Song: Go and
catch a falling star
by John Donne
Summary
“Go
and catch a falling star” is John Donne’s satirical poem. In the poem, he
satirizes the inconstancy of a beautiful woman.
This
poem is divided into three parts. In the first part the poet gives a list of
impossible tasks. In second he proves that “nowhere lives a woman true and
fair”. In the last part he declares, that even if somebody finds such woman, he
will not go to that woman because “She will be false ere I come to two or
three”.
The
poet starts the poem abruptly, by asking his readers to ‘go and catch a falling
star’ which is an impossible task. Catching a falling star is as impossible as
to tell where all past years are or to tell who cleft the devil’s foot. He says,
that nobody can teach him to hear mermaids singing; similarly, no one can teach
anybody how to keep off envy’s stinging. According to John Donne all these
tasks are as impossible as to keep an honest person honest forever.
John
Donne asks one of his friends to go to strange sights to see invisible things.
He asks him to visit all over the universe for his whole life in search of a
woman, who is both true and fair. He asks his friend to swear before describing
his experiences.
The
poet further says, that if somebody finds such woman at some place, the place
would be a sweet pilgrimage for him, but he would not go to meet her because he
knows very well that the time taken in writing a letter is enough for such a
woman to prove herself a false one to two or three.
In
this poem, the poet breaks away from the Petrarchan manner of woman worship.
The poet had had relationship with many women but none of them lasted long. He
is pre-occupied with the thought that a fair woman cannot be a constant one.
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