Commentary on John Donne's "The Good-Morrow"

"The Good-Morrow"
by John Donne

I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?
But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers' den?
'Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, 'twas but a dream of thee.

And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love, all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
Let sea-discoveres to new worlds have shown,
Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres,
Without sharp north, without declining west?
Whatever dies was not mixed equally,
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike that none do slacken, none can die.

Commentary

In John Donne’s poem “The Good-Morrow” the speaker uses repetition, diction, and rhetorical questions to express his ideas and feelings of the maturing love he has for a significant other. As the poem is broken down in three stanzas, each stanza signifies a particular phase in growth of love that these two lovers share together. Through the structure of the poem we see how the relationship these lovers share progresses from an immature and childlike relationship and develops into an eternal love for one another.

In the first stanza the writer uses word choice and rhetorical questions to express his love he once had for an individual. The speaker states “Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then? But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?” Here the speaker’s tone is lustful. With that, this suggests that the love they once had was childish, naïve, and immature. It seems as though their relationship was nothing more than that. A rhetorical question the speaker uses says, “Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?” The allusion the writer uses also refers back to his youth. As he questions where the time went, this indication suggests the love he once had was never really true love. Also, the use of the words “I wonder” and “dream” resembles the love he wished he had with his lover, but he has yet to have that connection with her.

Again, in the second stanza the speaker uses rhetorical questions and diction to express the change and transition from immature love in exchange for the hopes of true love. The speaker states, “and now good-morrow to our waking souls”. As the speaker awakes from his dream in “good-morrow”, literally good morning, he realizes his hopes for true love. As he comes to this realization, the repetition of the words “let” and “world” broaden the opportunities of vast love the speaker wants to share with his lover.

In the third stanza, there is again a transition in the speaker’s emotions towards his lover. As the poem changes stanzas, so does the speaker’s view on love. The speaker states, “My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears”. As the speaker’s eyes get lost in his lovers, this assures he has found true love. As the speaker concludes, “Love so alike that none do slacken, none can die”, he is sure that their love is everlasting and they are meant to be together as he looks forward to the future.

To conclude, in John Donne’s poem “The Good-Morrow”, the use of the rhetorical question, diction, and repetition of words express the changes of love the speaker has for his lover from stanza to stanza. Stanza to stanza, we see how the love matures. The speaker begins to reminisce of the immature love he once had, only to dream of the love he wishes he had, and concludes that he has found that true love.