On any given day at the airport, couples in love can be seen saying goodbye to one another. Everyday, thousands of people are forced to say goodbye to a loved one for a period of time for one reason or another. People react to this period of separation in a number of ways. Some cry, some smile, and some do nothing. In John Donne's poem, "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning", the concept of love and separation is addressed. In this poem, Donne is able to use metaphors in order to help show how a perfect love says goodbye.
             Surprisingly, this poem, which is a love poem, opens with the idea of the death of virtuous men who "pass mildly away". Virtuous men quietly make the transition from this world to the next. Because their friends left on earth know that the deceased lived a virtuous life, there is some sadness, but the friends know that the dead are now in a better place. The death, although sad, was also very peaceful. Donne equates this scene with the farewell of lovers. He believes that like death, parting is a sorrowful time, but is should be peaceful. There should not be a big emotional scene; rather, there should be a calm exchange of emotion.
             This idea of a peaceful goodbye is further seen in the second stanza in another metaphor. In this stanza, Donne transitions from talking about death to a man talking to his loved one. The man is telling his loved one that their parting must "make no noise,/ No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move". Donne uses the metaphor of storms to describe the flood of emotions that usually bring crying and tears from two lovers. This metaphor is used to say what a goodbye should not be like. Reiterating the fact that it should be peaceful and calm, not like a storm.
             In the third stanza, another metaphor is seen that helps show how to say goodbye. It involves the movement of the earth and celestial bodies. The first two lines of the stanza discuss how man fears
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