Literary Devices
Metaphor
The “virtuous” death in the first stanza is a metaphor for John Donne physical leaving of his wife.
The compass is used in an extended metaphor to explain how Donne and his wife are connected even as they are apart. The two lover’s souls are compared to the feet of a compass, with Donne’s wife being the center of his compass. If she moves, so does he, and in the end he no matter where he goes he will come back full circle to her.
Simile
“Like gold to airy thinness beat” compares love to gold, which instead of being destroyed be distance is stretched out into something more.
Dialogue
A snippet of dialogue is used in the first stanza to punctuate Donne’s feelings about death: “Their breath goes now”, and some day “No…”
Imagery
The proud imagery (celestial spheres, compass, gold, virtuous death) of this poem helps support the notion that Donne’s love for his wife is beyond ordinary, sentimental affection.
Word Choice
Words are chosen carefully to understate death (mild) make mourning seeming melodramatic (“tear floods, sigh-tempests”) while condemning the notion that love always needs physical contact (“dull sublunary” love needs “eyes, lips, and hands”) and glorifying the idea of spiritual love(“refined” love, the soul as a “fixed foot”)
Tone
The poems tone is decidedly passionate yet never melodramatic or sappy; it is serious and melancholy but optimistic. This conveys the author’s sorrow that he must be separate from his wife, while showing how their mature love will last to the end anyway.
