Valediction vs. Conjoined

Jose Lopez
Per.4

In these poems two different outlooks on love become evident through each of the author’s unique perspectives. John Donne makes his outlook on love clear as he attempts to compare it to a celestial connection. While Judith Minty takes a different yet similar stance on the subject through her comparing of love to some of the “freakish” things in life. Throughout the poems the authors each share their different perspectives on love through the use of Metaphors and selection of detail. John Donne use of metaphors help to evoke the fact that he feels love is like a celestial connection, while Judith Minty’s use of selection of details show that she feels love is a strong attachment that is sort of draining.
Both author express the view on the connection love is but they do so in different ways. For example John Donne says, “ as virtuous men pas mildly away, and whisper to their souls to go, whilst some of their sad friends do say, the breath goes now, and some say, no.” Therefore he establishes that fact that virtuous men will pass away, but no matter what people well always remember their remains their legacies. Hence through the use of this metaphor John Donne actually is comparing the connection of love to something that can never be forgotten. He is expressing the fact that love is so strong, that even when it seems to be no longer physically there, it will always remain in people’s hearts and minds. This quote clearly shows that the author looks at love as a strong bond that is able to endure even when those who it bonds have passed away. On the other hand Judith Minty also shares her outlook on the connection of love but does so in a different way. For example, she says, “ the onion in my cupboard, a monster, actually two joined under one transparent skin….where it pressed and grew against the other”. Through this uses of selection of detail it becomes clear that she feels love is a strong connection yet she doesn’t view it as wonderful as the first author. She clearly sees that love is a strong bond, just as she compared it a an onion which inevitably is actually two pieces under one skin, but the fact that she uses the onion shows here differing outlook on the connection. By comparing the connection to an onion, she makes it seems as if the connection is almost pestering, one cannot t help but to think of action of crying when being exposed to an onion and that is the authors’ intention when utilizing this object. She uses this to show the fact that she feels there is a connection but it is one that is no satisfying, it instead makes the two almost annoy each other and feel dissatisfied.
Moreover both author share different views on the nature of love. For example, John Donne expresses the unique quality of his love through the use of several metaphors. For example he states, “trepidation of the spheres, though greater far, is innocent” and further goes on to say “Dull sublunary lovers’ love cannot admit absence because it doth remove those things which elemented it…we by a love so refined …endure not yet a breach, but an expansion.” Therefore through the use of these metaphors it becomes clear that he sees his love as a celestial connection. Such is seen as he mentions the trepidation of the spheres, he is basically saying that like the heavens tremble and yet cause no harm, his love is just as powerful. He sees his love as being like the heavens, yet no causing harm or falling apart when struggle emerges. Moreover he feels the love he has is on a higher level than that of other “dull” ordinary lovers. This author expresses the strength of the love him and his partner share, and he feels that is it like nothing else anyone can have.
On the other hand Judith Minty expresses her view on the nature of love through the use of selection of detail. For example she states, “ An accident…like those other freaks, Chang and Eng, twins joined at the chest by skin and muscle, doomed to live, even make love, together for sixty years.” It becomes evident that she views love as a draining, freakish thing. It is almost as if she feels that love is forced just like two twins that are conjoined. The use of the twins to compare them to love, emphasize the fact that she thinks love is an uncomfortable situation. The words she chooses such as doomed evoke a sense of negative feelings towards love. She clearly feels that love would is something that is binding, but not gratifying. The way she uses the twins’ situation with love give the reader the feeling that love in her eyes is not something people would like to be in.
Over all both authors hold different views on the nature and connection of love. The author of Valediction feels that love is a bond above all, able to overcome obstacles. While on the other hand, Judith Minty portrays love as an awkward and unsatisfying thing. Both authors successfully use their own individual perspectives and figurative tools to evoke their outlook on love.