In this poem Donne deals with love and separation when the speaker takes his leave of his lover before embarking on a potentially dangerous sea journey. There has been some debate over his sincerity in this work: is the speaker genuinely grieving because of the parting or simply worried that, given a woman's natural tendency to stray, despite their shared sorrow in parting, she is unlikely to remain faithful to him for long once he is gone"

The use of the term `valediction' meaning farewell here reflects the fact that the lovers are undoubtedly saying farewell in anticipation of parting and also indicates saying goodbye to the physical closeness that has existed between them. The poem is made up of 9-line stanzas in which lines 1, 5 and 6 are iambic dimeter, lines 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8 are iambic pentameter, and line 9 is iambic hexameter.

In a search for sincerity, it has to be...