mermaids are
imaginary sea creatures.
Here it refers to the siren
who enchanted Odysseus
and his seamen (cf.
Homer's Odyssey). There
is no way to hear the
mermaids' singing.
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.
2015/4/7
7
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
Go, and catch a falling star [2],
Get with child a mandrake root [3],
Tell me, where all past years are [4],
Or who cleft the Devil's foot [5],
Teach me to hear Mermaids singing [6],
Or to keep off envy's stinging [7],
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.
2015/4/7
7. Line 6: “ envy's stinging ”
means the biting of
people's envy. Envy here is
half personified, referring to
the person who envies
others. Actually in the world,
nobody is free from
someone else's envy.
8
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
2015/4/7
9
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
If thou beest borne to strange sights [8],
Things invisible to see [9],
Ride ten thousand days and nights [10],
8. Line 10: If you are born with a
strange gift that enables you
to see sights that are rare.
beest: be'st, be.
Till age snow [11] white hairs on thee,
Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me[12]
All strange wonders that befell [13] thee,
And swear [14]
No where
Lives a woman true, and fair [15].
2015/4/7
10
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
If thou beest borne to strange sights [8],
Things invisible to see [9],
Ride ten thousand days and nights [10],
Till age snow [11] white hairs on thee,
9. Line 11: It is the appositive
phrase of “ sights ” in the
above line. Another
explanation is that “ things
invisible to see ” is in the
inverted order, and that the
normal order should be “ to
see invisible things ” .
Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me[12]
All strange wonders that befell [13] thee,
And swear [14]
No where
Lives a woman true, and fair [15].
2015/4/7
11
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
If thou beest borne to strange sights [8],
Things invisible to see [9],
Ride ten thousand days and nights [10],
Till age snow [11] white hairs on thee,
10. Line 12: There are two
explanations for it. One
says that the verb “ ride ”
indicates the imperative
sentence; the other says
that “ ride ” means “ if
you ride ” .
Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me[12]
All strange wonders that befell [13] thee,
And swear [14]
No where
Lives a woman true, and fair [15].
2015/4/7
12
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
If thou beest borne to strange sights [8],
Things invisible to see [9],
Ride ten thousand days and nights [10],
11. snow: whiten the hair of
Till age snow [11] white hairs on thee,
Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me[12]
12. Line 14: return'st:
return; wilt: will
All strange wonders that befell [13] thee,
13. befell: happened to
And swear [14]
No where
14. And swear: And wilt
swear: And will swear.
Lives a woman true, and fair [15].
2015/4/7
13
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
If thou beest borne to strange sights [8],
Things invisible to see [9],
Ride ten thousand days and nights [10],
Till age snow [11] white hairs on thee,
Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me[12]
All strange wonders that befell [13] thee,
And swear [14]
No where
Lives a woman true, and fair [15].
2015/4/7
15. Lines 17 ～ 18: All beautiful
women are inconstant. The
comma after “ true ”
indicates a pause here,
emphasizing that no woman
enjoys the two kinds of
virtue, true and fair, at the
same time. fair: beautiful
14
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
2015/4/7
15
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
If thou find’st [16] one, let me know,
16. find'st: find
Such a Pilgrimage [17] were sweet;
Yet do not, I would not go,
17. a Pilgrimage: a journey to
some holy place, used
sarcastically.
Though at next door we [18] might meet,
Though she were true, when you met her [19],
And last, till you write your letter [20],
Yet she
Will be
False, ere I come, to two, or three [21].
2015/4/7
16
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
If thou find’st [16] one, let me know,
Such a Pilgrimage [17] were sweet;
18. we: such a true
female and I
Yet do not, I would not go,
Though at next door we [18] might meet,
Though she were true, when you met her [19],
And last, till you write your letter [20],
Yet she
Will be
19. Line 23: In the early
English, the world
“ though ” could be
used to introduce the
subjunctive mood.
False, ere I come, to two, or three [21].
2015/4/7
17
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
If thou find’st [16] one, let me know,
Such a Pilgrimage [17] were sweet;
Yet do not, I would not go,
Though at next door we [18] might meet,
Though she were true, when you met her [19],
And last, till you write your letter [20],
Yet she
Will be
20. Line 24: And her
constancy could only last
till you write her first letter.
And last: And (her
constancy) will last
False, ere I come, to two, or three [21].
2015/4/7
18
Go, and Catch a Falling Star
If thou find’st [16] one, let me know,
Such a Pilgrimage [17] were sweet;
Yet do not, I would not go,
Though at next door we [18] might meet,
Though she were true, when you met her [19],
And last, till you write your letter [20],
Yet she
Will be
False, ere I come, to two, or three [21].
2015/4/7
21. Lines 25 ～ 27: Before I
come to be her new
lover again, she will
have betrayed another
two or three. false:
unfaithful; ere: before
19