Question

In lines 9-12 of “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” why is the “trepidation of the spheres,” “though far greater” than the “moving of the earth” called “innocent”? It is part of nature. People do not place blame upon it. It doesn’t harm humans. It is an imaginary occurrence, not a real one.

Answer 1

Let´s remember Donne used a lot of metaphors in his poems .In addition , and at the same time he usually took an inspiration from his real love life to write. If the author refers to "..trepidation of the spheres.."he seems to be describing how fearful it is to be away from home and in the hands of the stars; fate which I think is seen in the word spheres.His whole poem refers to saying goodbye, taking leave at a moment a beloved person needs you the most.Love is strong ,even when two people are apart .Both suffer and feel the absence of the other ;which  is expressed in .."though far greater..".Donne traveled a lot and he was a father and a loving husband.It must have been hard for him to say goodbye for a while.

Finally ,"moving of the earth" is called innocent for a couple of reasons.First think of the meaning of innocent.According to the dictionary it is without sin, free from evil intent.The Earth moves and that is a fact, nobody forces  it to move to obtain one thing or the other , the whole movement is free from guilt.

Second , we might think of the movement of the earth as the actions we have to perform for one reason or the other,Not knowing what the consequences of these actions will be brings fear and discomfort.We expect the best when we act but if something goes wrong, we are innocent because we did not plan any harm.Yet, the occurrence is not imaginary, it is real; there is love, it exists and things happen.We mey imagine the worst results and that is whay we are afraid when we have to separate from someone we love .However, we hope for the best to come.