To His Mistress Going to Bed Analysis

Come, Madam, come, all rest my powers defy,

Until I labour, I in labour lie.

The foe oft-times having the foe in sight,

Is tired with standing though they never fight.

Off with that girdle, like heaven's zone glistering,

But a far fairer world encompassing.

Unpin that spangled breastplate which you wear,

That th' eyes of busy fools may be stopped there.

Unlace yourself, for that harmonious chime

Tells me from you, that now 'tis your bed time.

Off with that happy busk, which I envy,

That still can be, and still can stand so nigh.

Your gown going off, such beauteous state reveals,

As when from flowery meads th' hill's shadow steals.

Off with that wiry coronet and show

The hairy diadem which on you doth grow;

Now off with those shoes, and then safely tread

In this love's hallowed temple, this soft bed.

In such white robes heaven's angels used to be

Received by men; thou angel bring'st with thee

A heaven like Mahomet's paradise; and though

Ill spirits walk in white, we easily know

By this these angels from an evil sprite,

Those set our hairs, but these our flesh upright.

License my roving hands, and let them go

Before, behind, between, above, below.

O my America, my new found land,

My kingdom, safeliest when with one man manned,

My mine of precious stones, my empery,

How blessed am I in this discovering thee!

To enter in these bonds, is to be free;

Then where my hand is set, my seal shall be.

Full nakedness, all joys are due to thee

As souls unbodied, bodies unclothed must be,

To taste whole joys. Gems which you women use

Are like Atlanta's balls, cast in men's views,

That when a fool's eye lighteth on a gem,

His earthly soul may covet theirs, not them.

Like pictures, or like books' gay coverings made

For laymen, are all women thus arrayed;

Themselves are mystic books, which only we

Whom their imputed grace will dignify

Must see revealed. Then since I may know,

As liberally, as to a midwife, show

Thyself: cast all, yea, this white linen hence,

Here is no penance, much less innocence.

To teach thee, I am naked first, why then

What needst thou have more covering than a man.

.: :.

Anyone who has read John Donne and his poetry will know that he uses conceits which are extended metaphors. In the 17th Century we discovered many things, so it is known as the century of discovery. In this time we founded America and Australia. America is used as a conceit, saying that he is exploring something new that he has never discovered before and this is her beauty and body underneath her clothes suggesting that he has never seen her underlying beauty. It can be taken in many ways, it depends on what the poem means to you as an inidividual so don't argue just enjoy his poems.

| Posted on 2009-11-11 | by a guest

.: :.

i believe anyone who has read up on john donne will know this poem was written before he met his wife, when he was more in his "man about town" phase. it was written about elizabeth drury who some have reported to be a prostitue at the time ( this is possible as in the 1700s reports put the number of prostitutes in london in the 60,000s, or as many as one in five women.)
the exploration of her body is twinned with the exploration of a new land as this was a prominent talking point of the day. however the link can only be made one way her, anyone who suggests donne would cover up the newsworthy idea of exploring the americas with the taboo metaphor of sex has been seriously misled. donne was one of the raunchiest poets of that time period. and he remains so today, he is talking about taboo subjects, anyone who cannot see that is obviously not understanding his work.

| Posted on 2009-10-19 | by a guest

.: :.

I just find it incredibly perplexing how on earth someone can analyse a John Donne and still persist in spiikin lyk dis coz ima so cuul butt still intellctool..

| Posted on 2009-10-02 | by a guest

.: :.

Sorry if this has already been said, but this poem was an elegy to Elizabeth Drury, Donne's mistress.
The American metaphor is just a metaphor, as Donne is comparing the discovery of America to the exploration of a woman's body.
Sorry guys, it's basically about sex, nothing innocent in this poem - it was deemed too indecent to print when he wrote it.

| Posted on 2009-09-17 | by a guest

.: :.

Sorry if this has already been said, but this poem was an elegy to Elizabeth Drury, Donne's mistress.
The American metaphor is just a metaphor, as Donne is comparing the discovery of America to the exploration of a woman's body.
Sorry guys, it's basically about sex, nothing innocent in this poem - it was deemed too indecent to print when he wrote it.

| Posted on 2009-09-17 | by a guest

.: :.

