Let us remember the central image that forms such a major
part of this excellent poem. The conceit, or surprising figure of speech that is
renowned in this poem is the comparison of the speaker in this poem and his beloved to
the two feet of a compass. Note the way that this conceit is presented and how it
presents the speaker and his beloved:
If they be two, they are two
so
As stiff twin compasses are
two,
They soul the fixed foot, makes no
show
To move, but doth, if th'other
do.
And though it in the centre
sit,
Yet when the other far doth
roam,
It leans, and hearkens after
it,
And grows erect, as that comes
home.
Note the way that this
image allows the speaker to present a mystical kind of union that exists between himself
and his beloved, a union that even death itself cannot break. It also presents their
reunion as being an inevitable process, as both remain connected and together, and just
await that moment when they can be together again. The speaker therefore has no fears
about bidding farewell, because he knows that really it is not a farwell: the binds that
tie him to his beloved are so strong that even death cannot sever them, and their
reunion will be just a matter of time.
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