Nakedness

The principal plot of the poem, if not its central theme, is nakedness: the process of removing one’s clothing, and the critical moment when the exposed body is at last revealed. This is, to say the least, a somewhat unusual concept for a poem, particularly for a poem from this era. Images of completely unclothed bodies were rare during at the time, even in visual art. This poem, furthermore, is constructed in order to draw as much attention to the central themes of nudity as possible. It is not just about the naked body, but also about the process of nakedness. Readers are told about every item of clothing that the mistress wears, and given a description of each of them as she removes them, but also about her body underneath the clothing.

Erotic art, from the erotic woodcarvings that were popular in Donne’s...