A Scholar of Love’s Philosophy

By Ben Picker

A Lecture Upon The Shadow

By John Donne

Stand still, and I will read to thee

A Lecture, love, in Loves philosophy.
These three houres that we have spent,
Walking here, two shadowes went
Along with us, which we our selves produc‟d;
But, now the Sunne is just above our head,
We doe those shadowes tread;
And to brave clearnesse all things are reduc‟d.
So whilst our infant loves did grow,
Disguises did, and shadowes, flow,
From us, and our cares; but, now 'tis not so.

That love hath not attain'd the high‟st degree,

Which is still diligent lest others see.

Except our loves at this noone stay,

We shall new shadowes make the other way.
As the first were made to blinde
Others; these which come behinde
Will work upon ourselves, and blind our eyes.
If our loves faint, and westerwardly decline;
To me thou, falsely, thine,
And I to thee mine actions shall disguise.
The morning shadows wear away,
But these grow longer all the day,
But oh, loves day is short, if love decay.

Love is a growing, or full constant light;

And his fist minute, after noone, is night.

In his poem “A Lecture upon the Shadow,” John Donne describes the evolution of romantic love through
a metaphor of shadows cast by two strolling lovers. Naturally, the romantic context suggests Donne‟s
speaker is a lover describing to his companion his fears about the fate of their own relationship. Yet a
closer examination reveals an intellectual quality to the speaker that starkly contrasts the traditional
conception of a lover as „non-analytic‟ or „irrational.‟ Emergent from the tone and form of his
observations as well as his behavior, this scholarly character seems to abstract love rather than reveling in
it emotional underpinnings, beckoning the reader to inquire further as to how these two seemingly
contrasting personas coexist in the same speaker. In this light, my paper will illustrate the manifestations
of the speaker‟s scholarly nature in the poem and subsequently discuss the implications of these
observations in understanding the speaker‟s nature.

The speaker‟s behavior and actions lay the foundation for his intellectual character. The inference that
the lovers are at the zenith of their passion follows from the lines “now the Sunne is just above out head”
(6) and “Except our loves at this noone stay” (14). Yet, even though the lovers have reached supposedly
the most intense moment in their relationship, emotions remain in check. Instead of a torrent of heartfelt
adulations, the speaker analyzes their bond with abstraction, reasoned, passionless dialogue. He addresses
the nature of love in general rather than their specific relationship, thus removing their „story‟ from the
picture. He employs metaphor to convey his meaning, but he chooses shadows—figures that lack
substance, that are nonexistent—to represent the pair. He could have chosen spirits, angels, beings, gods,
but instead chose shadows which are only a figment of the real individuals. Furthermore, at times he
reduces emotional symbols to mere abstractions, exemplified when he substitutes “full constant light” for
„sun.‟ That he “reads” the lecture to her furthers this academic conception of him—his words come from
his paper instead of directly from his heart, again capturing his abstract approach to emotional expression.
Moreover, he speaks as though his statements were based on fact, thus reinforcing his image as both a
teacher and a source of knowledge. For example, he claims “Love is a growing, or full constant
light,”(26) as if it could be nothing else. He also explains that they will grow apart “except”(14) if they
remain at their zenith, as if there were no other possibilities. In addition, his analysis seems to rest upon
logic and reason instead of romantic passion. He acknowledges that romantic failure is likely and even
goes so far as to imply that such decline is inevitable—as though this reality is a fact. This is not to say
that the speaker desires the relationship to end. His sentiment is quite contrary. His request that she
“Stand still”(1) suggests that he very much loves. He wants to preserve their shadows and thus, according
to the poem‟s metaphor, their love. But his attempts to convey his feelings paint a cerebral view of love
that evinces his scholarly approach to emotional expression instead of a passionate lover.

