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Donne’s poem has a comforting and consolatory tone. This tone nicely echoes the speaker’s attempt to reassure his lover—and indeed himself—that they’ll stay spiritually connected despite their physical separation. Donne indicates this tone already in the poem’s subtitle: “Forbidding Mourning.” Though the word forbid has a somewhat aggressive connotation, Donne softens the edge by using the present participle of the verb: forbidding. When put together with mourning, which shares the same -ing ending, the term has a gentler sound that comforts rather than scolds. Donne carries this comforting tone into the poem itself, largely through his use of meter. Though examples of metrical variation do appear in the poem, Donne maintains a fairly regular iambic meter throughout. This regularity avoids undue disturbance and creates a comforting sense of smoothness. Donne’s choice to write in tetrameter further adds to the poem’s consolatory tone. The four-beat lines of tetrameter have an intrinsic sing-song quality that’s missing in meters with longer lines. Thus, Donne opted for a meter that allowed him to handle serious subject matter with a light—and therefore consoling—touch.

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