So long, farewell, it shouldn't be that bad to say goodbye.

In "A Valediction: forbidden mourning", I originally had no idea what this poem was talking about. I did not know what a "valediction" was, so I looked up the definition. After finding out that a valediction is a type of goodbye, I assumed that this poem was about saying goodbye to someone. The easy ABAB rhyme scheme made the poem easy to follow along with and the questions below the poem further added to helping me understand the poem. However, I don't really understand all of the metaphors that are created through this poem. I know that the metaphors are there, but I cannot dissect their meaning. In the first stanza, the speaker says that the parting of the two people should be like "virtuous men mildly passing away" (line 2). The goodbye that the two lovers are faced with should not be a big ordeal, essentially. Then, in line 7, the speaker goes on to say that crying over the parting of the two individuals should not evoke tears because "crying destroys their joy". The happiness that the couple shares should not be taken away by the distance they are now faced with. Now, towards the end, I know that the compass is a metaphor for something, but I did not understand what the compass stood for or what it was symbolic of. Regardless of whether I understood all of the metaphors or not, I did see the purpose for the use of metaphors. The metaphors make the reader see the beauty in the love that these two people share. Through the use of metaphors, the speaker states what they mean but in a discrete way. By comparing their goodbye and their love to other things, the speaker is able to convey the point. Their goodbye should not be mournful, but optimistic instead.