The Good Morrow- John Donne

Описание: 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.


In "The Good Morrow", John Donne challenges the strength and beauty of love. Until Ella and Carl & Dean and Cindy met, they're lives were utterly different. When they united, whether it was in a retirement home or abandoned house, it was love at first sight and everything fell perfectly into place. Ella and Carl grew up as club buddies and best friends, who eventually wed, while Dean desperately tried to chase after the woman of his dreams. Finally fate is in Dean's favor and they run into each other on the bus. Both lovers' devote themselves to one another and their worlds become united-"each hath one, and is one." But, with happiness comes grave despair. Ella and Carl plan to start a family, but when they find out Ella is un-able to have children they are stricken with grief. Although they can never bear a son/daughter, their love grows on and happily. Unlike Ella, Cindy becomes pregnant and fears telling Dean. In time, they agreed to keep the child and finally wed.
As time passes, one couple become closely "weaned", while Dean and Cindy fight to keep their marriage alive. Despite their efforts, Dean and Cindy's marriage begins to crumble right from underneath them. In the ending scene, Dean walks out of the house, down the street and out of their lives.
On the other side of the story, Ella becomes sick and has to be hospitalized, until her unexpected death-leaving Carl, her only love, heart-broken. But nonetheless, Carl refuses to break his promise to his wife and carries their house to Paradise Falls, a dream of theirs since childhood.







Works Cited:

SpokenVerse. '"The Good Morrow' by John Donne(read by Tom O' Bedlam." Online video. Youtube. Youtube, 8 February. 2011. Web. 2 December. 2013

UP. Dir. Pete Docter. Bob Peterson. Writers. Pete Docter. Bob Peterson. Thomas McCarthy. Pixar Animation Studios. 2009. Film.

Blue Valentine. Dir. Derek Cianfrance. Perf. Ryan Gosling. Michelle Williams. Distrib. The Weinstein Company. 2010. Film.

Bear, Grizzly. "Shift." Blue Valentine. 2006.