Personally I think it is just as the title suggests " To his mistress going to bed'. In many of Donne's works he is the speaker, and he is usually addressing his wife or mistress in his elegies. (Sunne Rising The Flea etc.)
He is merely employing his lust for discovery combined with his knowledge of geography to establish a conceit which further persuades the reader and the woman he is addressing to 'set my (his) seal.'

| Posted on 2009-09-14 | by a guest

.: :.

Not a ver bright year 11 then are you?
It is not about the discovery of America. Its drawing parrallels between exploring someone's body and a new land. You are thick.

| Posted on 2009-09-07 | by a guest

.: :.

Donne is a metaphysical(goes beyond philosophical self) poet and d poem is about male authority over his wife during renaissance period, poem is funny(poet uses wit & humour in issuing an invitation 2 sex) and d poet uses 'conceit'(bringing 2 dissimilar things 2gether) in dis poem wen he says "oh my America", poem is a fusion of secular and sacred, body is anti religion therefore it is not mentioned! we can compare dis poem 2 bhakti & sufi poems like meera etc.. poem is unconventional(unlike sidney who write conventional poems), d poet asks her wife 2 hurry up! fusion of religion, love, spiritual ecstasy & anguism lies in dis poem..

| Posted on 2009-07-19 | by a guest

.: :.

its sexual but in dows days peepz wer not ment to be rytin sexual tings so ovo he had to cover it up duhhhh comment sense

| Posted on 2009-06-25 | by a guest

.: :.

You people are retarded. The poem is a metaphor for the new America to be discovered. Donne fuses imagery of sexual exploration with the global colonialism of the 17th century.

| Posted on 2009-06-08 | by a guest

.: :.

Hello. I think you need to stop arguing about whether he is talking about a woman or a land. Does it matter? Poetry is supposed to mean different things for different people. What I want to know, is does anyone think that the man is exploiting the woman/land?
Is Donne challenging or reinforcing the way this woman/new country is being treated?
But if this poem is about a land, why does he talk about the woman's body so much? And the fact that it is a religious experience? Hmmm

| Posted on 2009-06-01 | by a guest

.: :.

Anyone who has read much of Donne's work at all will know that this poem is talking about a woman. In all likelihood his young bride ("to teach thee") on their wedding night ("my new found land" (ie) their first time). The reference to America is just one of many metaphors, and not meant to be taken literally. A great proportion of his poems discuss the nature of love and this would not be the only one to mention sex directly. For example, 'The Exctasie' is basically all about a mutual orgasm.
"The hairy diadem which on you doth grow."
C'mon, stop being such prudes.

| Posted on 2009-05-28 | by a guest

.: :.

Renaissance poetry of this time was often outrageously sexualised, but not actually sexual. Reference Donne's contemporary Rochester, whose poems are so grotesque they manage to desensitise and outrage the reader,rather than turning them on.
My point is that sex as a topic was used generally to comment on far wider social contexts, "nakedness" if interchanged with "honesty" or "truthfulness" has a far greater emphasis and meaning than the attempt to shag a mistress. Note too, the lack of direct speech towards the so called mistress, that concept could be anything.

| Posted on 2009-02-17 | by a guest

.: :.

Actually, according to the Heath Anthology of American Literature, the mistress in this poem is America, and this poem is a metaphor for coming to the new land.

| Posted on 2009-01-29 | by a guest

.: :.

The word 'mistress' does not mean exactly what it does to us now here. It can also very well mean wife.

| Posted on 2008-12-11 | by a guest

.: :.

look, people, its a poem that was written way before our great great great grandmother's time..only he knows what he means, dont argue about it...

| Posted on 2008-12-10 | by a guest

.: :.

Donne often drew comparisions between sleep and death, therefore, I think that this poem is just another poem that Donne wrote because of his obsession with death especially after his wife died.

| Posted on 2008-12-03 | by a guest

.: :.

This poem is metaphysical in that it emphasizes and exaggerattes something...in this case Donne's mistress. He has an aching desire for her and expresses this intent need for her throughout the poem whilst trying to seduce and convince her to allow him to have his 'wicked way' with her.

| Posted on 2008-11-27 | by a guest

.: :.

This is about the discovering of America. This is not about a woman at all, let alone about a wife. He has hope for the new world, just as a typical male would be hopeful in this stance.

| Posted on 2008-11-07 | by a guest

.: :.

