John Donne's "The Undertaking"

For this . . .
I'm going to interpret this poem, stanza by stanza . . .

"I have done one braver thing

Than all the Worthies did,

And yet a braver thence doth spring,

Which is, to keep that hid."

So . . . the narrator has done something greater than the the nine heroes of old and from that something even greater than that happened . . .

"It were but madness now t'impart

The skill of specular stone,

When he which can have learned the art

To cut it, can fine none."

The narrator knows a lost secret, but it's pretty pointless because it doesn't work anymore . . .

"So, if I now should utter this,

Others (because no more

Such stuff to work upon, there is)

Would love but as before."

I think this is about just admiring craftmanship or pretty things and it doesn't matter if can't be done anymore. The "others" aren't concerned with the process; they're just concerned with the finished product.

"But he who loveliness within

Hath found, all outward loathes,

For he who color loves, and skin,

Loves but the oldest clothes."

To carry the conceit further . . . men should not be concerned with the trappings of women (or the process) which makes them beautiful because the real beauty is in the color and the skin . . . and at least with the oldest clothes (because they're probably a bit tattered and whatnot) one can still glimpse what lies beneath.

"If, as I have, you also do

Virtue attired in woman see,

And dare love that, and say so too,

And forget the He and She;"

The point of this is respect. Women are virtuous, so don't break that . . . don't ruin that (for if you love what lies beneath then you're a bit forced to love the outer (with the conceit, you can admire the finished product; but at the same time, you're forced to admire what makes it so)).

"And if this love, though placed so,

From profane men you hide,

Which will no faith on this bestow,

Or, if they do, deride;"

What's the point of sharing this new thing with the players and the pimps and the one-night stand kind of guys. They don't get it . . . they don't understand . . . so what's the point?

"Then you have done a braver thing

Than all the Worthies did;

And a braver thing will spring,

which is to keep it hid."

A gentlemen doesn't kiss and tell and I think that's the point of this poem, but I like the fact of how Donne explains it. You love something so much, you just want to spread it to the world (every detail). but . . . love requires you to not do that and it's hard sometimes . . . but . . . it's a braver thing than all the worthies did . . . to give into love . . . and still have respect for your love a the same time . . .