The tone of the poem also enhances the scholar perception of the speaker. The speaker‟s choice of
words and imagery suggests an attempt at a „reasoned‟ explanation of love because he avoids using any
direct references to color or shading. At no point does the speaker ever refer to color. Red, blue, yellow,
green, colors convey and stimulate emotions, feelings, and memories, concepts deeply intertwined with
love. Life is colorful, variant, and dynamic—not a monotone. And the speaker has ample opportunity to
incorporate color into his sentiments. For example, “grow”(23) connects to plants, suggesting green,
“flow”(9) coupled with water hints of blue, and “weare away”(22) relates to erosion or earth, implying
brown, black or grey. The narrator‟s direct references to the “Sunne”(6) could involve yellow and those of
Love red. But the speaker does not once directly mention color. Similarly, the speaker also sidesteps
explicit references to shades. “Decay”(24) relates to death, implying black, grey, and pale white.
“Blind”(18) suggests no color or shading, simply black emptiness. Even “shadow” (Title) is not a direct
reference as there is no explicit adjective relating to „dark‟ or „light,‟ simply concrete nouns such as „day‟
and „night.‟ Without color and shading, the speaker omits vital emotional information from the his
statements and thus again reinforces the abstract, conceptual quality of his statements as well as his
cerebral persona.

Finally, the poem‟s structure and organization further underpins the speaker‟s academic character. The
poem consists of two eleven-line stanzas, each followed by a couplet, and a natural ideological shift
clearly divides the two sections. Conceptually, the poem‟s ideological structure enhances the poem‟s
poignant nature. In the first half, the speaker describes how “to brave clearnesse all things are reduced”
(8) and how the love gains clarity and openness, encourage. The first line indicates hope and a desire for a
successful love. “Stand still,” (1) the speaker says, bidding his lover to stop walking, to work against the
shadows, to continue their love and fight the lies that would destroy their bond. In contrast, the second
half is a warning and is pessimistic in its description of love‟s new shadows, the shadows that represent
the end of love: “these which come behind/ Will work upon our selves, and blind our eyes” (16-17). Thus,
the speaker divides his argument neatly into two halves. But this divide again evinces the speaker‟s
connection to reason, order, and rationality. He demands orderliness from his argument and the poem‟s
divide provides just that: a neat organization of the progression of love. The speaker also employs a
rhyme scheme of aa bb cddc eee/aaa aa/ff. This rhyme pattern creates a frame that occurs in lines five
through eight and in lines eighteen through twenty-one. The regularity may or may not have conceptual
significance, but, as a figure of reason, the speaker would desire such regularity simply for the sake of
orderliness. Thus, the poem‟s structure, organization, as well as rhyme scheme reflects and reiterates his
scholarly character.

While perhaps not altering the speaker‟s aforementioned intellectual characteristics, the question as to
why the speaker exhibits these qualities nevertheless deserves close attention. The middle couplet “That
love hath not attain‟d the highest degree, / Which is still diligent lest others see”(12-13) suggests that the
couple has concealed their love in order to protect it from the scrutiny and derision of others. Emotional
secrecy also appears elsewhere in Donne‟s work. For example, in “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,”
the speaker recommends that his love keep her grief concealed, for to share such emotions with the “laity”
(8) would be sacrilegious to their love. Thus, Donne‟s speakers feel this cerebral love is superior to (what
they would deem) commonplace loves present in most relationships. Perhaps the scholarly undertone also
serves to mask what might popularly be considered an illicit form of love at the time. Whatever the
motive, this distinct parallel to Donne‟s other works further supports that this „intellectual‟ element is
designed to mask the passion underneath. This may account for the seemingly scholarly and quasi-
apathetic nature of lecture.

The scholarly conception of the speaker draws interesting parallels to Donne‟s personal life. Donne
read extensively but did so in secrecy. Every day he would study in the early morning between 4am and
10am before the English day had started. He mastered law, English, as well as other humanities and thus
was indeed a scholar himself unbeknownst to those around him. But he also was a passionate man and his
poetry clearly demonstrates this romantic element. So Donne, like the speaker, possesses a complex blend
of emotion and reason and also strives to conceal certain parts of himself. Whether or not the speaker
represents some aspect Donne himself is not clear. But the similarities derived from careful examination
of the speaker reveals how emotion and reason are expressed differently and invite further questioning as
to his nature, ultimately furthering our study of the poem and Donne himself.