Explanation of John Donne's "Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" (Part 3/3)

00:11:41
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0B09cai4Eo

Summary

TLDRDans cette vidéo, l'orateur discute des dernières strophes du poème "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" de John Donne. L'auteur évoque l'idée que, malgré la séparation physique, lui et sa femme restent spirituellement unis. Donne utilise des métaphores telles que l'or, qui est durable même lorsqu'il est étiré, et l'image du compas pour symboliser leur connexion constante. La vidéo explore également des thèmes tels que la constance, l'amour éternel et le symbolisme des cercles, suggérant que leur amour est parfait et harmonieux, même à distance.

Takeaways

  • 💖 L'amour est comparé à l'or: fort et durable.
  • 🧭 Le compas symbolise la constance dans une relation.
  • 🔄 Le cercle parfait représente l'harmonie de l'amour.
  • 🌌 La séparation physique n'affecte pas l'union spirituelle.
  • 🔗 Les métaphores renforcent l'idée de lien éternel.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Dans les derniers strophes du poème de John Donne, "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning", l'auteur évoque l'idée que, bien que lui et sa femme soient physiquement séparés, leurs âmes restent unies. Il utilise la métaphore de l'or, qui, lorsqu'il est battu, s'étire sans se briser, symbolisant la noblesse et la force de leur amour. Cette connexion est renforcée par des symboles alchimiques, tels que le cercle, qui représente l'éternité et l'infini, soulignant la profondeur de leur lien malgré la distance.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:11:41

    Dans les strophes suivantes, Donne introduit l'image du compas pour illustrer la relation entre lui et sa femme. Il se compare à la jambe mobile du compas, tandis que sa femme est la jambe fixe, symbolisant la constance et la stabilité. Leur amour est décrit comme un cercle parfait, où la fermeté de sa femme permet à Donne de tracer un chemin juste. La conclusion du poème évoque un retour au centre, symbolisant la réunion et l'harmonie, bien que certains critiques soulignent une tension entre le mouvement circulaire et rectiligne, suggérant une possible interprétation en spirale pour réconcilier ces deux concepts.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • Quel est le thème principal du poème ?

    Le poème aborde la connexion spirituelle entre deux âmes malgré la séparation physique.

  • Comment Donne utilise-t-il l'or dans son poème ?

    Il compare l'amour à l'or qui, même étiré, reste connecté sans se briser.

  • Quel rôle joue l'image du compas dans le poème ?

    Le compas symbolise la constance et l'interconnexion de leur amour.

  • Quelle est la signification de la "cercle parfait" dans le contexte du poème ?

    Cela représente l'harmonie et la complétude de leur amour.

  • Comment s'achève le poème ?

    Il se termine sur une note de circularité, symbolisant le retour à l'unité.

