21; (Line 13), but he chooses not to do so, because he would not want to go so long without seeing his lover. Upon looking at her, full of pride and bravado, he says to the sun,“If her eyes have not blinded thine. Look, and tomorrow late, tell me, Whether both th’Indias of spice and mine Be where thou lef’st them, or lie here with me.”(Lines 15-18).At the time this poem was written, colonialism and world trade were just getting into full swing, so it would have been quite a complement to be compared to the East or West Indies. Both were highly regarded and valued for their spices and gold, respectively. He keeps piling on the praise, though, extending his “we are the world” metaphor by comparing themselves to all the kings in the world. He tells the sun “all here in one bed lay” (line 20). As the poem progresses, his comparisons become more grandiose as he heaps more and more complements on the two of them.It is in the third stanza that Donne truly states the theme of the metaphor. It is also where he stretches the metaphor to its farthest lengths. He begins by stating his most blunt argument:“She is all states, and all princes, I, Nothing else is.” (Lines 21-22)Although slightly chauvinistic by today’s standards, his words are strong and to the point, telling us plainly that she is the inhabited world and he, it’s ruler. You might think that this relates the idea pretty well, but Donne doesn’t end there. Of the relationship, he says,“Princes do but play us; compared to this, All honor’s mimic, all wealth alchemy.” (Lines 23-24)This statement builds on the conceit by implying that theirs is the greatest union ever known, and that all other wealth, happiness, and devotion is only a shallow imitation of what they have between the two of them. The more he thinks of his ...
