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Metaphysical elements in John Donne's poems
Metaphysical elements in John Donne's poems
Content and analysis of a valediction forbidden mourning by John Donne
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An Analysis of Donne’s A Valediction: of Weeping
William Empson begins his critical essay on John Donne's "A Valediction: of Weeping" with the statement below. Empson here plays the provocateur for the critic who wishes to disagree with the notion that Donne's intentions were perhaps less than the sincere valediction of a weeping man. Indeed, "A Valediction" concerns a parting; Donne is going to sea and is leaving his nameless, loved other in England, and the "Valediction" is his emotive poesy describing the moment.
"...the language of [A Valediction: of Weeping] is shot through with a suspicion which for once he is too delicate or too preoccupied to state unambiguously, that when he is gone she will be unfaithful to him. Those critics who say the poem is sincere, by the way... know not what they do." --- William Empson, "A Valediction: of Weeping," John Donne: a Collection of Critical Essays (ed. H. Gardner)
There is little argument as to what Donne is feeling at surface level: he is sorrowful and grieving because he must be apart from his loved one, who has become his world (a metaphor which is carried out in the second stanza). Empson is indeed correct when he says that the poem is not unambiguous. There is a large range of interpretations that can be made based upon the language in the poem, and these are focused around the source of Donne's grief.
It is easy for one to picture a grieving sailor leaving his lover, but what makes this man grieve? It is the innate love between two people who are intensely focused upon each other which must be put on hold? Is it some additive emotion that consists of two people who are about to suffer separation and loss of a lover? Or is it, as Empson p...
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..., Donne and his lover/other struggle with their sadness just before separation. Donne realizes that this may be a futile goal, but he also sees the importance of composure if their relationship - his "world" - that he credits to her is going succeed. Donne seems to have no dearth of sincerity in this poem. He is also purposeful in writing it; Donne himself was a man of great passion, and who had to go out to sea. "A Valediction: of Weeping" seems not to be the valediction of a jealous lover, but of a conscientious other making a concerted effort not to let jealousy and self-pity control his farewell to a lover.
Works Cited:
Donne, John. "A Valediction: Of Weeping". The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Volume 1A. 2nd ed. Ed. Damrosch, David, Christopher Baswell and Anne Howland Schotter. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, Inc, 2003.
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Plato's perfect city was to be a model of order, efficiency and discipline. Above all it would be governed by the strict adherence to what White refers to as 'the natural division of labour'. This was to take the form of vocational and social division within the city. Everyone had one job in order to specialise and become good at it. 'We forbade our shoemaker to try his hand at farming or weaving or building and told him to stick to his last, in order that our shoemaking should be well done.'
In the Han Dynasty, Confucius ideas had a large influence on the daily life as well as the political procedures of the state. The social hierarchy was largely based on these beliefs. “Confucians envisioned scholar-officials as working hard for the ruler to enhance a moral economy in which profiteering by greedy merchants would be minimal.” It was believed that the people of the empire would not be selfish in attempting to make personal profits much of the time. However, the Han Dynasty was not actually run in this fashion. The early Han Dynasty “perpetuated powerful elites.” The scholar- officials did not have the social ranking needed to achieve a morally correct economic system. The elite class made up of imperials and noble, was the top of the social hierarchy followed by the high-ranking officials and scholars. The social ranking of the Han Dynasty people did not match the ranking that was seen as ideal to the Confucians. The ideas that people had about the social structure varied from the reality of
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.
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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.
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