Our love is celestial.

The poems “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” and “Conjoined” demonstrate strong similarities between one another. The speaker in “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” written by John Donne, emphasizes the eternal bond between star crossed lovers. In “Conjoined,” written by Judith Minty, the speaker emphasizes the hardships and struggle of marital ties. Both authors reveal deeper level insight into the realm of partnerships and relationships through the use of diction, imagery, and figurative language.

The diction in each poem helps develop the foundation and tone of each piece. For example, the speaker in “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” describes the lover of average men as “Dull sublunary lovers’ love” (Donne). The word dull connotes emotions of boredom and bleakness. It is mostly associated with situations that are lifeless and uninteresting. By using this word to describe the love of common people, he is ridiculing their love and calling it all the descriptions I had listed above. Not only is it being described as dull but also sublunary. He is now mocking the potential of common love by giving it a limitation that cannot surpass the external heights of the heavens. Instead, this sublunary love stays within this boundary between earth and the moon, never to experience the celestial sensations of never parting love. On the other hand, the speaker in “Conjoined” uses the terms monster and freaks to describe the partnership of marriage. A monster is a creature that shows wickedness and cruelty. A freak is a strange deviation from nature. In this case, both these words contain a negative connotation that emphasizes the unnatural qualities of a married couple and the problems they encounter throughout their lifetime. These terms can also be described as modern or colloquial language, which allows the poem to be more relatable and appealing to today’s audience. The diction in both poems helps develop the greater meaning of each work.

Imagery is also employed by Donne and Minty which further enhances their philosophy towards relationships. In Donne’s poem, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” the speaker begins to describe his parting as “two souls, which are one, though [he] must go, endure not yet a breach, but an expansion like gold to airy thinness beat.” This sets up a very powerful image. With normal love, he believes that there are external forces powerful enough to break their bond with one another. But with the speaker’s celestial love, he states that it cannot be broken or breached due to the powerful emotions him and his partner share. Although there may be such powers that keep these two heavenly lovers apart, it will only stretch or expand their connection beyond great lengths, never separating once. Their love is chosen to be parallel the luxury and royalty of gold as well, a metal that maintains a positive connotation, instead of a metal of lesser value such as copper or bronze. In Minty’s poem, “Conjoined,” the speaker depicts the partnership of marriage with the term “an accident, life the two-headed calf rooted in one body.” This description embodies the tale of a beast defying all rules of human nature. Not only does it go against the natural laws of the land, but it also conjures problems for itself as well. Having a set of opposing brains along with two mouths makes living a constant struggle than what is would be for something normal. But marriage reflects nothing that is normal and the speaker displays that notion through the image he creates. It is an extreme portrait that parallels the ties of marriage and truly embodies its troublesome nature. The images produced by both poems help illustrate the meaning behind the text.

Figurative language is another large component used in poems “A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning” and “Conjoined.” For example, the speaker in Donne’s poem goes on to describe him and his partner “as stiff twin compasses are two; thy soul, the fixt foot, makes no show to move, but doth, it th’other do.” He is comparing his unrelenting partnership with his soul mate to the mathematical tool which is used to produce perfect circles. No matter how far apart each leg is from one another, how large the circle produced must be, the legs of the compass will always stay attached to one another. They work together in harmony to produce a geometric shape impossible with just a steady hand. And after the job is finished, the compass will collapse and both legs will come together once more, waiting for another task. Like the working of a compass, marriage only works when both pieces are in sync with one another. Similarly in Minty’s poem, the speaker also relates marriage to “the onion in my cupboard, a monster, actually two joined under one transparent skin…” and goes on to ask “do you feel the skin that binds us together as we move, heavy in this house?” Just as it is depicted in Donne’s poem, the partnership described in “Conjoined” is also coupled together in a more bizarre fashion. The onion is deceptive. On the exterior, it has the shape, feel, and smell of any regular onion. But on the inside, it is a mutant completely different from the normal. This is suggestive to the deception of marriage as well. A married couple may look a certain way on the outside, but the troubles and struggles they live through are the things hidden beneath. The figurative language displayed by Donne and Minty imply the truth behind these accounts of relationships and partnerships.

Without a doubt, poems “A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning” and “Conjoined” display masterful use of diction, imagery, and figurative language in order to show its greater meaning behind the text. Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning” emphasizes the strength of celestial love that cannot be broken by even the most powerful forces. Minty’s “Conjoined” depicts the triumphs of marriage and what it takes being joined together. They both shed light on different types of relationships and partnerships easily seen throughout mankind today.