The Good-Morrow by John Donne | Analysis

This is Studienet's guide to analysing the poem "The Good-Morrow" by John Donne that can be found in the textbook Fields of Vision I, p. D5. In it, we focus on several important elements of the poem that are relevant to include in an analysis, eg. composition, speaker, language and style, and more. In addition, we help you put the poem in perspective.

Presentation of the poem

Title: “The Good-Morrow”
Author: John Donne
Published in: Songs and Sonnets (collection)
Date of Publication: 1633
Genre: Poetry

John Donne (1573-1631) was an English Catholic cleric who also wrote poems. He belonged to a group of poets who are today known as the metaphysical poets. Most of Donne’s poems present a metaphysical perspective on themes like love, sexuality, religion, and death. His poems fall into several genres including satire, love poetry and elegy. Though the poem “The Good-Morrow” was officially published posthumously (after the author’s death), the poem was actually written when the poet was only a student.

Excerpt

Here, you can read a small excerpt from the study guide:

Current issues

Published about 400 years ago, the poem may come across as old-fashioned to modern society. However, given that the poem’s theme is universal - love - even modern readers can relate to it. The poem is a vivid poetic description of what passionate reciprocal love feels like. It can also offer a valuable lesson because it subtly teaches people to enjoy the physical aspects of love, but also to strive for a deeper level which goes beyond the physical into the spiritual.