Go[1], and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake[2] root,
Tell me, where all past years
are,
Or who cleft the devil’s foot,
Teach me to hear mermaids
singing,
Or to keep off envy’s stinging
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.
If[3] thou be’st born to strange
sights,
Things invisible to see,
Ride ten thousand days and
nights,
Till age snow white hair on thee,
Thou, when thou retutn’st, wilt
tell me
All strange wonders that befell
thee,
And swear
Nowhere
Lives a woman true, and fair.
If thou find’st one, let me know,
Such a pilgrimage were sweet;
Yet do not, I would not go,
Though at next door we might meet,
Though she were true, when you
met her,
And last, till you write your
letter,
Yet she
Will be
False, ere I come, to two, or three.
Themes
- Status
of the Elizabethan woman
- infidelity
- Male
Chauvinism
- Misogyny
- inconsistency
of human nature
Analysis:
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, especially for someone with first-hand experience in the court
intrigues in which women played no small part. 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.
Stanza
I
Go[4], and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake[5] root,
Tell me, where all past years
are,
Or who cleft the devil’s foot,
Teach me to hear mermaids
singing,
Or to keep off envy’s stinging
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.
Imagine a man who
has acquired better view of women and female sexuality as a result of his
numerous romantic dalliances in the court of Elizabethan England. The poem
opens with the poetic persona issuing a list of impossible tasks for someone
like a knight of the courtly love poems who wants to prove himself: catching a
falling star[6],
becoming pregnant with the aid of a mandrake root[7], and finding out:
1) where
the time we spent harboured itself,
2) who
cleft the Devil’s foot,
3) how
to hear Mermaids[8]
singing without losing one’s head,
4) how
to keep those who are envious from harming others,
5) and
what brought good fortune to honest people
The
impossibility of performing these tasks illustrates the impossibility of
finding a beautiful woman who also happens to be honest. The entire stanza is a
series of imperatives issued in rapid-fire succession. The use of imperatives
suggests strong emotions.
Looking at the
metaphors used in this stanza:
A falling star is a bright beautiful thing that is
reduced to ashes in the end. People make whishes 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.
Mandrake is a plant whose
forked root said to resemble a human torso and legs 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.
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.
Stanza II
If[9] thou be’st born to strange
sights,
Things invisible to see,
Ride ten thousand days and
nights,
Till age snow white hair on thee,
Thou, when thou retutn’st, wilt
tell me
All strange wonders that befell
thee,
And swear
Nowhere
Lives a woman true, and fair.
The
second stanza focuses on feminine virtues. The poet continues his monologue with
the imaginary listener and assures him with complete conviction that even if the
listener were to go on a quest around the world experiencing “strange sights”
and “[t]hings invisible to see” looking for a woman both beautiful and faithful
for “ten thousand days and nights” until “age” turns his hair “snow white”, he
would upon his return “swear” the poet that he had not come across a woman who
was both “true, and fair”. The stanza is a single sentence in the form of a
conditional clause signaling the poetic persona’s belief in the impossibility accomplishing
of the task at hand.
Stanza III
If thou find’st one, let me know,
Such a pilgrimage were sweet;
Yet do not, I would not go,
Though at next door we might
meet,
Though she were true, when you
met her,
And last, till you write your
letter,
Yet she
Will be
False, ere I come, to two, or
three.
The third stanza
is made of two clauses. The first is an “if clause”. He likens the journey of
the listener to a pilgrimage and asks the listener to let him know should he to
find a woman who is both beautiful and faithful in the course of his
pilgrimage. He says such a discovery would make all the hardships associated
with a pilgrimage sweet. Immediately, takes back his word and tells his
listener not to bother. Donne says that if the listener were to find a woman
who was both faithful and beautiful just next-door, she would remain in that
condition only as long as it would take the listener to compose a letter and
send it to him. However, she would become unfaithful within the short time it
would take the poetic persona to walk next-door, not just to one person but “to
two or three.”
Techniques:
1) Donne
uses a startling series of unconventional images such as meteors and magical
plants
2) In
addition, Donne also uses unusual comparisons, or conceits
3) 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.
Thinking
critically:
1. To
whom is this speaker talking? What do you think has occasioned the writing of
this poem?
2. In
the second stanza, what does the speaker say his listener will discover about a
woman both “true and fair”?
3. In
the last stanza, what does the speaker say he will not do? Why?
4. What
hyperbole or exaggeration does the speaker use to make his point?
5. How
would you describe the speaker’s tone? List at least three words that reveal
his attitude. Do you think he is being serious?
6. In
terms of their themes, “Sonnet 141” by William Shakespeare and “Song” by Donne,
which poet has put the theme across best according to your view? Illustrate
your answer with examples from the text.
7. It is
said that “Song” is a hyperbolic expression of the moral depravity of women.
What is your view on this statement?
8. Discuss
with close reference to the “Song” the extent to which it sports the
characteristics of a Metaphysical poetry.
[1] Go, Tell, Teach – use
of imperatives imply strong displeasure
[2] A plant whose forked
root said to resemble a human torso and legs
[3] Second and third
stanza starts with an if clause signaling disbelief/ impossibility
[4] Go, Tell, Teach – use
of imperatives imply strong displeasure
[5] A plant whose forked
root said to resemble a human torso and legs
[6] A falling star is a
bright beautiful thing that is reduced to ashes in the end. People make whishes
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.
[7] 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.
[8] 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.
[9] Second and third
stanza starts with an if clause signaling disbelief/ impossibility
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