William Empson
William Empson begins his critical essay on John Donne's "A Valediction: of Weeping" with this statement. Empson here plays the provocateur for the critic who wishes to disagree with the notion that Donne's intentions were perhaps less base than the sincere valediction of a weeping man. Indeed, "A Valediction" concerns a parting; Donne is going to sea and is leaving his nameless, loved other in England, and the "Valediction" is his emotive poesy describing the moment. There is little argument as to what Donne is feeling at surface level: he is sorrowful and grieving because he must be apart from his loved one, who has become his world (a metaphor which is carried out in the second stanza). Empson is indeed correct when he says that the poem is not unambiguous. There is a large range of interpretations that can be made based upon the language in the poem, and these are focused around the source of Donne's grief. It is easy for one to picture a grieving sailor leaving his lover, but what makes this man grieve? It is the innate love between two people who are intensely focused upon each other which must be put on hold? Is it some additive emotion that consists of two people who are about to suffer separation and l
This adds an almost optimistic view to stanza II, where Donne begs for no more tears because they will wash his heaven away, but he does not agree that there will be nothing left, as he does in the last line of stanza I. The Moon can be seen as a figure of constancy that is with us in our darkest hours, both literally and figuratively. In the first stanza, Donne begins with asking his lover to "Let me pour forth/My tears before thy face. While they are apart, they are still one in grieving, so if one gives way to sorrow and extends beyond the normal process of human grieving, then they are cruel for inducing the kind of self-pity and emotional strain which might end the world which has been created. Empson does not hesitate to point out that he does not believe the poem to be absolutely "sincere" in its grief. " Obviously, a poem such as "A Valediction: of Weeping" has a great deal of interpretive meanings, and to say one is the definitive truth would be farcical. However, Donne's statement could also mean that once separated, the sense of individuality they felt before and during their relationship is somehow absent, and therefore they are nothing. " This is a fascinating description of his tears, because Donne reverses gender roles in order to describe something which is emanating from him as "pregnant. His lover has caused his grief and each tear he cries is marked by her influence, but at the same time they are coins, which carry a value to them beyond their own intrinsic values. He seems to be proposing that they should not fear more than what is coming, because the sea may take his life, as might the wind, but she should not fear him lost while he is still with her. He is also purposeful in writing it; Donne himself was a man of great passion, and who had to go out to sea. oss of a lover? Or is it, as Empson proposes, the subliminal desire within man to possess a woman both physically and emotionally (i. The very last two lines of the poem are somewhat ambiguous in their meaning. Crying, which is also considered an effeminate affair, undermines Donne's ability to be a man, so there is an undermining bitterness present when one approaches the poem with the proposed unambiguous jealousy. Donne also fears the misfortune that might come in the auguring of a death at sea, which is what her tears mean to him.
Common topics in this essay:
Valediction Weeping,
Donne Pregnant,
II Donne,
England Valediction,
Moon Moon,
Empson's Donne,
Indeed Valediction,
William Empson,
valediction weeping,
stanza donne,
stanza empson,
moon seen,
donne begs,
celestial body,
plays role,
possess woman,
donne weeps,
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Acceptance Essays
