Physical Ailments

Physical ailments in the poem symbolize temporary earthly restrictions. Donne begins the poem with the speaker's shortcomings: "Or chide my palsy, or my gout, / My five gray hairs, or ruined fortune flout" (2-3). He groups illnesses such as palsy and gout together with old age and failed careers. Though these elements appear unrelated, the speaker addresses them together to suggest their shared origins in the earthly, rather than spiritual, world. The speaker attempts to distract his critic with these shortcomings because he knows they will not matter once the lovers achieve canonization.

Fly

The fly symbolizes earthly love. Donne uses a series of metaphors that give the lovers the ability to ascend to heaven, and the fly is the first of these metaphors. The image of both lovers being flies suggests not only mutuality and sameness, but an ascension from the lowliest of creatures to...