Woman's Constancy by John Donne (Edexcel A-Level English Literature): Revision Notes

Woman's Constancy by John Donne

Context

• Woman's Constancy by John Donne was composed in the early 17th century, a period characterised by intense religious and political change in England.

• The poem reflects Donne's involvement with the metaphysical poets, known for their complex use of language and inventive metaphors, or conceits.

  

• This era was marked by a preoccupation with themes of love, faith, and the nature of human relationships.

• Donne's poetry often interrogates the sincerity and durability of romantic commitments, reflective of broader societal anxieties about fidelity and the true nature of love.

Structure and Form

Form, Metre, and Rhyme

• The poem is structured as a single 17-line stanza.
• It follows a rhyme scheme of AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHI.
• The metre predominantly follows iambic tetrameter, lending a rhythmic and balanced flow to the speaker's argument.
• This regular structure contrasts with the tumultuous emotional content, enhancing the poem's ironic tone.

Speaker and Setting

• The speaker is a lover addressing his beloved, questioning the constancy of her affections.
• The setting is not explicitly defined, but the intimate nature of the address suggests a private conversation, perhaps after a night spent together.

Poetic Devices

• Conceit**:** The central conceit of the poem is the notion of a "one whole day" of love, which the speaker uses to question the beloved's commitment.
• This conceit challenges the idea of eternal love by presenting a single day's love as a microcosm of a longer relationship.
• Rhetorical Questions: The poem is rife with rhetorical questions that probe the nature of the beloved's fidelity.
• For example, "Wilt thou then antedate some new-made vow?" and "Or, as true deaths true marriages untie, / So lovers' contracts, images of those, / Bind but till sleep, death's image, them unloose?" These questions create a tone of scepticism and challenge.
• Metaphor: Death and sleep are metaphorically linked to the dissolution of love contracts, suggesting the fragility and temporary nature of romantic commitments.
• For instance, "Bind but till sleep, death's image, them unloose?" implies that lovers' vows are as transient as sleep.
• Irony**:** There is a subtle irony in the speaker's argument, as he both questions the beloved's constancy and acknowledges his potential inconstancy.
• This is evident in the concluding lines, "For by tomorrow, I may think so too," where the speaker admits he might share the same inconstancy he criticises.

• Enjambment**:** The use of enjambment allows the poem's ideas to flow into one another, mirroring the fluidity and uncertainty of the emotions being expressed.
• Alliteration and Assonance: Donne uses sound devices to create a musical quality in the poem, enhancing its rhetorical and persuasive power.
• Examples include the repetition of the 'f' sound in "For having purposed change and falsehood" and the 's' sound in "self-murder added be."

Key Themes

Constancy and Inconstancy

"Now thou hast loved me one whole day, / Tomorrow when you leav'st, what wilt thou say?" (Lines 1-2)

• The poem explores the fleeting nature of romantic affection, questioning whether true constancy is possible in love.

Fidelity and Betrayal

"Wilt thou then antedate some new-made vow? / Or say that now / We are not just those persons which we were?" (Lines 3-5)

• Donne delves into the themes of fidelity and betrayal, highlighting the ease with which lovers might justify their inconstancy.

The Ephemeral Nature of Love

"Or, as true deaths true marriages untie, / So lovers' contracts, images of those, / Bind but till sleep, death's image, them unloose?" (Lines 8-10)

• Love is portrayed as ephemeral, akin to sleep or death, which unbinds the temporary commitments made by lovers.

Self-Deception and Rationalisation

"For having purposed change and falsehood, you / Can have no way but falsehood to be true?" (Lines 12-13)

• The poem examines the rationalisations people use to justify their changing feelings, revealing self-deception in the process.

Similar Poems

• "The Good Morrow" by John Donne: Another exploration of love and unity, using elaborate metaphors to discuss the nature of true love.
• "The Sun Rising" by John Donne: This poem also features a direct address to a lover and combines personal emotion with broader metaphysical themes.

Line by Line Analysis

Lines 1-4

Now thou hast loved me one whole day, Tomorrow when you leav'st, what wilt thou say? Wilt thou then antedate some new-made vow? Or say that now

"Now thou hast loved me one whole day, / Tomorrow when you leav'st, what wilt thou say?"

• The speaker begins by highlighting the brevity of their love, questioning the beloved's future constancy.
• He anticipates her departure and challenges her to justify it, suggesting doubt about her commitment.

"Wilt thou then antedate some new-made vow?"

• The speaker questions if she will fabricate a new promise to excuse her change in affection.
• "Antedate" means to backdate, indicating a false justification.

"Or say that now"

• The line breaks abruptly, creating a sense of incompleteness and emphasising the uncertainty of her future excuses.

Lines 5-10

We are not just those persons which we were? Or, that oaths made in reverential fear Of Love, and his wrath, any may forswear? Or, as true deaths true marriages untie, So lovers' contracts, images of those, Bind but till sleep, death's image, them unloose?

"We are not just those persons which we were?"

• The speaker suggests that people change over time, and thus their commitments may no longer hold.
• This line questions the consistency of personal identity over time.

"Or, that oaths made in reverential fear / Of Love, and his wrath, any may forswear?"

• He proposes that oaths made under the pressure of love can be broken.
• The reverential fear of Love personifies love as a powerful, almost divine force.

"Or, as true deaths true marriages untie, / So lovers' contracts, images of those, / Bind but till sleep, death's image, them unloose?"

• The speaker draws a parallel between death nullifying marriages and sleep temporarily unbinding lovers.
• "Death's image" metaphorically represents sleep, implying that lovers' vows are as fragile and temporary as sleep.

Lines 11-13

Or, your own end to justify, For having purposed change and falsehood, you Can have no way but falsehood to be true?

• The speaker suggests that the beloved might deceive herself to justify her changing feelings.
• He critiques the idea that maintaining falsehood is necessary to uphold a semblance of truth, exposing self-deception.

Lines 14-17

Vain lunatic, against these 'scapes I could Dispute and conquer, if I would, Which I abstain to do, For by tomorrow, I may think so too.

"Vain lunatic, against these 'scapes I could / Dispute and conquer, if I would,"

• The speaker calls his lover a "vain lunatic", indicating frustration but also resigned understanding.
• He asserts his ability to argue against her excuses successfully.

_"_Which I abstain to do, / For by tomorrow, I may think so too."

• The speaker chooses not to dispute excuses, recognising his potential for inconstancy.
• The final admission that he might share her feelings of inconstancy tomorrow underscores the poem's exploration of the transient nature of love.