Beauty in Donne's "The Good Morrow" represents the poet's persona's

Analyze the question: It asks who "beauty" stands for in John Donne's "The Good Morrow." In other words, who is the person the speaker addresses and celebrates in the poem?

Explain the concept: "The Good Morrow" is a metaphysical love poem. The speaker addresses his beloved and says that their love has awakened them to a new, complete world. Donne uses several images to express this:

• Stanza 1: The speaker asks what they did before they loved. He suggests they were like infants "weaned" or like the Seven Sleepers, sleeping in a cave. Any beauty he saw before was only a "dream" of his beloved: "If ever any beauty I did see, / Which I desired, and got, 'twas but a dream of thee."
• Stanza 2: Their love turns their small room into a whole world: "For love, all love of other sights controls, / And makes one little room an everywhere."
• Stanza 3: Their two faces are reflected in each other's eyes, and their two hearts are joined. Their love will not die because it is perfectly balanced.

Solution:

1. The "beauty" in the poem is the woman the speaker loves, whom he addresses as "thee."
2. The relationship between the two is romantic and passionate, not familial or merely friendly.
3. A niece or mother does not fit the poem's romantic and erotic context. A friend is too weak, since the poem describes the union of two souls and bodies.
4. So the beauty represents the persona's lover.

Answer: B. lover

Exam tip: In Donne's love poems, such as "The Good Morrow," "The Sun Rising," and "The Canonization," the "you" is nearly always the beloved. Remember the theme: love makes a small room into a whole world.