#8220;breach” (line 23). Here, the speaker means that although he will be far away, the love between he and his lady will not break because it is so pure. Donne’s most famous and unusual comparison starts in the seventh stanza and concludes his poem when he compares the love between he and his wife to “stiff twin compasses” (line 26). The twin compasses are described as two only in the sense that there are two legs joined permanently at the top. Here Donne is refering to the mathematical instrument used in geometry. One leg, “the fixed foot” (line 27), is planted firmly in the centre. The other “travels,” describing a perfect circle, returning to its point of origin. The “fixed foot” of the centre foot “leans and harkens” after the other that “far doth roam” (25-30). The speaker explains that the centre foot (the person who stays at home) makes sure the absent lover comes back to form a complete circle because of its firmness. In the last stanza, the speaker explains that the firmness of the love of his lady will make him come back to where he began. Furthermore, the circle above earthly faults, created by the journey of the compass was the symbol of perfection in Donne’s time because just like God and eternity, it has no beginning and no end. This use of the circle in Donne’s poem suggests the perfection of the love between he and his wife. In A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, Donne describes a most perfect and unchangeable love between two people. Throughout the poem he skillfully compares the love of the speaker and his lady to things that seem completely different to the love between them. Whether Donne wrote his poem for his wife or just touched a universal theme for of us to learn from, the huge apparent differences bring the mortal love between the speaker and his lady to a level of perfection and no journey can ever break that. Work...
