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Conceits in Done's poetry
Themes in Done's poetry
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Love and religion are two of the most common topics of poetry, even though many of Donne’s poems are either on love or religion, two different topic, they are connected thru the continuous use of devices such as allusions, metaphors, and puns; providing a bond for each poem yet each for a different context. “The Flea,” “Holy Sonnet VII”, and “A Hymn to God the Father” each have distinct themes, but find common ground by the use of common literary devices.
Donne consistently uses allusions, usually biblical, throughout his poems. Even in an erotic love poem, he manages to insert that “three lives in one flea spare,” alluding to the Christian idea of The Holy Trinity. In “The Flea,” the speaker sheds his religious values by comparing the three bloods mixed inside of the parasite to God, his Son, and the Holy Spirit. This biblical allusion seems like a paradox, since the speakers tries to pursue an unholy deed by using a spiritual thought. Donne’s use of biblical allusions follows into “Holy Sonnet VII,” with the overall apocalyptic visions that are present in the sonnet. The first three lines of the sonnet begin with an allusion to Judgment day, a reminder that the angels will blow their trumpets and then the humans will “arise, arise/ from death, you numberless infinities.” Not only does this allusion provide a reminder for the end of the world, it also serves as an apostrophe by declaring the angels to “blow your trumpets” and starts a conversation in midst of the sonnet. These multiple biblical allusions from “flood” to “fire” serve a remembrance of previous and future happening to the people of earth. Not only are these allusions reminiscence the sayings of God, they are a way to converse with God, for a “devotional poem can be...
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...ugh the puns that Donne uses are either quixotic or spiritual it still in evident in each of his poems.
Works Cited
Donne's "A Hymne to God the Father": New Dimensions
David J. Leigh
Studies in Philology , Vol. 75, No. 1 (Winter, 1978), pp. 84-92
Published by: University of North Carolina Press
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4173959
Explicating Donne: "The Apparition" and "The Flea"
Laurence Perrine
College Literature , Vol. 17, No. 1 (Winter, 1990), pp. 1-20
Published by: College Literature
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25111839
"Little Worlds Made Cunningly": Significant Form in Donne's "Holy Sonnets" and "Goodfriday, 1613"
Antony F. Bellette
Studies in Philology , Vol. 72, No. 3 (Jul., 1975), pp. 322-347
Published by: University of North Carolina Press
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4173878
When readers reflect on the poetry of the seventeenth century, poets such as John Donne and the
Donne, John. “Holy Sonnet 5, Holy Sonnet 6, Holy Sonnet 10.” John Donne’s Poetry: A Norton Critical Edition. Ed. Donald R. Dickson. W.W. Norton & Company. New York, London. 2004. (Handout)
...al in lines one and two with enjambment between the words “digest” and “my soul.” He even goes so far as to conflate God the Father with depraved man through enjambent and the phrase “robbed man” in line 9. In fact, this line seems to actually serve as a kind of “volta” due to the ultimate extreme of conflation, thus following the traditional Italian sonnet form. This emphasizes the purity of the form as representative of the Trinity in this sonnet. Donne’s use of the form of the poem itself as an embodiment of the Trinity seems to further emphasize the perceived interrelatedness of all things, and therefore supports the mutual statement of love that opens the poem. So, the conflation rises to yet another level, where the poem itself is a resonation of God’s love as a manifestation of the trinity, and Donne takes the role of creator, thus acting in the image of God.
Ribes, P. (2007, July 16). John Donne: Holy Sonnet XIV or the Plenitude of Metaphor. Retrieved October 6, 2011, from Sederi: http://sederi.org/docs/yearbooks/07/7_16_ribes.pdf
The first stanza shows a wide range of fantastical language with the intention of drawing the reader slowly and steadily into the hazy, dreamlike setting. Along with the words like ?fantasy?, ?fables? and ?dreams? come affectionate phrases that effectively show us that the poem is meant to be addressed to a lover, ?Dear love? being the most obvious example. Later on in the poem, the language shifts from drowsy and steady to more intense and complicated, yet less passionate and more doubtful. Donne?s choice in the last stanza to utilize fiery words like ?torches? and phrases ?light and put out? and ?thou cam?st to kindle? depict a sense of overwhelming passion, as uncontrollable as fire. Donne doubts that he can control his lover to continue loving him as fervently as in his dream, which is why his dream lover is ?an angel? while his lover in reality is compared to fire.
The metaphysical era in poetry started in the 17th century when a number of poets extended the content of their poems to a more elaborate one which investigated the principles of nature and thought. John Donne was part of this literary movement and he explored the themes of love, death, and religion to such an extent, that he instilled his own beliefs and theories into his poems. His earlier works, such as The Flea and The Sunne Rising, exhibit his sexist views of women as he wrote more about the physical pleasures of being in a relationship with women. However, John Donne displays maturity and adulthood in his later works, The Canonization and A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, in which his attitude transcends to a more grown up one. The content of his earlier works focused on pursuing women for his sexual desires, which contrasts heavily with his latter work. John Donne’s desire for physical pleasure subsides and he seeks to gain an emotional bond with women, as expressed in his later poetry.