America along with all of the continents in the 17th Century were represented visually as naked women -- noble and bearing gifts to the equally naked Europe. America here, the symbol of the beloved, is a mine of gems, on which the lover places his seal to establish his empry. She is "discovered" and claimed, but also like a "picture" or a "book" and therefore a text that has the depth of meaning that requires recursive readings. What I wonder is if his plea for her to become completely naked is out of the ordinary in the context of the times. I know there were times in history when women themdelves never even saw themselves completely unclothed.

| Posted on 2008-09-14 | by a guest

.: :.

I had only discovered the idea that this poem could be about a wedding night while browsing this website. I believe it could be, as Donne's wife (Ann More) was very young at the time they were married (16?), and this supports the line "To teach thee, I am naked first".
Furthermore, the line "Your gown going off, such beauteous state reveals” refers to a gown, which is typically a woman's full-length elegant or formal dress for special occasions.

| Posted on 2008-09-04 | by a guest

.: :.

To the person who posted before my, of course the speaker is male, the poem starts with 'Come, Madam' and is entitled 'to his mistress'. The key word here being HIS, the persona is a male!
To the person who posted before you, the point of a metaphysical conciet is to be absurd. There is nothing stupid about comparing undressing a woman to discovering America. Know your context

| Posted on 2008-09-01 | by a guest

.: :.

Sorry what is to say that the speaker is even male. The phallicity of this poem may not be intended purely for metaphysical conceit. Is this the bizarre workings of our own contemporary assumptions? How bout some resistance people

| Posted on 2008-07-29 | by a guest

.: :.

This poem could well be about a wedding night... the true context behind it is obviously hidden and we do not know... plus a mistress can be a wife. And i think the whole wedding night idea fits in well... you could also say that she's just given birth, which is why she wearing white etc. But the whole discovery of America thing is a pretty stupid thing to say. Made me laugh though

| Posted on 2008-07-12 | by a guest

.: :.

this poem is about a mistress.
NO WIFE.
he rushes her to get undressed, and wants to teach her as she may hesitate.

| Posted on 2008-06-25 | by a guest

.: john donne :.

the poem is about his wedding night with his wife. "licence my roaving hands, and let them go, before, behind, between, above, below." that is why his bride is dressed in all white. he calls her his America becouse it's their first night together he wants to discover her.

| Posted on 2008-05-01 | by a guest

.: :.

Of course, the poem is overtly sexual, reflecting the style of the Ovidian elegies.
However, Donne does actually defy expectations in this poem. Yes, the woman is somewhat commodified in the comparison to the New World ("My mine of precious stones", for example) but interestingly, the woman remains clothed at the end of the poem, contrasting the sexual expectations throughout.

| Posted on 2008-02-26 | by a guest

.: Analysis :.

Admittedly this poem is of an overtly sexual nature and can be interpretted to portray Donne in a chauvanistic light but is it not also a possibility that the relationship is more than what it appears. His lover represents a freedom and a wild abandon more commonly associated with love albiet an erotic use of the idea shown here. i feel that the poem has the air of freeing her from the constraints of her clothing which symbolise the way society restricts women. he is taking her back to what i

| Posted on 2008-01-12 | by a guest

.: :.

sorry person below me, but person bellow you was right. its the persona recounting a striptise of his mistress (wife or girlfriend) he describes each layer as she casts them off, praises her beauty and draws abstract comparisons between her and metaphysical concerns (called conciets). The part about AMerica is only one form of a conceit which compares the woman to his own kingdom, his own newly discovered AMerica, which had only just been explored in the time the poem was written. It is an overtly sexual poem. How else could you explain "but these the flesh upright" and 'hariy dyadem' and the countless references to nakedness otherwise?



| Posted on 2007-09-24 | by a guest

.: :.

that is completely wrong!! to the person that posted before me. It has nothing to do with a woman at all. Im in year 11 and i managed to figure that out...

it is about the discovery of american, and the beauty that lies beneath - refers to the abundance of natural resources and that.

| Posted on 2007-09-02 | by a guest

.: Analysis :.

This is an elegy, which means it is in praise of something, as we find out in the poem he is praising her body, and her beauty, in an attempt to get her to sleep with him. He describes her clothes, while telling her to remove them because what is underneathy is of greater beauty, and that is what he is really interested in. His aim in this poem is to get her to sleep with him, and he is getting her to take off all of her clothes so he can 'explore' her. It presents Donne as arrogant and misodgynous.
By Laura Dobbins.

| Posted on 2007-04-02 | by a guest