The Apparition

Initially, reading John Donne's poem The Apparition, I thought the speaker had physically murdered his wife and was now haunting her as a ghost or an "apparition." However, rereading the poem, I have come to the conclusion that the murder and apparition are merely symbolic. For instance, the "murder" is representative of the speaker's wife's loss of love for him and thus, her failure to satisfy him any longer. This conclusion coincides with the cliche of Renaissance poetry that "a woman who will not satisfy her lover's desire is 'killing' him." Therefore, this allows me to also draw the conclusion that the line that states, "Then shall my ghost come to thy bed...." is in reference not to the speaker's physical ghost, but rather his curse. The speaker wishes  that the relationships his ex-lover pursues with other men ("in worse arms")  will be cursed by his "ghost." "And in false sleep will from thee shrink" refers to the speaker's hopes that she will be rejected by her new lover. The speaker is clearly looking for revenge. He wants his ex-lover to feel the rejection and lack of satisfaction that she caused him and "die" as a result. She would then "...lie A verier ghost than I."