Page 168 - DENG201_ENGLISH_II

English - II

Notes If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desir’d, and got, t’was but a dreame of thee.
And now good morrow to our waking soules,
Which watch not one another out of feare;
For love, all love of other sights controules,

And makes one little roome, an every where.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let Maps to other, worlds on worlds have showne,
Let us possesse one world, each hath one, and is one.
My face in thine eye, thine in mine appeares,
And true plaine hearts doe in the faces rest,
Where can we finde two better hemispheares
Without sharpe North, without declining West?
What ever dyes, was not mixt equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none doe slacken, none can die.
Paraphrase

Stanza 1. I am surprised—I swear by my faith—what we both did till we fell in love. Perhaps, we
were satisfied with our childish pleasures (like sucking mother’s milk). May be we enjoyed the simple
joys of nature in the country before the realization of true love. Perhaps, we slept for many years like
the seven sleepers who slept in the cave. All the former pleasures compared to the present one are
just fancies. If I found any beautiful girl whom I killed and got, she was just a shadow or reflection of
your beauty.
Stanza 2. Now that our souls have awakened to a new-life, let us say ‘good morning’ to them. Our
souls watch each other not out of suspicious or fear but out of love Our love prevents us from running
after any other sight or pleasure. Our small room of love is as good as the whole world. Let the
navigators roam over the seas and discover new worlds for themselves. Let the maps show to the
other people the different worlds that exist. We are happy with the possession of one world—the
world of love—where the lovers are united into one.
Stanza 3. My face is reflected in your eye and likewise your face is seen in my eye. Our faces reveal to
us that our hearts are pure and innocent. We two, between the both of us, constitute two hemisphetes
which are better than the geographical hemispheres because our first hemisphere is without the
slanting North Pole (with its bitter cold), and our second hemisphere is without the declining west
(where the sun sets). So, our love is not subject to vagariest of weather or time (decline). We know
that only those things die whose constiuents are not mixed proportionately. Our two loves are one
because they are exactly similar in all respects and as such none of them will die. Our mutual love can
neither decrease nor decline nor come to an end. Our love is immortal.

10.2 Critical Appreciation

This is one of the finest poems of Donne explaining the complex nature of love. Initially, love has an
element of fun and sex. It is like the dark night—an experience which is hot quite clear. But with the
dawn, the true nature of things is revealed. The title suggests the dawn of the true love, its essential
quality and the mutual understanding and confidence between the souls of the lover and the beloved.
This kind of pure love provides a complete world to the lovers—a world without coldness, fear and
decay. It is much better than the physical world. This perfect love is neither subject to time nor death.
The Good Morrow’ is a typical Donnian love poem, divided into three stanzas. It’s one of those love
poems in which he praises the spiritual relation and hails it so ardently. “The Good-Morrow” is a
poem of twenty-one lines divided into three stanzas. The poet addresses the woman he loves as they
awaken after having spent the night together. The poem begins with a direct question from the poet

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