The Good Morrow: Key Quotes

The Good Morrow: Key Quotes

John Donne - ‘The Good Morrow’: Key Quotes

Opening Stanza:

• “I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I / Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?” - The speaker expresses surprise at their previous life before they fell in love, suggesting that their existence was not meaningful until this point.

• “We sucked on country pleasures, childishly?” - This quote reflects the speaker’s dismissive perspective on immature or naive pleasures compared to the profound connection they now share.

Middle Stanzas:

• “And now good-morrow to our waking souls,” - Donnes uses direct address and metaphor to introduce the concept of spiritual awakening through love.

• “If ever any beauty I did see, / Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.” - The speaker implies that all past attractions were mere foreshadowings of their current lover.

Final Stanzas:

• “And makes one little room an everywhere” - This quote underlines the theme of microcosm, suggesting the world within their shared love surpasses all else.

• “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” - Donne concludes the poem with the idea that a perfectly balanced love is eternal, overcoming all physical boundaries and mortality.