The phrase 'country pleasures' occurs in the first verse
of Donne's poem, The
good-Morrow:
I wonder, by my troth, what thou and
I
Did, till we loved? were we not weaned till then,
But sucked on
country pleasures,
childishly?
In this poem, the
lover addresses the beloved in the first person mode with a question which is followed
by more questions that seem to contain answers to the opening one. The phrase 'country
pleasures' is part of the questionnaire.
In the three
verses of the poem, the speaker initiates a journey, a journey from the past to the
present to the future of love. a journey from the body to the mind and thence to the
spirit. The opening question looks back into their past history of love, a sheer bodily
engagement which they mistook for love. They were actually separated while they were
under the illusory impression of union. 'were we not weaned
till then?' is the question that looks back into that state.
'But sucked on country pleasures childishly?'
extends the interrogation. Despite being adult persons, the two lovers
behaved 'childishly' and wanted to enjoy bodily pleasures. By the phrase 'country
pleasures', the lover means the gross rustic pleasures of the senses when the souls were
in a state of slumber.
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