Before we start, a few notes:  despite the title, the poem isn't about death; it is about a separation that seems so painful and dangerous it seems to be like death and seems to warrant the same sort of sorrow (mourning).  It is believed that Donne wrote this poem in 1611, when he was about to leave his pregnant wife in order to travel to the Continent, and that this poem was addressed to her.

The opening comparison (between this parting and the death of a "virtuous man") is important not only because it compares the parting to death, but also because it compares the parting to a certain sort of death.  Think carefully about why Donne would want to compare this parting to the death of a virtuous man.

A Valediction Forbidding Mourning

As virtuous men pass mildly away,
  And whisper to their souls to go,
While some of their sad friends do say,
  "The breath goes now," and some say "No";

So let us melt, and make no noise,
  No tear-floods nor sigh-tempests move;
'Twere profanation of our joys
  To tell the laity our love.

Moving of the earth brings harm and fears:
  Men recon what it did and meant;
But trepidation of the spheres,
  Though greater far, is innocent.

Dull sublunary lovers' love
  (Whose soul is sense) cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove
  Those things which elemented it.

But we, by a love so much refined
  That ourselves know not what it is,
Inter-assured of the mind
  Care less eyes, lips, and hands to miss.

Our two souls, therefore, which are one,
  Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
  Like gold to airy thinness beat.

If they be two, they are two so
  As stiff twin compasses are two;
Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show
  To move, but doth if the other do.

And though it in the center sit,
  Yet, when the other far doth roam,
It leans and hearkens after it
  And grows erect as that comes home.

Such wilt thou be to me, who must
  Like the other foot obliquely run;
Thy firmness makes my circle just,
  And makes me end where I begun.

trepidation of the spheres:  to understand this stanza and the next, you need to understand the Ptolemaic theory of the universe. For a complete explanation of the Ptolemaic universe, click here.  In brief, remember that the Ptolemaic theory envisions the universe as a series of concentric spheres, with the earth at the center. Each of the planets (including the sun and the fixed stars) is set on one of these spheres. The spheres move around the earth, and as they rub against each other they produce the music of the spheres, which is thought to be the sound that represents the perfection of God's creation.  Our problem is that as fallen humans, we have lost our ability to perceive the music of the spheres.  Indeed, as a result of the fall of man, everything beneath the sphere of the moon is imperfect.  Thus, the movements of the earth itself (earthquakes, for instance) are part of its fallen imperfection--but movements of the outer spheres are perfect and harmonious.  The comparison:  earthy lovers, when parted, feel the parting as if it were an earthquake: imperfect and violent.  But this set of lovers, spiritual and perfect, can feel their parting as though it were the "trepidation of the spheres"--part of the perfect whole.  back

sublunary: Look back at the previous footnote.  Remember that in the Ptolemaic universe, those things underneath the sphere of the moon are fallen.  Thus, sublunary lovers are those whose love is imperfect or fallen.  back

soul is sense: This refers to the anatomy of the soul (click here for full explanation), which contends that there are three levels of the soul: vegetable, sensible, and rational.  The senses fall into the second part of the soul; the "sensible soul" is that which is shared by all animals.  Those who engage in fallen love are dependent upon the senses to express and experience love; spiritual love would be located in the rational soul.  Thus, it is a sign of imperfect love if one is upset by the inability to see or touch the beloved--such love depends too much on the importance of the senses.  In a great little play on words, Donne reminds us that the word "absence" seems to have as its root the idea of lack of sensory contact.   back

refined: the process of "refining" ore removes impurities and leaves just the pure metal.  Donne will pick up this metaphor in a moment, when he compares their love to a thread of gold. Remember that to the Renaissance mind, gold isn't just another valuable metal; it represents perfection and purity of substance, and thus has a kind of spiritual dimension. back

stiff twin compasses: the compass used for drafting, as pictured here in William Blake's painting, "The Ancient of Days":

Donne's image of the compasses is the classic metaphysical conceit--a surprising and unusual comparison that is somehow perfectly descriptive.  I love this one because it works on so many levels. Think about it, and read Donne's elaboration carefully. back

circle just: in this case, the word "just" means "perfect": the image of the perfect circle has long been associated with marriage (the circle of the wedding ring), and it is also associated with spiritual perfection. back