Explanation:
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 th' other do.
Answer: These lines occur in a famous love-lyric of John Donne, titled 'A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning'. The poet here reflects on the actual love which remains unchanged, even after physical separation.
The poet, while taking leave of his wife to go abroad, says that love has fused their two souls into one, the soul of his beloved wife and that of himself. Therefore, even if he has to go away, their souls would not be separated. His absence would not cause any breach in their love. The poet urges his beloved not to feel worried or shed tears for their separation. This separation is not separation at all, because their two souls are united into one. Their two souls are like the two feet of a compass, which appear to be separate but are in reality united at the top. The beloved who stays at home may be compared to its fixed foot, which does not seem to move, but which moves in reality if the other foot moves. The beloved is like the fixed foot at the center. It leans and follows the other foot when it moves, and grows erect and unites with the moving foot when it returns to its starting point. The firmness of the fixed foot enables the moving foot to draw the circle correctly and then return to the place where it began.
The comparison of the two lovers' souls to the pair of a compass's legs constitutes a metaphysical conceit that is widely known to literary minds. Here, we find a wonderful blend of emotion with intellect and by this fantastic conceit, Donne emphasizes the fact that genuine love is not affected by any physical separation because it is the union of two souls.
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