“You can’t take it with you when you die”, is a strong and powerful quote that tells us how ephemeral things are, and how we leave our greed behind us, along with this world. But is it truly so? “The Funeral” is a poem written by John Donne where he proves us wrong by carrying the wreath of hair of his beloved on his arm. It is after reading the poem that we understand the significance of the hair.
The poem and the title refer to the preparation of the funeral rather than the funeral itself. It consists of certain turning points that are astonishing and may surprise the readers. It is a mystery that unfolds over stanzas. Let’s take a look at the poem first.
The Funeral
Whoever comes to shroud me, do not harm
Nor question much
That subtle wreath of hair, which crowns my arm;
The mystery, the sign, you must not touch,
For 'tis my outward soul,
Viceroy to that, which then to heaven being gone,
Will leave this to control
And keep these limbs, her provinces, from dissolution.
For if the sinewy thread my brain lets fall
Through every part
Can tie those parts, and make me one of all,
Those hairs which upward grew, and strength and art
Have from a better brain,
Can better do'it; except she meant that I
By this should know my pain,
As prisoners then are manacled, when they'are condemn'd to die.
Whate'er she meant by'it, bury it with me,
For since I am
Love's martyr, it might breed idolatry,
If into other hands these relics came;
As 'twas humility
To afford to it all that a soul can do,
So, 'tis some bravery,
That since you would have none of me, I bury some of you.
- John Donne
Meaning and Summary
“The Funeral” is a poem about a man who wishes for his funeral and obsesses over the manacle of hair and desires to have it even when he is buried. In the first stanza, the speaker tells us that whoever shrouds him, is going to notice the strand of hair on his wrist and he tells them not to be curious about it or question it.
The speaker calls it a mystery and tells anyone not to touch it because it is his outward soul. He calls it the “viceroy” of his body, which is going to guide him after his soul goes to heaven. The “wreath” is going to control his limbs, just like the viceroy controls the provinces and protects his body from being dissolved, from being decimated into nothingness.
In the second stanza, the poet tells us how the bracelet of hair around his arm is going to guide him. It seems that the strand of hair belongs to someone he loved and just to keep her forever with him, he chooses to have a bracelet of her hair worn around his wrist after his death.
He tells us that the “thread” of the brain which was able to control his entire body was perhaps not that capable of doing so. But the hair which grew from a better brain can do better to control him. It is a beautiful and loving way of saying that the person to whom the hair belongs is a better person than he could ever be.
Here, the tone of the poem changes, and the speaker tells us that just like prisoners are manacled, similarly the speaker was condemned to die with this hair manacle. It seems that the woman’s love was not pure. Rather, she wanted to trap him forever, but this trap was for the soul.
In the third stanza, the speaker begins to speak of love and tells us that he is not bothered by whatever she is meant to do by the bracelet of hair, and he is ready to die. He wants the manacle to be buried with him because he is dying for the cause of love.
If the manacle is not buried with him, the people might consider it a relic and start worshiping it. It was humility that made him compare it to his outward soul, but now he has become brave and wants the hair to be buried with him.
Analysis of the poem
Whoever comes to shroud me, do not harm
Nor question much
That subtle wreath of hair, which crowns my arm;
The mystery, the sign, you must not touch,
For ’tis my outward soul,
Viceroy to that, which then to heaven being gone,
Will leave this to control
And keep these limbs, her provinces, from dissolution.
The poem begins with a serious and direct note to the readers where the speaker talks about death. The speaker tells us that whoever comes to “shroud” him, should not harm or question the “wreath” of hair that “crowns” his arm. The speaker does not want people to question the wreath of hair which seems to be a token of love.
The word “harm” in the poem suggests “life” because if the speaker is dead, then it is the strand of hair that lives on, denoting his continuity of love. “Wreath” describes the shape of the band around his arm which is connotative of death. Moreover, the word “crown” tells us about its position on the speaker’s arm and also its preciousness.
The poet tells us not to touch it because it is his “outward soul” since the soul has left his body, the wreath of hair is going to act like his substitute soul. The poet then calls the wreath of hair, a “viceroy” that will rule his body just like the “viceroy’ rules his province. When the monarch of his body which is the soul will leave, then the wreath of hair is going to be the viceroy that controls it and protects it
The hair is going to control his body and prevent it from decaying or falling apart. In these lines, the speaker describes how desperately he wants the manacle of hair on his arm, and how nobody should question it. However, he gives us all the reasons why that wreath of hair should be buried with him. It seems that the strand of hair belonged to his beloved and was given to him as a token of love.
For if the sinewy thread my brain lets fall
Through every part
Can tie those parts, and make me one of all,
Those hairs which upward grew, and strength and art
Have from a better brain,
Can better do’it; except she meant that I
By this should know my pain,
As prisoners then are manacled, when they’are condemn’d to die.
The speaker then tells us the function of the threads of the brain, i.e., the nerves. He tells us that the “threads” that extends from his brain fastens his whole body together and makes him “one”. It is a metaphor to his control and decision.
Then, the hair that “upward grew” would be able to bind him with their better “strength and art” which comes from a better brain. In simple words, the hair that belonged to the woman he loved would be able to unify him better because it belonged to a better brain.
This is a subtle way of saying something different with the “hair that grew upward”. It tells us that the women to whom this wreath of hair belonged started having more control over him, than his own “threads” ever could.
The tone of the poem changes when the speaker says “except”. The speaker tells us that the wreath was not a token of love but rather it was a symbol of painful rejection and then the speaker compares the wreath of hair with that of the manacles of the prisoner when they are condemned to die. It seems that the speaker and the woman are chained together with unrequited love. The woman who gave him the bracelet wanted the speaker to suffer.
