Deconstruction of Binary Oppositions in John Donne’s A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

Abstract

Universally considered the representative and pioneer of metaphysical poets, John Donne (15721631) is one of the most established and remarkable poets of Britain in the 17 th century. His works touch upon several different genres including love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons, among which the poems make considerable literary achievements. In general, Donne’s poems can be roughly divided into two categories --the youthful love lyrics and the later sacred verses. Different from many of the contemporary poets, Donne discards the vague poetry style of the late Elizabethan age and makes bold innovations in poetry. His poems break through the traditional constraints and reveal profound philosophy through colloquial language. Moreover, the ingenious conceits and unique images in his poems also inject fresh blood into British poetry.