By John Donne (1572-1631)
The Good-Morrow – by John Donne
I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?
But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?
’Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.
And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love, all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
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.
My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres,
Without sharp north, without declining west?
Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.
Background

 Educated at universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
 Roman Catholic during early part of his life, but became
an Anglican in 1615 and was appointed dean of St. Paul’s
Cathedral from 1621 to his death in 1631.
 The poem is from John Donne’s 1633 collection “Songs
and Sonnets”.
 Regarded by many critics as the greatest poet of the
metaphysical school.
 Metaphysics – used language in new ways to express
emotion and meaning at the same time. Poems deal with
the relationship of humankind, God and the universe.
Speaker and emotions

 Viewpoint of a lover as he arises in the morning and
sees the face of his lover next to him.
 Subject of this passion could be Anne More, who
became Donne’s wife.
 Different phases love goes through
- passion of early relationship
- to its growth to a spiritual experience and
intimate bond.
Themes

 Re-awakening
 Nature/completeness of lovers’ world
Structure and diction

 Dramatic, lyrical, metaphysical poem.
 3 stanzas each with 7 lines.
 Rhyme scheme =
a
b
a
b
c
c
c
…

 Syntax is complex and refined – periodic and
balanced constructions.
 Mostly end-stopped lines – enhances orderliness of
lines and crisp diction (words)
 Vivid language and religious references
Title

 Good Morrow = good morning (to our waking souls)
Line 1 - 2

Rhetorical Q of l. 1-4 - develops
theme throughout
Direct question to himself and
subject, ponders way of life
before falling in love
I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?
truth
Infant’s gradual
change from milk to
solid food.
Line 3-4

Euphemism
simple, rustic and
childish pleasures (like
sucking mother’s milk
But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?
Slept/snored
THUS, their slumber is compared to
the long sleep of Seven Sleepers AND
their bravery to how love has
changed the speaker.
Allusion
Catholic tale – “Seven Sleepers of
Ephesus” = 7 Christian children who
hid in a cave to escape persecution
during the reign of Roman Emperor
Decius. They fell asleep and awoke
200 years later during the reign of
Theodosius II.
Q is answered
Line 5-7

’Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.
Being in love distorts
one’s sense of reality –
what went before was
unreal.
Any woman who had
taken his fancy in the past
“but a dream of thee” – a
shadow
Line 8-9

Love having given rise
to a “Seven Sleepers”
miracle
And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
Personification
Apostrophe
Line 10-11

Love can outweigh all other
emotions/feelings and be as
enduring as lovers want it to be.
For love, all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
Personification
Only they exist in the room where
they lay and their room is the
only realm which exist in the
universe.
Hyperbole
What seems small at
the outset can
contain a universe
once opened.
Line 12-14

Conceit (far-fetched comparison between
two unlike things) – two lovers to the
discovery of new worlds
Intimate,
spiritual bond
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.
Love is so great he feels
he has no need to
explore other worlds –
others can explore for
he has found what he
was looking for.
Passion often felt at the
beginning of a love
story – nothing else
seems to matter.
Line 15-16

When the speaker looks at/into his
lover’s face, it’s like looking into a
mirror – they have become so close that
it seems they are the same.
My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Personification
Pure
Line 17-18

Metaphor
Eyes – as wide-ranging
and wonderful as the
hemispheres of Earth.
Where can we find two better hemispheres,
Without sharp North, without declining West?
Superior to geographical ones,
lack coldness (sharp North) and
sunset (declining west
Rhetorical Q
and
Personification
North symbolises bitterness and discord.
West symbolises dying.
Hyperbole
The lovers’ world does not contain these
“directions”.
Line 19-21

Again portrays how
their love has grown
to the point of being
like one person.
Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.
Fade/lessen
Love is enduring and
will continue
growing – Conquers
all.