In these lines, we understand that the poem is not actually about love but rather something more intensive which is unrequited love. It is the turning point when the speaker tells us that unless the bracelet was given with some other intention, maybe it was during that time the speaker realized the intended meaning of the wreath.
Whate’er she meant by’it, bury it with me,
For since I am
Love’s martyr, it might breed idolatry,
If into other hands these relics came;
As ’twas humility
To afford to it all that a soul can do,
So, ’tis some bravery,
That since you would have none of me, I bury some of you.
The speaker continues to tell us that he is not concerned about what was the symbol of the wreath but he wants it to be buried with him. He calls himself “Love’s martyr” because he died for love as a result of rejection.
The speaker believes that a bracelet might breed “idolatry” if it comes into other hands. “Idolatry” is the worship of idols and he wants it to be avoided. The bracelet’s value is given by associating it with a relic.
The speaker tells us that he was humble to signify the value of hair, comparing it to his soul. Similarly, he is brave enough to condemn it to his grave. The most powerful line of the poem is the last line where the speaker tells us that since the woman did not want to be with him, he is burying some part of her along with him. This line signifies love, and his dedication to be with her.
Since she wants nothing of him, he decides to bury something of hers with him. This shows that while he was unable to be with her in life, he can be with her, or a part of her, in death. Whereas people say “till death do us part”, here death actually brought them together, in a sad way.
Themes of the Poem
The themes of “The Funeral” poem include love, dedication, revenge, death, and control. From the very beginning of the poem, we understand that it was out of love that the poet wanted to keep the wreath of hair crowned on his arm and did not want anyone to question it.
He tells us constantly how it is going to protect his body from falling apart or decaying and just like a “viceroy” it is going to control his body in a better way. Moreover, he calls it his “outward soul”. It was after the second stanza that we understood the speaker talks about unrequited love.
A love where he was being used as a mere puppet by the woman. She gave him the bracelet to condemn him to death to make him suffer. Thus, the speaker realizes her intentions and wants to take the bracelet with him to the grave.
Here, the revenge part arises. To take revenge on the woman who did not love him and just wanted to control him, he takes her wreath with him when he dies. So that when he suffers, a part of her suffers as well. It is all because she had “none of him”, he is taking “some” of her.
Revenge can be a powerful feeling and it becomes overpowering when the speaker realizes the actual motive of the wreath. However, his undying love for the woman will be expressed through the “manacle” that he is going to wear in his hand forever. Maybe, forever haunting her in her memories.
Another theme is death because the poet is planning his funeral. It seems that he wants to end the suffering that he is going through right now and wants to die. But, he wants a part of the woman to die as well along with him.
So he carries something that comes from a “better brain”, her hair. He wears the wreath of hair like a crown on his arm while dying and also while being buried. The suffering that he faces right now is of unrequited love.
Lastly, it is “control” over the speaker that the woman wanted, however, the speaker was humble enough to call “hair manacle” a token of love and something that is going to prevent his body from decaying.
He is taking a part of her to die along with him and he calls himself a martyr of love because he died for the cause of love. Moreover, he even tells people to make sure they bury the strand of hair along with him because he does not want people to worship it considering it a relic.
Structure and Literary Devices
“The Funeral” poem is divided into three octaves and its regularity conveys the continuity of the speaker’s love ironically. The meter does not remain consistent and it varies. For example, lines 1,3, and 4 follow the iambic pentameter, then lines 5 and 7 follow the iambic trimeter. This irregularity of the meter denotes the change in the speaker’s feelings towards the woman. The rhyming scheme of the poem is ababcdcd again signifying the continuity of love.
The literary devices that are used in the poem include:
Enjambment – The poet has used enjambment in the following lines:
Whoever comes to shroud me, do not harm
Nor question much
For if the sinewy thread my brain lets fall
Through every part
For since I am
Love’s martyr, it might breed idolatry,
Alliteration – The poet has used powerful alliteration in lines 13 and 14 where he expresses the power that the woman holds, which seems to be greater. A few examples of alliteration include:
Have from a better brain,
Can better do’it; except she meant that I
That subtle wreath of hair, which crowns my arm;
Metaphor – A few examples of metaphor include “wreath” which means death, and “wreath of hair” which metaphorically define his “outward soul”. “Viceroy” which is again a metaphor for the hair.
Conceit – The poet has used conceit to extend the use of language from the word field of the stat. For example: “viceroy”, “provinces” and “dissolution”.
Repetition – The poet has repeated words to express their importance. For example “better”, “soul” and “part”.
Caesura – Caesura is a poetic device where one phrase ends and another phrase begins. For example: Can better do’it; except she meant that I.
Conclusion
“The Funeral” by John Donne is a poem about the unrequited love of the speaker of the poem. The speaker first signifies the importance of the “wreath” of hair on his arm and tells us that just like a viceroy, it is going to rule his body.
We still do not know whether or not the woman who gave him the hair strand is alive or not. It might be that either the woman who gave him the hair strand is dead or does not love him back. Therefore, it is a mystery for the readers to understand the real cause of his suffering, but the possible cause is unrequited love.
The power that the woman had over the speaker’s body does not die even if he is buried, but the speaker is now brave enough to fight back and end his suffering by taking her hair wreath in his grave. I believe, in this poem, the speaker is morose over the fact that the woman never loved him but instead wanted to use him, and that filled the speaker with sadness. The poet finds some part of her within himself as he dies. A part of her dies with him.