"A Valediction: Of Weeping" is English Metaphysical poet John Donne's tale of a sad goodbye. As the speaker and his beloved share a last embrace before the speaker leaves on a long voyage, the speaker reflects on what his beloved means to him—literally. Every teardrop that holds his beloved's reflection, the speaker says, is a whole world, marked with the beloved's face as a globe is marked with the continents. Love, the poem suggests, can make two people into each other's worlds, and thus turn a farewell into the end of the world. Like nearly all of Donne's poetry, "A Valediction: Of Weeping" wasn't published until after Donne's death; it first appeared in the posthumous collection Poems (1633).
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The Full Text of “A Valediction: Of Weeping”
1 Let me pour forth
2My tears before thy face whilst I stay here,
3For thy face coins them, and thy stamp they bear,
4And by this mintage they are something worth,
5 For thus they be
6 Pregnant of thee;
7Fruits of much grief they are, emblems of more,
8When a tear falls, that thou falls which it bore,
9So thou and I are nothing then, when on a diverse shore.
10 On a round ball
11A workman that hath copies by can lay
12An Europe, Afric, and an Asia,
13And quickly make that, which was nothing, all;
14 So doth each tear
15 Which thee doth wear,
16A globe, yea world, by that impression grow,
17Till thy tears mixed with mine do overflow
18This world; by waters sent from thee, my heaven dissolvèd so.
19 O more than moon,
20Draw not up seas to drown me in thy sphere;
21Weep me not dead in thine arms, but forbear
22To teach the sea what it may do too soon.
23 Let not the wind
24 Example find,
25To do me more harm than it purposeth;
26Since thou and I sigh one another's breath,
27Whoe'er sighs most is cruellest, and hastes the other's death.
The Full Text of “A Valediction: Of Weeping”
1 Let me pour forth
2My tears before thy face whilst I stay here,
3For thy face coins them, and thy stamp they bear,
4And by this mintage they are something worth,
5 For thus they be
6 Pregnant of thee;
7Fruits of much grief they are, emblems of more,
8When a tear falls, that thou falls which it bore,
9So thou and I are nothing then, when on a diverse shore.
10 On a round ball
11A workman that hath copies by can lay
12An Europe, Afric, and an Asia,
13And quickly make that, which was nothing, all;
14 So doth each tear
15 Which thee doth wear,
16A globe, yea world, by that impression grow,
17Till thy tears mixed with mine do overflow
18This world; by waters sent from thee, my heaven dissolvèd so.
19 O more than moon,
20Draw not up seas to drown me in thy sphere;
21Weep me not dead in thine arms, but forbear
22To teach the sea what it may do too soon.
23 Let not the wind
24 Example find,
25To do me more harm than it purposeth;
26Since thou and I sigh one another's breath,
27Whoe'er sighs most is cruellest, and hastes the other's death.
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“A Valediction: Of Weeping” Summary
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“A Valediction: Of Weeping” Themes
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The Pains of Parting
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Love and Connection
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Valediction: Of Weeping”
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Lines 1-4
Let me pour forth
My tears before thy face whilst I stay here,
For thy face coins them, and thy stamp they bear,
And by this mintage they are something worth, -
Lines 5-9
For thus they be
Pregnant of thee;
Fruits of much grief they are, emblems of more,
When a tear falls, that thou falls which it bore,
So thou and I are nothing then, when on a diverse shore. -
Lines 10-16
On a round ball
A workman that hath copies by can lay
An Europe, Afric, and an Asia,
And quickly make that, which was nothing, all;
So doth each tear
Which thee doth wear,
A globe, yea world, by that impression grow, -
Lines 17-18
Till thy tears mixed with mine do overflow
This world; by waters sent from thee, my heaven dissolvèd so. -
Lines 19-22
O more than moon,
Draw not up seas to drown me in thy sphere;
Weep me not dead in thine arms, but forbear
To teach the sea what it may do too soon. -
Lines 23-27
Let not the wind
Example find,
To do me more harm than it purposeth;
Since thou and I sigh one another's breath,
Whoe'er sighs most is cruellest, and hastes the other's death.
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“A Valediction: Of Weeping” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Conceit
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Metaphor
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Enjambment
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Allusion
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Assonance
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“A Valediction: Of Weeping” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Pour forth
- Thy, Thine, Thee, Thou
- Coins
- Stamp
- Mintage
- Emblems
- "When a tear falls, that thou falls which it bore"
- Diverse
- Hath
- Afric
- Doth
- Yea
- "Draw not up seas to drown me in thy sphere"
- "Weep me not dead"
- Forbear
- Purposeth
- Whoe'er
- Hastes
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- See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Valediction: Of Weeping”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“A Valediction: Of Weeping” Speaker
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“A Valediction: Of Weeping” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “A Valediction: Of Weeping”
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More “A Valediction: Of Weeping” Resources
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External Resources
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The Metaphysical Poets — Learn more about the witty, brilliant 17th-century literary movement for which Donne is the poster boy.
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Donne's Portrait — Admire a rather dashing portrait of Donne as a young lover.
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A Brief Biography — Learn more about Donne's life and work via the British Library.
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Poems (1633) — Take a look at images from Donne's posthumous collection Poems (in which this poem was first printed).
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LitCharts on Other Poems by John Donne
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