In which excerpt from John Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" does the speaker tell his wife why she should keep his departure a secret?

" ... Thy firmness makes my circle just, / And makes me end where I begun."

" ... A breach, but an expansion,/Like gold to airy thinness beat."

" ... But trepidation of the spheres,/Though greater far, is innocent."

" ... Twere profanation of our joys/To tell the laity our love."

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Woodard

2 September, 09:11

In which excerpt from John Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" does the speaker tell his wife why she should keep his departure a secret?

" ... Thy firmness makes my circle just, / And makes me end where I begun."

" ... A breach, but an expansion,/Like gold to airy thinness beat."

" ... But trepidation of the spheres,/Though greater far, is innocent."

" ... Twere profanation of our joys/To tell the laity our love."

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Murphy · Answer 1

The excerpt you are looking for is the last one among your options: ... Twere profanation of our joys/To tell the laity our love. This si also truth when it is expressed that his beloved should let the two of them depart in peace, not revealing their love to "the laity." Hope this is useful