Elegy: To his Mistress Going to Bed (Edexcel A-Level English Literature): Revision Notes

Elegy: To his Mistress Going to Bed

Context

John Donne's Personal Life

• John Donne's personal life, particularly his passionate relationship with his wife Anne More, deeply influenced his poetry. Elegy: To His Mistress Going to Bed reflects Donne's intimate and sensual views on love and physical desire, possibly inspired by his own experiences with Anne.
• Donne's secret marriage to Anne resulted in significant personal and financial struggles, yet their deep bond is evident in the intimate and erotic nature of this poem. This poem likely captures the passionate and uninhibited aspects of their relationship.

Literary Context

• The poem fits within the tradition of carpe diem poetry, which urges the listener to seize the pleasures of the moment. However, Donne's approach is more direct and explicit compared to the subtler innuendos of his contemporaries.

• Donne's use of conceit in this poem is evident in the elaborate metaphors comparing the mistress's body to a new world to be discovered and conquered. This reflects the broader metaphysical tradition of using surprising and imaginative connections to explore themes of love and desire.

Historical and Political Background

• The late 16th and early 17th centuries, when Donne was writing, were marked by significant social and religious upheaval in England. The tension between Protestantism and Catholicism, along with the rise of Puritanism, influenced the cultural and intellectual climate of the time.
• The Renaissance era's emphasis on exploration, discovery, and the celebration of human experience is mirrored in the poem's imagery of conquest and discovery. The poem's sensuality and celebration of physical love reflect the period's more liberal attitudes towards sexuality and the human body.
• Donne's poetry often challenges societal norms and conventions, reflecting the changing intellectual and cultural landscape of the time. In Elegy: To His Mistress Going to Bed, he boldly celebrates physical love and desire, subverting the more restrained and idealised portrayals of love common in earlier Renaissance literature.

Structure and Form

Form, Metre, and Rhyme

• The poem consists of 48 lines written in rhyming couplets.
• Each line is in iambic pentameter, a common metre in English poetry.
• The rhyming pattern is consistent, following the structure of heroic couplets, typically used for serious and elevated themes.

Speaker and Setting

• The speaker is a passionate lover addressing his mistress, urging her to undress and join him in bed.
• The setting is intimate and private, presumably a bedroom, creating a sense of urgency and immediacy in the speaker's plea.

Poetic Devices

• Conceit: The poem uses extended metaphors to compare the lover's body to a world or a new land to be discovered, emphasising exploration and possession.

• Simile: Comparisons such as "like heaven's Zone glistering" for the girdle and "like Mahomet's Paradise" for the bedclothes, enhance the poem's sensual imagery.

• Alliteration: The use of alliteration, as in "my America! my new-foundland," creates a musical quality that emphasises the speaker's excitement and urgency.

• Symbolism: Clothing symbolises barriers to intimacy and truth, while nakedness represents purity and spiritual enlightenment.

• Imagery: Vivid imagery is employed throughout, such as describing the mistress's undressing and comparing her body to precious stones and a "mine of precious stones."

Key Themes

Sexuality and Seduction

"Full nakedness! All joys are due to thee, / As souls unbodied, bodies unclothed must be." (Lines 33-34)

• The poem challenges the norms of Elizabethan society by openly discussing and celebrating sexual desire.
• The speaker's candid approach to seduction contrasts with the more coy and indirect methods common in Renaissance love poetry.

Nakedness and Truth

"To teach thee, I am naked first; why then / What needst thou have more covering than a man." (Lines 47-48)

• The speaker equates nakedness with truth and enlightenment, suggesting that true understanding and intimacy can only be achieved through physical and emotional exposure.

Power and Possession

"O my America! my new-found-land, / My kingdom, safeliest when with one man mann'd." (Lines 27-28)

• The poem explores themes of power and possession, comparing the lover's conquest of his mistress's body to the discovery and colonisation of new lands.

Line by Line Analysis

Lines 1-4

"Come, Madam, come, all rest my powers defy, Until I labour, I in labour lie. The foe oft-times having the foe in sight, Is tir'd with standing though he never fight."

• The speaker begins with an imperative, urging his mistress to come to bed, indicating his restless state.
• The repetition of "labour" signifies his sexual frustration and anticipation.
• The military metaphor of "foe" and "fight" suggests a sense of urgency and struggle in his pursuit of physical union.

Lines 5-10

"Off with that girdle, like heaven's Zone glistering, But a far fairer world encompassing. Unpin that spangled breastplate which you wear, That th'eyes of busy fools may be stopped there. Unlace yourself, for that harmonious chime, Tells me from you, that now it is bed time."

• The speaker describes his mistress's clothing in celestial terms, enhancing her allure.
• The "girdle" and "breastplate" are seen as barriers to intimacy, which he urges her to remove.
• The "harmonious chime" symbolises the passage of time, reinforcing the immediacy of his desire.

Lines 11-18

"Off with that happy busk, which I envy, That still can be, and still can stand so nigh. Your gown going off, such beauteous state reveals, As when from flowery meads th'hill's shadow steals. Off with that wiry Coronet and shew The hairy Diadem which on you doth grow: Now off with those shoes, and then safely tread In this love's hallow'd temple, this soft bed."

• The speaker continues to describe the removal of clothing, each item representing a step closer to intimacy.
• The metaphors of nature and light emphasise the beauty and purity of the mistress's body.
• The bed is likened to a "hallowed temple," elevating the act of love to a sacred ritual.

Lines 19-24

"In such white robes, heaven's Angels used to be Received by men; Thou Angel bringst with thee A heaven like Mahomet's Paradise; and though Ill spirits walk in white, we easily know, By this these Angels from an evil sprite, Those set our hairs, but these our flesh upright."

• The comparison of bedclothes to angelic robes imbues the scene with innocence and sanctity.
• The contrast between angels and spirits underscores the purity of his mistress, despite societal taboos on premarital sex.
• The final line contains a sexual innuendo, blending sacred and profane imagery.

Lines 25-32

"Licence my roving hands, and let them go, Before, behind, between, above, below. O my America! my new-found-land, My kingdom, safeliest when with one man mann'd, My Mine of precious stones, My Empirie, How blest am I in this discovering thee! To enter in these bonds, is to be free; Then where my hand is set, my seal shall be."

• The speaker requests permission to explore his mistress's body, likening it to uncharted territory.
• The metaphors of discovery and colonisation suggest possession and control.
• The paradox of "enter in these bonds, is to be free" highlights the liberating power of their physical union.

Lines 33-38

"Full nakedness! All joys are due to thee, As souls unbodied, bodies unclothed must be, To taste whole joys. Gems which you women use Are like Atlanta's balls, cast in men's views, That when a fool's eye lighteth on a Gem, His earthly soul may covet theirs, not them."

• The speaker extols the virtues of nakedness, comparing it to spiritual freedom.
• He criticises societal emphasis on adornment, suggesting that true joy lies in the body itself.
• The allusion to Atlanta's balls underscores the deceptive nature of appearances.

Lines 39-48

"Like pictures, or like books' gay coverings made For lay-men, are all women thus array'd; Themselves are mystic books, which only we (Whom their imputed grace will dignify) Must see reveal'd. Then since that I may know, As liberally, as to a Midwife, shew Thy self: cast all, yea, this white linen hence, There is no penance due to innocence. To teach thee, I am naked first; why then What needst thou have more covering than a man."

• The speaker equates women to mystic books, suggesting that their true essence is revealed only through nakedness.
• He positions himself as enlightened, worthy of uncovering these truths.
• The concluding lines emphasise mutual vulnerability and equality in their physical union, urging his mistress to match his state of undress.