An Analysis of the poem “Song” by John Donne (Coursework Sample)

(Your Name) (Professor) (Literature, Code) An Analysis of the poem “Song” by John Donne John Donne’s “Song” is an interesting poem about how difficult it is to get a faithful woman. The speaker compares how hard it is getting a faithful woman with a number of things that are really hard to achieve such as catching a falling star or hearing of mermaid’s singing. The title “Song” suggests that the poem’s content is an issue that has been said over and again by men until it appears like it is a song for now. The author’s adept use of diction, structure, imagery, and direct address, makes the poem convey the message about the difficulty of finding a faithful woman in a convincing manner. The poem begins with an imperative tone as the speaker tells the addressee to accomplish a raft of impossibilities: “Go and catch a falling star/Get with child a mandrake root/Tell me where all past years are” (1-3).Even if one achieved these, it would still be even harder to get a faithful woman. In the subsequent lines(10-12),the speaker continues to give an alternative suggestion that even if the addressee embarked on a long adventurous journey/odyssey, he(speaker) is certain that the addressee will never find a faithful woman anywhere, “And swear/No where/Lives a woman true and fair”(16-18).And even if in any case he were to find such anywhere, to let him know: “If thou find’st one,let me know”(19).The speaker continues to say that he knows such a journey to where she is would be nice, but on a second thought, he changes his mind and tells the addressee not to inform him for he(speaker) would not go even if the woman was found next door, “Yet do not, I would not go” (21).The reason is because the fair woman might have since changed, “Though she were true, when you met her/Yet she/Will be/False, ere I come, to two, or three” (23,25-27).These lines reveal the speaker’s cynicism about the possibility of finding a good woman anywhere. The speaker’s tone betrays his strong emotions as he pitches his views about women. He has total conviction that it is difficult to find a faithful woman. The tone reveals his dim view of women, betraying perhaps his first hand experience with several unfaithful ones. At first, it is impossible to establish the grain of argument, not until towards the end of the second stanza do we get the crux of the argument: “No where/Lives a woman true and fair” (17-18).The word “swear” (16) shows strong emotion and skepticism that there is no faithful woman (Redpath 23). The poem’s impact is heightened by the poet’s adept use of stylistic devices such as elision in “be’st” (10) and “return’st” (14), these are useful in preserving metre.The use of images such as “Falling star” (1), “mandrake root” (2), and “mermaid’s singing” (5) help one to visualize vividly these things and in comparison see how difficult it is to get a fair woman. The use of rhyme as in “star/are, root/foot...