"SONG: GO AND CATCH A FALLING STAR" summary, Criticism & commentary

SONG: GO AND CATCH A FALLING STAR

Summary and Commentary 

Summary

The jaunty melody of 'Song' suits the meaning. The poem first enumerates a number of bizarre or impossible actions, and then concludes with the idea that nothing is as impossible or bizarre as the notion of a woman being both beautiful and faithful. This kind of anti-feminism has a long history in the West and Donne's use of it may have been merely witty and conventional. There is no need to look for autobiographical facts behind the poem.

Commentary

This Song deals with a conventional theme: the fickleness of women. The poet is arguing with someone to whom he has set a series of impossible tasks, e.g., catching a falling star or telling where past years have gone, that they are easier to succeed in than to find a woman who will remain true. The breaking of the tetrametre form in lines seven and eight is a dramatic device that projects more tension than irregularity and indicates the stress that one would use in a dramatic reading.

Donne uses hyperbole in the second stanza as he counsels his unseen companion that he may "Ride ten thousand days and nights, Till age show white hairs on thee," and still not find a woman who is "true and fair".

In Stanza 3, Donne tells his friend that though he may not think a woman is faithful, she would yet be faithful to others before Donne could reach her. The witty, ironic reversal in the last stanza is a device commonly used by Donne. He extols a lady's virtues, only to finish by counting them as nothing; the virgin alone is worthy of these excellences.

Critical Appreciation

This song was posthumously published in 1633 in the volume entitled 'Songs and Sonnets'. It was written by Donne in his youth when he saw a good deal of London life. The subject of woman's inconstancy was a stock subject but Donne enlivened it with his personal experience. His gay life in London and his association with different women in London only confirmed his view about woman's faithlessness. In this poem, the poet, through a series of images, shows the impossibility of discovering a true and faithful woman. While the poets following the Petrarchan tradition made women heroine and a goddess worthy of love and admiration, the metaphysical poets poked fun at women's fashions, weakness, and faithlessness. Shakespeare's maxim "Frailty thy name is woman" was quite popular in the age of Donne. The fickleness of a woman could be more easily experienced than described. The cynical attitude to fair sex in the early poems of Donne is in contrast with the rational attitude to love and sex to be found in his later poems.

According to Donne, it is impossible to find a loyal and chaste woman. Woman's inconstancy proved a popular subject with the Elizabethan and Metaphysical poets. The poet, through irony and exaggeration, suggests the impossibility of the undertaking to discover a true and fair woman. Fair women will have lovers and, therefore, it is not possible for them to be faithful to any of them. (Faithfulness on the part of an ugly and uninviting woman can be a possibility because she will not be able to attract lovers). The poet mentions a number of impossible tasks— catching a falling star or meteor, begetting a child on a mandrake root, memory of past years, finding the name of the person who loved the Devil's foot, listening to the music of the fabulous mermaids, changing human nature so as to make it indifferent to envy and jealousy or finding out the climate which would promote man's honesty. Just as it is impossible to do these jobs, in the same way, it is impossible to find a faithful woman. Even if a man were to travel throughout the world for ten thousand days and nights-this would cover more than twenty-seven years his hair grew grey, he would not come across a faithful woman. He might have many wonderful scenes and sights, but he would not have seen the most wonderful sight of all that of a true and fair woman.

The poet is very keen on discovering a true and fair woman if there be any such in the world. If anyone tells the poet that there is such a woman, he would go on a pilgrimage to see her. She would really deserve his admiration and worship. The poet, however, feels that the journey will be futile, for even such a woman's faithfulness will be temporary. By the time one writes a letter to her, she would have enjoyed with two or three lovers. Hence, the poet despairs about seeing any constant woman.

Though technically the poem is a 'song' which should have sweetness, lilt, and smoothness, it has a lot of arguments. The colloquial form of the poem speaking voice in a real situation deserves attention. The rhythm is similar to that of speech rhythm which changes according to the needs of the argument. "The breaking of the tetrameter form in lines seven and eight (with two syllables each) is a dramatic device that projects tension rather than irregularity and indicates the stress that one would use in a dramatic reading. "The poet constantly indulges in dislocating the accepted rhythms, dropping his lines most unexpectedly (though always giving us pleasant surprises) but the final impression is not one of confession but of an inner logic of the poet's experience". The use of hyperbole is understandable: "Ten thousand days and nights till age snow white hairs on thee". The witty ironic reversal in the last stanza is a device commonly used by Donne. All his journey and trouble in finding a true and fair woman would result in 'love's labor lost. The poet draws images from a wide field of knowledge, Christianity, and legendary love. He proves his thesis with a masculine gusto and youthful vivacity.