"There Is No Try"

Although I don't really think I know what I'm doing, I'm going to try. Here goes my analysis.

1. Genre: As a lyrical poem, "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" portrays the strong inner feeling and emotion of the narrator. For example, he describes this relationship as "our love so much refined" and then goes on to explain more about how he feels.
2. Narrator: The persona could be Donne but seems to portray any lover saying goodbye. "Our two souls, therefore, which are one" is a sentiment felt by people all over the world and makes this poem easier for a wider audience to connect with.
3. Setting: Because the narrator uses universal language (tears, gold, compasses), there is no obvious or concrete setting. Rather, it is ambiguous in a way that allows the reader to move the poem to whatever time and place they may be in.
4. Structure: This poem was a nine stanza ballad with an ABAB rhyme scheme. The sing-songy feel of the ballad seemed to fit with the theme of lost love as it mirrors music dealing with similar feelings.
5. Tone: A wistful, sad tone blankets the poem. The tone is really just an extension of the title: mourning because of an ending. The tone is amplified by the diction and metaphors used.
6. Diction: The diction amplifies his feelings like "tear-floods" and "sigh-tempests." This word choice exaggerates how much he will cry and sigh, but effectively expresses his feelings of great loss.
7. Audience: The narrator seems to be either A) talking to themselves in an effort to come to terms with their mourning, or B) saying farewell to their lover. 
8. Visual Design: A clear simple separation of stanzas doesn't serve much purpose other than separating ideas or metaphors.
9.     Metaphor: One strong metaphor for the lovers interconnectivity is the hands on a compass. "As stiff twin compasses are two;/Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show/To move, but doth, if the other do." This shows how even though they are two separate souls, they move, think, and act together. 
10. Characters: There seem to be two characters in this poem: the narrator and their love. The lover isn’t given any physical representations or hints as to what they looked like, so the reader cannot be sure whether the speaking persona is a man or woman or as to what gender their lover is.