Love and Death in Poetry

Themes of poetry are vast, but two of the most common themes are love and death. These are topics that many people, not just poets, wonder about. There are many different ways to think of love and of death. Some people fear them, some embrace them. Others are indifferent; what happens, happens. The following three poems A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, The Shape of Death, and Thirteenth Birthday all have the theme of love and death. However, they all have different takes on the subject. A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning states that the speakers love is so great that it can overcome death. The Shape of Death states the death brings fear, but that love can help overcome fear. And in Thirteenth Birthday, death is something to keep you from enjoying life.







John Donne's A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning was written before Donne's death in 1631, but was not published until after his death in 1633. Maybe this poem was a warning or advanced notice to his loved one of how to react when one of them died. Donne's poem is about a couple who will be or is separated by death. The speaker of the poem believes that virtuous men, like him, will pass mildly and there is no need for tears or sorrow. A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning is written in a gentle, comforting tone. The speaker is going away, perhaps dying, but feels that his parting is not a separation but an "expansion" of the couple. This poem talks about the separation of two people who are soul mates. The speaker believes that even though he must go, it is for the best. "Though I must go, endure not yet/ A breach, but an expansion" (23 - 24).