Melt with You - John Donne - A Song & a Valediction

"Our two souls therefore, which are one, / Though I must go, endure not yet
A break, but an expansion, / Like gold to airy thinness beat."

John Donne - A Song & a Valediction - Melt with You: A VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY important lesson. There that's the second time I've said that - but my students used to tell me I said it for every class. But, it's true. I know for a fact that this lesson - and this poem won many students over to poetry throughout the years. And there are only two poems that are covered in the lesson. The first - though well written is pretty misogynistic and cynical. The second - well, the second, "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" is one of the greatest poems ever written in English. Like most of Donne's poetry, it speaks across the ages - and students can identify with its sentiment - and it can give them hope (like so many of the poems that we cover) in a sea of sadness. Though I ask many questions directed at the students in this lesson - this is perhaps as close to being a lecture (not a dirty word) as I got all year - without it actually being one.

Lesson Overview

A more detailed picture of the lesson can be found in my hand written Lesson Notes - and the pdf of "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" with detailed, line by line notes - both of these can be found below. The student handout with the two poems that are covered today ("Song" and "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning") is also available below.

Quiz

This is a tricky one. I've included the quiz below but you should only do it if you are confident in the amount of time that you have to teach this lesson. If not, give it the next day - but a minimum you do want to take attendance - students that are not here for this important lesson will need to make it up (I used to have them watch a video of the class).

Biographical Material

Same as the quiz - you don't have a lot of time. Go over whichever points you find important but keep it to a couple of minutes. I usually tell the students he was a priest (reluctantly), that his poems are among the favorites of my students in the past - and I mention (or ask) them about conceits and talk about how good John Donne was at extending his metaphors.

"Song" (poem 1)

The first poem that we look is "Song". I have a Power Point (found below) to help the students focus - but just having students read a stanza - then talking about that stanza is also fine. There are detailed speaker notes on the Power Point going over questions and comments to ask, go over with the poem. It really is a cynical, misogynistic poem - and that should be addressed when you go over the poem - but I believe it's important to not think those things did (do) not exist - and it sets up the "wonder" of the next poem.

"A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" (poem 2)

One of the most breath-taking and beautiful poems in the English Language. I have included below my notes and instructions for presenting the poem (on a PDF with comments). If you open in Adobe Acrobat it should be easier to see and distinguish the different comments for different lines. I have also included (below again) my handwritten notes on the poem as a PDF. The majority of the class time will be spent on this poem. The demonstration ends with the teacher using an oversized compass to draw the circle that Donne so perfectly describes at the end of the poem, as a student reads the words aloud. You will know you did it right when the class ends is an audible gasp and/or applause.

"I'll Melt with You"

After the poem I play the Modern English song, "I'll Melt with You" - a song that students are surprisingly familiar with from films and tv commercials. It encapsulates Donne's poem from a modern perspective.

The Going Away Gift

I end by telling the students an idea for a going-away gift based on Donne's "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning". 1) Go to store and buy a cheap geometrical compass - the kind with the tiny pencil and pointy tip. 2) Print out Donne's poem very small - no more than a couple of inches wide and roll it into a scroll. 3) Put the scrolled-up poem into the spot where the pencil was - wrap it up - and give it to someone that you must be parted from for a while. As Donne says - with love you endure not a breach or break but instead it is a melting and coming together.

"Song" Power Point & Notes

"Song" Power Point with Speaker Notes PPTX

This is the Power Point that you would use in class - along with the Power Point are detailed Speaker Notes that really lay out the lesson (if you choose to go that way). You can turn them on within Power Point - and off when you show the presentation to your students.

"Song" Slide Show and Instructions as a PDF

This version of the Power Point is mainly supplied to give you instructions - if you don't have Power Point. You can always view the above Power Point as a Google Slides Presentation (though I'm not sure how well it would preserve the Speaker Notes). In that case, this is a PDF of the Slide Show along with annotations (that can be turned on or off) that give the same detailed instructions for the lesson.