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  • 00:00:00
    in this video I'd like to talk about the
  • 00:00:02
    last four stanzas of John Duns poem a
  • 00:00:05
    valediction forbidding morning and as we
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    pick it up here John Donne writes to his
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    beloved to his wife our two souls
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    therefore which are one though I must go
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    and you're not yet a breach but an
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    expansion like gold to Airy thinness
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    beat now the idea here is that we start
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    with this kind of paradox another
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    paradox and in this case John Donne is
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    saying that's they are truly one and yet
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    they have two separate souls the idea is
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    that as they separate from each other
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    their souls are are going to remain
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    connected to each other and he compares
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    this to gold so if we have a block of
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    gold and we kind of work with it and we
  • 00:00:51
    beat it then it doesn't break okay it
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    doesn't cause a breach but instead
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    there's an expansion so the goal just
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    gets thinner and thinner and thinner but
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    it's still connected and in the same way
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    as John Donne and his wife there leave
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    each other as their souls are separate
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    they are still connected in this goal
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    that just keeps on stretching and gets
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    thinner and thinner this connects back
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    again to that notion of alchemy which we
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    talked about in previous videos and gold
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    is often seen as the noblest metal so
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    again that ties in with this notion that
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    their love is noble and special it's not
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    just like any other metal and then
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    finally the alchemical symbol symbol for
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    gold is a circle with a dot in the
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    middle and not two ties in I think with
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    a lot of the symbolism or with a lot of
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    the metaphors in this poem this notion
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    of for instance the earth is surrounded
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    by these spheres that go around it we
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    can also think of a ring let's say a
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    ring signifies an eternal kind of love
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    it signifies infinity and in the same
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    way gold the symbol for gold signify
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    something similar okay so quite a
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    beautiful stanza
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    here and John Donne expands on this
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    notion of how their love is
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    interconnected despite distance in the
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    last three stanzas and this is where he
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    introduces the image of a compass
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    now before we read this I want to show
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    you a different picture here so bear
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    with me here this is from an emblem book
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    so this is George Withers a collection
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    of emblems ancient and modern and these
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    kinds of books were very popular in the
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    Renaissance these are books where they
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    had a picture an illustration like this
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    and it symbolized something nature stood
  • 00:02:53
    for something greater you could read
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    nature in a way so that nature was
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    symbolic of a larger meaning what you
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    can see here is that we have these two
  • 00:03:02
    ideas Constance constancy and labor and
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    they're being related here to the image
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    of a compass now there are two kinds of
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    compasses that we can think about when
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    we hear the word compass the one is a
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    navigators compass which is where you've
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    tried to figure out which way is north
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    and then we also have this kind of
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    compass which lets you draw circles you
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    may remember these from elementary
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    school perhaps and they're often called
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    dividers or drafting compasses and as
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    you look closely here you can see that
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    there's a kind of circle being drawn
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    with this so let's zoom in a little bit
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    to the poem that goes with this and this
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    is from 1635 so it's after the time when
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    John Donne wrote the poem but a lot of
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    the language is surprisingly similar and
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    it's quite fascinating how the the two
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    writers are bringing out similar ideas
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    so we'll pick it up here and it says
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    here for asked to draw a circle with our
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    hand we cause the brazen compasses to
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    stand and brazen here means made of
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    brass with one foot firmly fixed on the
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    ground and move the other in a constant
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    round so the one foot of the compasses
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    is standing firmly and the other one is
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    moving around constantly you can see how
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    the idea of constancy of staying the
  • 00:04:26
    same
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    is related to drawing a circle the poet
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    continues right so when we shall purpose
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    to proceed in any just and profitable
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    deed we first stood by a constant
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    resolution stand firm to what we put in
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    execution and then with perseverance
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    labor out those workings which we are
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    employed about so the two ideas of
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    constancy and labor are related if you
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    work hard if you if you are constant to
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    your task and your show resolution then
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    you're going to create a perfect circle
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    you're going to create something
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    beautiful and perfect if we go back to
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    our poem now we have a very similar idea
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    here John Donne is saying that his wife
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    is the one foot of the compass and that
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    foot is firmly planted he is the other
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    foot and maybe you will draw this in the
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    way that it's often used in let's say
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    elementary school so you may remember
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    these kinds of dividers where your your
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    little pencil is stuck to the one leg
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    and then at the very top you know you
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    got this little thing here you can
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    adjust it a bit and maybe there's
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    something that ties it two together so
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    John Donne himself is over here he is
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    this leg and his wife is the fixed foot
