Go and catch a falling star - John Donn

 

The three stanzas of the poem rhymes ababccddd. There is uniformity in the number of lines and even in the shape of the poem. One might see this quality as a male poet privileging order and reason over chaos which usually is associated with women. Women were idealized, or even idolized, in Courtly Love Poems as pure faithful Madonnas. This, of course, is unrealistic. Unlike many Renaissance poems idealizing women, “Song” satirizes women using hyperbole – extreme exaggeration. The poem may sound antifeminist (misogynistic), but it must be viewed in the context of metaphysical poems. Therefore, it should be read not so much as a condemnation of women but as a criticism of CLP. In fact, Donne, far from being a misogynist, had been described by one of his friends as “a great visitor of ladies.” Therefore, it is more prudent to read the “Song” is a perfect example of Donne’s playfulness with metaphysical conceits and female sexuality.

Imagine a lover who has fallen hard for that perfect woman once too often – and now has a cynical view on all women. The poem opens with a list of impossible tasks: catching a falling star[1] – a meteorite, becoming pregnant with the aid of a mandrake root[2], and finding out where the time we spent harbour itself, 2. Who cleft the Devil’s foot, 3. How to hear Mermaids[3] singing without losing one’s head 4. How to keep those who are envious from harming others, and 5. What would bring good fortune to honest people – illustrating the impossibility of finding a beautiful woman who also happens to be honest.

The second stanza focuses on feminine virtues. The poet continues his monologue with the imaginary listener and tells him that even if the listener were to go on a quest around the world looking for a woman both beautiful and faithful he would upon his return tell the poet that he had not come across one.

In the third stanza, Donne continues his argument based on the hypothesis that if the listener were to find a woman who was both faithful and beautiful, she would become fickle within the short time it would take the listener to walk next-door and report to the poet of his discovery, not just to one person but two or three.     

Donne uses a startling series of unconventional images. In addition, Donne also uses unusual comparisons, or conceits, and his argumentative style. In this poem, the poet brings in a series of arguments like a consummate lawyer to prove his point. The argumentative style gives the different parts of the poem a sense of interconnectedness while forcing the reader to pay close attention to what is being said.

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[1] A falling star is a bright beautiful thing that is reduced to ashes in the end. People make wishes when they see one. Donne, influenced by the increasing focus on the sciences, is trying to show that trying to catch an honest beautiful woman is like trying to catch a meteorite – both attempts would be disillusioning as well as disastrous.

[2] A plant used in witchcraft. It is also used as an aphrodisiac, a cathartic, a poison, and a narcotic. Making a baby with the aid of a mandrake root is an unnatural act – a beautiful woman who is faithful is also unnatural; beautiful women are by nature fickle – according to the voice. However, in this context, making a baby is impossible as the poet is asking a man to become pregnant by a male plant.   

[3] Singing of the mermaids, or more correctly the sirens, lure unsuspecting sailors to their doom according to Homer in The Odyssey. Similarly, women, according to the voice, lure men to their destruction.