by p.smith

Created on: June 26, 2008   Last Updated: July 28, 2009

When Chris Rock or Eddie Murphy steps onstage and trashes women, the audience knows that the entertainer is assuming an obnoxious persona in order to explore that aspect of human experience . People know that comedians deal in social commentary which may be shocking to some listeners.Donne gave many opinions about his contemporary society. Why then has his poem which starts with the line, "Go and catch a falling star," convinced readers for the last four hundred years that Donne hated women? Like Rock and Murphy, Donne was entertaining people for a living.He was recognised as a genius, right from his early days.Like many young and talented people, he often discussed controversial subjects in a brash and callow way. And to be fair, as a Biblical student, he may have accepted the notion of the "Scarlet woman," which appears so frequently in that book.However,since he married for love, fathered a large family,and deeply mourned his wife's death,it is unlikely that this poem is a record of his personal opinion.

Donne did not usually assign titles to his poems, so it was left to editors to name them when collecting them for publication. Whichever editor named this poem, " Song," was referring to the light-hearted, over-stated quality of the work. Donne's poems were commonly set to music and sung by English pub-goers and soloists. If anyone tried to set this "Song" to music,
it would be impossible because of its uneven rhythm. Donne was quite capable of writing cleverly crafted verses, suitable for a musical setting. I do not believe he ever intended this little tirade to be a "Song." It is a playful complaint, meant for animated delivery through the spoken word.

This poem was probably dashed off to amuse or entertain his male friends.
It is easy to imagine a disappointed lover being delighted by this clever work, perhaps finding comfort in its outright condemnation of women. Or Donne may have penned it during an unhappy time in his own overheated love life among his adoring fans. It is a poem which is clearly light hearted because of the use of staggering exaggerations and slightly skewed references to commonly accepted beliefs and activities.

He refers to the mandrake root, not for its commonly praised power to increase human fertility, but to point out that the plant itself cannot conceive a child. He implies the futility of attempting such a conception, and relates it the chance of finding a "woman true, and fair." He challenges the reader to "Teach me to

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>