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    and she's not going to move so he says
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    if they they being the two Souls if they
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    be one sorry if they be - they are - so
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    as stiff twin compasses are - and by
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    stiff - encompasses he means the two
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    legs of the of the the compass the I saw
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    the fixed foot so that's this one that's
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    the wife makes no show to move but death
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    if the other do so if John Donne if his
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    leg starts to move further out right so
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    if we want to make a bigger circle then
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    we can go like this and we can make a
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    circle like that there we go let's draw
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    a circle in the background so if if John
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    Donne is trying to make a bigger circle
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    if he's going further away then
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    obviously his wife this leg of the
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    compass
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    is going to move after him and she only
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    moves when he moves so the I saw the
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    fixed foot makes no show to move but
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    death move if the other do and though it
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    in the center sit right in the center of
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    the circle yet when the other far death
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    Rome the other foot is far away it leans
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    and hearkens after it and there again we
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    can see that notion at the the one leg
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    of the compass is leaning towards the
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    other one and grows erect as that comes
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    home now erect here does not have any
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    sexual connotations erect here means
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    straight up so as this leg comes home
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    again right then sorry as this this
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    right leg comes home then we're gonna
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    have the one leg much much straighter up
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    it's gonna look more like that okay and
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    the one leg is gonna return home alright
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    so this is getting a little bit messy
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    but I hope you can see what this compass
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    image is all about then we get to the
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    final stanza and this one reads reads
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    such wilt thou be to me who must like
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    the other foot right this this foot
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    that's way out
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    oblique Li run and obliquely here means
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    on an angle there my circle just and
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    just in this case has more the sense of
  • 00:08:06
    perfect
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    it's it's a good circle so thy firmness
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    the fact that you're not wobbling you're
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    not you're not nervous you're not
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    trembling you're just firmly planted
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    makes my circle just and there you can
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    see that sense of constancy that we also
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    saw in the emblem book that we just
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    looked at this sense that there is no
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    trepidation right if we think about
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    early in the poem we had this notion
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    that there was trepidation of the sphere
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    spheres and we saw that that was
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    referring to something in the heavens
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    but that's also a pun it's a play on
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    words on this sense of nervousness on
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    wobbling on wavering and by contrast now
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    we finish with a sense of firmness
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    there is no wavering thy firmness makes
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    my circle
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    just now as we look back we can also
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    start then to see that perhaps roaming
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    could have a negative connotation if you
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    roam maybe you're straying but maybe
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    you're flirting with somebody else
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    and it's almost as if John Dunn's wife
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    is like you know following after him and
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    making sure that he stays on the right
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    path but maybe that's reading too much
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    into these last lines and so he says and
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    makes me end where I begun so as the the
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    compass starts out and it draws a circle
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    all the way around then at the end this
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    leg is going to come back into the
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    center and we're gonna have the too
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    close together again and the journey is
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    finished some critics have objected to
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    this last little bit though even though
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    it has this one wonderful sense of
  • 00:09:43
    circularity and the whole poem now feel
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    circular there's something not quite
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    right about this image because it's
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    really mixing up two things it's mixing
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    up drawing a circle with its sense of
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    perfection and then it's also thinking
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    more about this this radius here right
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    the sense of the the line that draws him
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    back home because now he's not just
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    drawing a perfect circle but he's
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    actually coming back home into the
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    middle and some critics have felt that
  • 00:10:17
    the two ideas this notion of circular
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    motion versus what might be called
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    rectilinear motion so in a straight line
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    rectilinear that the two are
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    contradictory and some people have found
  • 00:10:32
    a way to reconcile this by saying well
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    maybe what's actually happening here is
  • 00:10:36
    he's not thinking just of circles in
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    rectilinear motion but he's thinking of
  • 00:10:41
    the classic spiral so if we think of a
  • 00:10:44
    spiral and we start in the middle and we
  • 00:10:47
    just keep going then the spiral tradish
  • 00:10:50
    traditionally is seen as the perfect
  • 00:10:52
    reconciliation of these two forms of
  • 00:10:55
    motion of rectilinear motion and
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    circular motion and that could be one
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    way in which we can kind of make sense
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    of this but I don't know that you
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    necessarily have to I think John Donne
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    is quite content
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    creates these startling images that
  • 00:11:11
    shock that that make you think that
  • 00:11:13
    maybe jostle with each other
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    and sometimes maybe it's not perfectly
  • 00:11:18
    executed but it really does create a
  • 00:11:21
    sense of fireworks a kind of
  • 00:11:23
    intellectual demonstration hopefully
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    that makes some sense of the poem
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    hopefully if I find it a beautiful
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    intricate and really complex poem
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    there's so much more we could say about
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    this poem but I think hopefully this
  • 00:11:38
    gives you a good introduction
Tags
  • John Donne
  • poésie
  • amour
  • compas
  • or
  • symbolisme
  • séparation
  • connexion
  • valediction
  • spiritualité