John Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning"

John Donne's "Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" was probably written to his wife Ann in 1611 when Donne was preparing to travel to the Continent. The poem, however, is much more significant than this very specific occasion might suggest. It stands both as one of the most celebrated of English love poems and also as a clear example of Donne's quirky style as a "metaphysical poet."  The present podcast offers a reading of the poem followed by a detailed explication and a discussion of "metaphysical poetry."