I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?
But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?
’Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.
And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love, all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown,
Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.
My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres,
Without sharp north, without declining west?
Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.
Source: The Norton Anthology of Poetry Third Edition (1983)
John Donne is an 16th century English poet. He is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets.
"The Good-Morrow" is a poem published in his 1633 collection Songs and Sonnets. It is one of his earliest works.
The poem opens with a rhetorical question 'I wonder, by my troth'. This stop after 'wonder' and the word 'troth' suggests the seriousness and profondity of the question. It also elicits the subject of the poem, which is the relationship between the voice and his lover.
In the next line, the emphasis on the punctuation after 'did' invites audience to think along with the voice. It also slows the line and give a sense of contemplation. The following word 'weaned' suggests that the voice once loved like a chld. This is confirmed in the later line 'childishly', the point of 'sucked on country pleasures' enhances the simple delight and inuendo of the relationship. On the other hand, 'country pleasures' connotes sexual pleasure.
Sibilance in 'seven sleeper's den' evokes soporific effect which allows the image childishness to be recalled.
The voice then concludes with 'twas so;', again the punctuation marks shows affirmative, it identify that the 'all pleasures fancy be' is what life was before they are together.
In the last two lines of the first stanza, the voices expresses that all past relationships lead to her by 'but a dream of thee'. The instrumental effect in 'got, twas' pulls out the words and adds frankness and honesty to the voice's declaration of strong love.
Overall, the first stanza creates the sense that the past leads to the present. It also sets up the thematic idea of a childish past leading to a honest and profound relationship.