"A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" with my notes & comments

"A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" with my notes/instructions - PDF

This is a PDF of Donne's poem - with (hopefully) my comments embedded. These are the questions I ask, the points I make, and the actions that I take while reading the poem aloud to the students. If you open it up in Adobe Acrobat the notes and comments will be in different colors and more easily differentiated.

"Song" and "A Valediction..." with my handwritten notes - PDF

These are my original notes that I would have in front of me as I presented the poem - added to each year that we did the poem.

Student Handout - "Song" & "A Valediction..."

"Song" and "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" Docx PDF

You want your students to put their textbook versions of the poems away (with all of the footnotes and annotations) and take out these versions of the two poems - they have plenty of room for notes - and NO footnotes to give the critical thinking away. I've also included a picture of a madrake root (for "Song") and the poem, "Sonnet 44" by William Shakespeare, which we will get to soon - and which is in so many ways, the antithesis of "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning".

"I Melt with You" by Modern English

I play this song right after we finish. Sometimes I am surprised by how many students are familiar with it - probably from commercials and movies. Because we are usually short on time I will also - while the song plays - go over how to make a going away gift (see above) with a simple math compass and a printer.

A Going Away Gift Compass

"A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" for inserting in a compass Docx PDF

I end by telling the students an idea for a going-away gift based on Donne's "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning". 1) Go to store and buy a cheap geometrical compass - the kind with the tiny pencil and pointy tip. 2) Print out Donne's poem very small - no more than a couple of inches wide and roll it into a scroll. 3) Put the scrolled-up poem into the spot where the pencil was - wrap it up - and give it to someone that you must be parted from for a while. As Donne says - with love you endure not a breach or break but instead it is a melting and coming together.

Most recent quiz

Reading Quiz on John Donne - Readings & Background: Docx PDF

To my mind - it is crucial that students read most of these works - first, on their own. Then we talk about them (or they do a Group Work). Having them do the reading on their own - for homework - shows the value that is put into reading and reserves the classroom for a place where people come together and can learn from each other. This quiz is for all of the John Donne material from the reading, including the background.

Donne_Valediction_Song_2015.mp3

Class Audio Recording

First we read (and view a Power Point - make sure you download it from the website) Donne's poem "Song." We talk about it as we read it - and when we are done speculate on its misogynistic nature. Next, I read, question, and we discuss John Donne's poem, "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning." The discussion is rich, deep and personal as we respond to Donne's imploring that him and his love part as virtuous men do and whisper quietly to their souls.

John DonneSong_ValedictionLQ.mp4

Class Video Recording

As I said in the introduction - this is as close as a lecture as I get all year - but even in this case, there is a lot of questions, answers, and dialogue that takes place in this lesson. There is absolutely nothing wrong with lecturing - to my mind - if it builds on everything else that you have been doing all year in the class - especially having students come to their own understanding of poems and other texts. I love that the students read these poems on their own - it gives them something to compare and grown from.

I begin with "Song" - a wonderfully written horrible poem. And then - the main attraction: "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning".

Remote Enhancements

This can all be done remotely, and I did it - I believe for the very last part - I showed a video of me making the circle at the end of "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning".

What's Next & Unit Home Page

No Man is an Island - John Donne & Meditation 17 Group Work:

The critical thinking questions that this Group Work asks are dependent on Donne's text - but they are also dependent on what has come before in the class (all year up to that point) as well as what the students will listen to (a new story about the death of an Ebola doctor in Uganda) and do (come up with the name of some who has died - and who has made the world a better place for having lived in it). After the students give the names of these people who have improved the world - the teacher adds pictures of these individuals to an ever-growing data base. That data base is then used to create a mosaic photographic rendering of that Ebola doctor from Uganda (Dr. Matthew Lukwiya) - helping them fully undertand this idea that "we are all part of the same continent".

WHAT CAME BEFORE:

Winter & Mortality - Thomas Campion Group Work

Thoughts on the Lesson

When we do this lesson - the school year is just about 1/2 over - it really makes sense to set up the goodbye, when there is as much yet to come as there was that came before. Students love John Donne and they love "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning". And - oh yes - over the years I have a gotten a few of the compasses mentioned in the lesson with the little scroll inside - from students who are going off to live their lives.