Herbert in contrast to Donne has a more personal relationship with his God (Sobosan, 395). The tones of Herbert’s religious poems are less extreme, more joyous, and more celebratory than the tone of Donne’s. Herbert did not have a Catholic background in which he had to contemplate. Herbert’s less significant contemplation of religious denominations allows Herbert to have a stronger trust in his religious state compared to Donne. Herbert seemed to find evidence of God’s presence everywhere, whereas Donne’s relationship with God was more distant. Herbert’s poems, by contrast, tend to express a strong sense of assurance about God’s love and more “heartfelt” (Clarke, 34). Herbert seems to trust that God will certainly intervene in people’s lives to redeem them. Herbert places less stress on the legalistic aspects of redemption and the unconditional demand of faith, leading to more sincerity (Sobosan, 400). Herbert was able to rejoice in the ordinances and the authority of the Church and find freedom in what to him is the clear acceptance of faith (Sobosan, 400). The characterization of God for Herbert is one of closeness, pity, and the tenderness of God. Herbert’s conception of God implies a gentler side, ones that implements the love of God (Sobosan, 400). Illustrative examples of Herbert’s trusting, personal, confident relationship with God …show more content…
The title is significant as the Collar is a play on words with the clerical ‘collar’, or the ‘caller’ which both draw attention to God’s intervention at the end (Doerksen, 29). The poem regards a spiritual conflict, concerning the speaker (most likely Herbert) protesting strongly against the restrictions put on him, and his lack of rewards, until just before the end (Doerksen, 29). The speaker in the end is able to humble himself and realize that he is dealing with God, and recognizes it is Him who is calling, and
Ochshorn, Kathleen G. "A Cloak of Grace: Contradictions in A Good Man is Hard to Find." Studies in American Fiction. 18 (1): 113-117. Spring, 1990.
Taylor, Edward. “Meditation 42.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lautier. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004
During the first four lines of the poem the speaker feels like God has been very generous to him, he feels that God is almost too friendly and that he has been too caring. Donne feels that in orde...
Byrne, Brendan. The Hospitality of God: A Reading of Luke's Gospel. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2000. Print.
Donne, John. “Hymn to God, my God, in My Sickness.” Poems of John Donne. vol I. E. K. Chambers, ed. London: Lawrence & Bullen, 1896. 211-212.
The sermon paints a picture of the argument in order to maintain clarity and precision. In John Donne’s “Meditation 17,” he uses the conceits of an island and a
John Donne uses poetry to explore his own identity, express his feelings, and most of all, he uses it to deal with the personal experiences occurring in his life. Donne's poetry is a confrontation or struggle to find a place in this world, or rather, a role to play in a society from which he often finds himself detached or withdrawn. This essay will discuss Donne's states of mind, his views on love, women, religion, his relationship with God; and finally how the use of poetic form plays a part in his exploration for an identity and salvation.
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.
But the prevailing of his contradictions involves two major themes in his poetry: history and faith. He was, in his life, a self-described "Anglo-Catholic," but was raised a Midwestern Unitarian in St. Louis. Eliot biographer Peter Ackroyd describes the religion of Eliot's ancestors as "a faith [that] reside[s] in the Church, the City, and the University since it is a faith primarily of social intent, and concerned with the nature of moral obligations within a society. It place[s] its trust in good works, in reverence for authority and the institutions of authority, in public service, in thrift, and in success" (18). It is through Eliot's insistence of these "moral obligations" that his didactic poetry gives us a glimpse of both his outwardly rejected faith and his inability to shun its tenets. He becomes, through his greatest poetry, a professor of that which he supposedly does not believe.
Kerr, H. (1990). Readings in christian thought (2nd ed.). H. T. Kerr (Ed.). Nashville: Abingdon Press.
Francis Thompson lived in London at the end of the nineteenth century. He led a life that was often out of accord with the will of God, but repented near the end of his life and found God. He wrote an autobiographical poem, "The Hound of Heaven", based on his experiences. By analyzing this poem and Thompson's message, we can learn the truth of the statement "God's greatest attribute is His mercy."
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.
Thomas E. Connolly, in "Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown': An Attack on Puritanic Calvinism" (American Literature, 28 [November 1956], 370-375), has remarked that Goodman Brown has not lost his faith; he has found it.
For this reader, Hopkins has chosen the favorable mode of expression. The poetics of "The Windhover" reverberate with the resonance of the fundamental principle of the gospel: "The Windhover" represents "what oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed."