In the first stanza Donne describes some impossible tasks. Such as catching a falling star, impregnating a mandrake root which needs black magic, discovering  out who cleft the devil’s foot, finding out what happens to the time that has passed , teaching him to hear songs of mermaids or avoiding to ever feel envy.

Donne reveals the true meaning of this poem in the second stanza. Where he describes finding a women who is fair and true is harder than doing the impossible tasks which he mentioned in the first stanza. He asks the listener to go on a journey until the listener’s hair turns white but Donne is certain that the listener would never find a women who is both fair and true during his journey.

In the last stanza, Donne asks the listener to inform him (write a letter to him), if the listener ever finds a women who is fair and true. Donne would like to go on a pilgrimage to find her. But he says , by the time he gets to her, she will have cheated on him with two or more lovers.

Donne didn’t write why he has this type of perspective on women , but it is possible that something happened in the past in his life led him to have this type of idea about women.

Go and Catch a Falling Star by John Donne

Q: Write a brief appreciation on John Donne’s Go and Catch a Falling Star.

Focus on the following:

1. Poem’s meanings and themes

2. Use of poetic devices (meter, rhyme, imagery)

3. Personal response and interpretation

The literary piece of work ‘Go and Catch a Falling Star’ by the prominent poet of metaphysical

period of literature, John Donne, is a dramatic monologue which criticizes the woman and her

deceitful nature with the use of accurate poetic devices along with a meaning that dives deep in

the ocean of literature. In this piece of writing, a brief appreciation of the poetic work ‘Go and

Catch a Falling Star’ is presented focusing on its meaning, themes, literary devices along with

my personal interpretation.

In the first stanza, the poet uses a list of imperative commands ‘go’, ’get with child’, ‘tell me’,

‘find’ to express his frustration of not being able to find a true and a fair woman. The first action

he wants the readers to do is to catch a shooting star, which is a destructive object. The line ‘Go

and Catch a Falling Star’ is presented hyperbolically and it also carries the idea of a woman

falling off from chastity. The second action in the list is to impregnate a woman using the

narcotic plant Mandragora, which has a human form in it’s roots and moreover, this plant is

notably poisonous. Also, he orders the readers to find the man ‘who cleft the devil’s foot’, a

creature whose existence is even unknown. And at last, he wants the readers to teach him how

‘to hear mermaid’s singing’ - a creature of mythology with golden hair and a fish tail who is said

to have the magical power to enchant sailors. In the line ‘serves to advance an honest mind’ the

poet’s frustration and disappointment as a cause of deceitful nature of women is clearly visible

to the readers which is one of the prominent themes in the poem. Thus, the use of

metaphysical conceits is highly notable in the line ‘Go and Catch a Falling Star’ and ‘Get with

child a mandrake root’.

In the second stanza, Donne criticizes the insincerity of women, which is another noticeable

thematic concern, using a wide range of imagery. In the lines ‘ride ten thousand days and

nights’, the poet hyperbolically commands the readers to go on a round trip around the world,

in search of a ‘woman true and fair’. Using the metaphor ‘till age snow white hairs on thee’, the

poet highlights the point that the reader won’t be able to find the faithful woman even if he

turns old and shaky. Accordingly, the write pin points that it is impossible to find the true and

fair woman even if you revolve around the world till you grow old. In the lines, ‘thou when thou

John Donne's Go and Catch a Falling Star is a exploration of love and women's fidelity. It is a three - nine line stanzas structure pome. He nicely use meter , rhyme , from , sound and imagery for his "Go and catch a falling star" pome .

Meter gives The rhythmic pattern of a line of poetry and Gives a musical tone. Donne's use ABABCCDDD rhyme for his poem . It is very interesting and for example ,

( 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 off envy's stinging,

And find

What wind

Serves to advance an honest mind. )

Donne's choice of language is precise and enjoyable. The poem is reflecting the Complexity of human relationships and skepticism many people harbor about relationships. Finally, pomes can relaxing peoples mind and give a powerful meditation .

" love built on beauty , soon as beauty, dies "

-John Donne

In the first stanza, the speaker asks us to do seven impossible tasks in an authoritative tone. Those are catching a falling star, impregnating a mandrake root which is a human-shaped root commonly associated with witchcraft (black magic), figuring out who creates the cleft foot devil, finding out every detail about what happened over all these years, teaching the speaker to listen luring singing of mermaids who are mythical creatures like a fish-tailed human and how to stay away from jealousy. The seventh challenge is to find reasons for being honest which conveys the scarcity of opportunities for the honest where the poet lived.

In the last part of the second stanza, the narrator reveals his true central argument. It appears as though the reader has been gifted with a special ability to see the unseen. He challenges you to find a chaste and trustworthy woman by travelling around the world for approximately 27 years, until your hair turns white, even though the speaker is confident that you will not succeed In case, you got lucky to find one it would be a rewarding “pilgrimage” to even go and see such a unique woman. When you're on your way to inform him about the woman you found, he remarks that she would have cheated on you countless times by now. However, Donne repeatedly denies the existence of such a woman.

The following ideas are more elucidated by using unusual comparisons and meaningful symbols like falling star, mandrake root and so on. In the whole poem, Donne refuses to express his true reasons for having an absurd idea about women. It seems to be a bad experience he had or social problems. Finally, I think he achieved his mission to share his unique ideas to readers.

"Go and catch a falling star" poem is created with three stanzas and one stanza is composed with nine lines. To enhause the creativity of the poem ABABCCDDD rhyme scheme pattern is allocated. The lines also stick to a syllable pattern that changes within the different sets of rhyme. The poem conveys a humorously misogynistic theme that criticizes women' s supposely inevitable in fidelity.

This poem meter is trochanic meter because the heavy accent first and the light accent later.

The exclusive "falling star" that is sought after signifies a women , specifically a perfect women who is " true and fair"

I can turn my ideas to words to analyes the woman who lived in the past as I mentioned in the above.

Also if the listener was born with power to see strange and invisible things,the speaker suggests to go on a journey of ten thousand days and nights,until he has become old and his hair has gone white.When he returns,he may has experienced all kinds of strange things but he will swear that he never saw a woman who was beautiful and faithful.