Compare And Contrast Anne Bradstreet's Husband And A Letter To Her Husband
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There comes a time when two lovers are forced to spend some time apart. John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” and Anne Bradstreet’s “A Letter to Her Husband: Absent upon Public Employment” both deal with the subject of couple separation. Although Donne’s poem argues that spending some time apart strengthens a relationship, Bradstreet’s poem debates that man and woman must be together in order to function properly. The validity of this statement is presented through both form and style, exploring concepts such as narration, metaphysics, and rhetoric. The speakers in each of the poems are of different genders, portraying two separate and distinct ideas about separation. Donne underlines the good that comes out of man being away…show more content… Donne’s iambic tetrameter meter and Bradstreet’s iambic pentameter meter are rhythms working in pairs, underlining the idea of relationships. Though the two poets are working in iambs, it is their rhyming that differentiates their points of view towards the subject of separation. Donne uses an ABAB rhyme scheme, supporting his statement that spending time apart strengthens a relationship. In contrast, Bradstreet adopts an AABB rhyme scheme, stressing her ideas of physical presence and…show more content… 11). He explains that though “greater far” (198 l. 12), it is unequivocally innocent. He uses these concentric globes that surround earth to further encourage separation as a way of building spiritual love. The Donnes are understood to be working on a love that is “so much refined” (198 l. 17) and that “care[s] less, eyes, lips, and hands to miss” (198 l. 20), one that is not entirely physical. Donne’s imagery on celestial bodies evidently supports his general statement on the benefits of separation, ultimately strengthening the idea of spiritual