...ne exclusively on himself and his lover. By doing so he says the sun will be shining on the entire world. It is apparent in both poems the tone and language is dramatic, as this is typical of Donne’s writing style. His use of imagery and symbolism effectively present his experience of love. However it is the structure that builds up the emotion throughout the poems as Donne starts in each poem to refer to a seductive love, then in conclusion realises the importance of true love. ‘The Good Morrow’ clearly shows evidence of this when at the beginning Donne states he ‘suck’d on country pleasures childishly’ and in the end understands that a ‘Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die’.
It is quite feasible to state that poetry at its finest is a dazzling and expressive art of words. A poem not only can expose the diplomatic beliefs of societies, but can also articulate passions and sentiments of the author to whom the poem belongs. One of the many fine poems that have been prevalent among the study of literature that is irrefutably powerful is Meditation 17 by John Donne. This poetic essay exposes John Donne’s opinions and beliefs on humanity, and covers much cogitation from religion all the way to death. Of course, the poem has been written so profoundly that one may not grasp it completely at first glimpse, however John Donne does use explicit strategies to better convey his message to readers of all sorts. John Donne utilizes situation, structure, language, and musical devices to enhance the poem and to aid in delivering his message efficiently.
By making many references to the Bible, John Donne's Holy Sonnets reveal his want to be accepted and forgiven by God. A fear of death without God's forgiveness of sins is conveyed in these sonnets. Donne expresses extreme anxiety and fright that Satan has taken over his soul and God won't forgive him for it or his sins. A central theme of healing and forgiveness imply that John Donne, however much he wrote about God and being holy, wasn't such a holy man all of the time and tried to make up for it in his writing.
John Donne is known as being one of the most famous and influential metaphysical poets. The term “metaphysical," as applied to English and continental European poets of the seventeenth century, was used by Augustan poets John Dryden and Samuel Johnson to reprove those poets for their “unnaturalness.” As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote, however, “The unnatural, that too is natural," and the metaphysical poets continue to be studied and revered for their intricacy and originality. Due to Donne’s personal experiences with spirituality and love, he is able to grasp the true meaning of metaphysical poetry (Brief Guide to Metaphysical Poets). Using all the aspects of metaphysical poetry, Donne creates a mysterious metaphoric poem titled, “The Flea.” Throughout this poem, the use of metaphors and breaks into the separate stanzas allow for the audiences to understand what The Flea is really about. At first glance, many read The Flea as a poem that compares sexual intimacy with an animal, but when broken down, it can be seen that the meaning is much deeper than intimacy, but it
No poem of John Donne's is more widely read or more directly associated with Donne than the tenth of the Holy Sonnets,"Death, be not proud." Donne's reputation as a morbid preacher was well-known. He had a portrait of himself made while posed in a winding-sheet so that he could contemplate a personalized memento of death. Donne draws upon a popular subject in medieval and Renaissance art, Le roi mort or King Death. His fascination with death reaches another plateau with this poem. He almost welcomes it and denounces the process as being neither horrifying nor the "end-all be-all." In a contextual point of view, he works to rupture habitual thinking and bring attention to the intensity and depth of a situation by creating doubt or offering a new aspect of his subject. Donne takes this poem and pours forth an array of visions that directly connects to the contextualist in a look at death, the pa...
John Donne delivered, like all of the other great poets of the renaissance era, an invaluable contribution to English literature. However, it is the uniqueness of this contribution that sets him apart from the rest. This statement seems somewhat ironic when one analyses the context of his life and the nature of his writing, for Donne is clearly the rebel in English poetry. He is the one poet that deliberately turned his back to the customs and trends of the time to deliver something so different to the reader that he will be remembered forever as a radical and unconventional genius. This is most probably the way that he would have liked to be remembered.
For this reason, it is difficult to decipher which attitude expressed in his poetry is actually Donne's view on love. In `The Flea', it would appear that sexual gratification is the solitary objective of the poem, whereas in poems such as `The Canonisation' love is elevated to a level where it refuses to abate even to the loss of the physical body. Similarly, many of the poems contain a sense of urgency about love, whilst others depict love as utterly unyielding to the passage of time.
In the first stanza of the poem, Donne tries to convince his lover to have sexual intercourse with him. At first one would not realize that this is his intention because he uses a flea to describe sex which is a very far-fetched description of the act hence this poem being metaphysical. Using a conceit he belittles the impact of sex and the power it has over him even though it may be untrue. Knowing that she has thought about it before, he assures her that by withholding sex from him is something so small that it does not give her power in the relationship.
Despite the speaker’s best attempt at convincing the woman to have sexual relations with him through his metaphor of the flea, he would appear to be unsuccessful at the end of the poem. His far-fetched and cynical approach belittles both the woman’s virginity and sexual relations outside of marriage in general, and only highlight his lust for her. However, the poem’s metaphysical characteristics which include the primary use of a conceit through the flea, hyperbole, ironic wit to balance the plot between a serious and humorous nature, and an argumentative structure, allow Donne to create a satirical narrative to address the subject of sexual relations outside of marriage.