Song: Go and Catch a Falling Star by John Donne (Context)

Go and catch a falling star,

Get with child a mandrake root,

Tell me where all past years are,

Or who cleft the devil's foot,

Teach me to hear mermaids singing,

Or to keep of envy's stinging,

and find

What wind

Serves to advance an honest mind.

 The given extract belongs to the first stanza of the literary composition; Go and catch a falling star by John Donne; one of the most eminent poets in English Literature and of the Metaphysical period in poetry. In the uniformity of the lines the quality as a male poet privileging order and reason over chaos frequently associated with women can be distinguished. Therefore, it is more prudent to read the “Song” as a perfect example of Donne’s playfulness with metaphysical conceits and female sexuality. Its tone is light and frivolous; ‘Go and catch a falling star’ seems to endorse general theme of the poem, the inconstancy of women; the misogynistic belief that all women (or all beautiful women, to make it worse) are unfaithful and shouldn’t be trusted. Yet the way Donne builds to this conclusion is beguiling.

Imagine a lover who has fallen hard for that perfect woman once too often – and now has a cynical view on all womenfolk. The composition instructs a list of outlandish, impossible tasks: catching a falling star– a meteorite; a falling star is a bright beautiful thing that is reduced to ashes in the end, people make hopeful wishes when they see one; Donne, influenced by the increasing focus on the sciences, is trying to show that trying to catch an honest beautiful woman is like trying to catch a meteorite – both attempts would be disillusioning as well as disastrous. While a clear exaggeration, it appears to be the speaker’s own true belief that he’ll never come upon a woman who will treat him fairly and not run off with someone else. Becoming pregnant with the assistance of a mandrake root; a plant used in witchcraft; as an aphrodisiac, a cathartic, a poison, and a narcotic, making a baby with the aid of a mandrake root is an unnatural act – as to Madonna who is faithful is also deemed abnormal; beautiful women are by nature fickle – according to the voice. Both lines have a magical mood about them. The mandrake root is commonly associated with necromancy or hallucinogens. Where the time we spent harbors itself, who cleft the Devil’s foot; one is just as likely to figure how and why Lucifer’s foot is cleft as find a woman who has both of these traits.

To perceive the mermaids resonate without losing one’s sanity; since singing of the mermaids; sirens lures unsuspecting sailors to their doom according to myths. Thus Donne jests beautiful women to be as vicious enough to tempt men to their destruction. Finding a cure for the ‘sting’ of envy; to keep those who are envious from harming others and what wind exists that can help an honest mind to get on in life; what would bring good fortune to honest people – illustrating the impossibility of finding a beautiful woman who also happens to be honest.  It’s somewhat satirical. Human nature is unchangeable. Envy is evidently in Satan as well as in humans; no one could remove envy from human nature. It is a part of human nature; therefore, it is impossible to alter. In the final tercet of rhyming lines he adds that he wants to know what makes people honest. What “wind” makes or for which reason are some people honest and some deceitful.

Donne’s frequent use of imperatives such as “Go”, “Tell” and “teach” may imply strong displeasure. Donne uses a startling series of unconventional images. In addition, Donne also uses unusual comparisons, or conceits, and his argumentative style. In this poem, the poet brings in a series of arguments like a consummate lawyer to prove his point. The argumentative style gives the different parts of the poem a sense of interconnectedness while forcing the reader to pay close attention to what is being said.

Thus it eradicates to me that Donne using extreme hyperboles, meticulously implies from these instances, creating far-fetched amazing examples; a distant echo of the Herculean tasks in Classical mythology. The song also represents the metaphysical mood that combines, as noted already, the serious and the light. It reveals definitely a skeptical and cynical frame of mind that taunts and debunks the nature of a fair woman. The poet mocks at the inconstancy and fickle-mindedness of such a woman. But his mood is lightened with a jesting, fun-making approach that both laughs and lashes. Although his poem is often considered sexist, but there is no reason to doubt his tone of levity and lightheartedness.