Comparison of Poems by Mark Jarman & John Donne In the “Unholy Sonnet; after the Praying” by Mark Jarman and “Batter my Heart, Three-personed God, for You” by John Donne, there lies very common subject matters. Both poems are expressing a feeling that the author has about his religion and it’s purpose in his life. Yet, although the subjects both poems are addressing are the same, the messages being delivered are slightly different. The likenesses within both of the poems are very great. They are similar in that the both are talking about their common religion, which seems to be Christianity. The common theme in both poems is centered on what the speaker in the poem wants God to help him do. Both speakers share the belief that being sin free is very hard work. This is shown in Jarman’s poem when the speaker states, “After the praying, after the hymn singing, / After the communion, after the hand wringing” (Jarman 1, 4). This is shown in Donne’s poem when the speaker states, “That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend / Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new” (Donne 3). So as you see one of the main common themes is that being good and pure is no easy task. …show more content…
In the poem by Jarman, the author is trying to portray the feeling that one gets after he or she is done repenting for past sins and praying for forgiveness. It is present in the uncomfortable feeling that the sinner is still not fully clean, and that personal desires will always be present. In the lines
Our second poem displays the lost meaning of religion, confusion of love and how our misinterpretations on both lead us to think. Take for instance this line: “No way is [he] bringing me home. He wants someone to fix his religion.” Humans constantly want another human to give meaning to their lives in any kind of way. Some even go as far as interpreting sex and one night stands as actions of sincere love. Our secondary character is trying to find meaning in his religion once more, probably thinking if he finds someone to have sex with, eventually they’ll fall in love and it’ll give his life meaning again, ultimately “fixing” his religion. The character’s self-doubt about his religion and his actions to recuperate that meaning displays the lost meaning of religion. The line “Believe me I love religion, but he’s too quiet when praying” shows the lack of knowledge in America when talking about religion. Praying is a sacred time for people to talk to God and be thankful for them or to ask for guidance. Stating that “he’s too quiet when praying” shows a kind of lost in the meaning of religion, as it’s not a thing that’s enforced as much as it was decades
also be seen as a man who enjoyed killing but must come up with an
One similarity is that there is a similarity in allusion. Heaven in “Mr. Rager” is known to be this glorious place to journey to. Scott states in his lyrics, “I’m on my way to heaven (wherever you are, now).” (Cudi line 6). Heaven is hard to find, it is this glorious place in the book “The Bible”. Just about the same in the poem “Dreams” except the man is dreaming about heaven, “‘Twere folly still to hope for higher heaven.”(Poe line 12). Heaven is always going to be the highest place to look up too, especially in the sky. Both poem and song lyrics have a big similarity in allusion. There is no winner on which is better but both have spoken what heaven is
..., they are somewhat similar in comparison because they both have an inevitable ending, death. Both of the poems also used rhythm to give the reader a better insight and experience. The use of rhythm helps to set the tone right away. The use of symbolism and tone helped to convey an overall theme with both of the poems.
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)
Each four-line section expounds upon one aspect of the Trinity- God the Spirit/God the Father/God the Son. Donne continually juxtaposes the explication of aspects of the Trinity with explication of man’s relationship to God, resulting in a high degree of conflation throughout. The first line opens with a simultaneous statement of doubt and faith, “Wilt thou love God, as He thee?” While the speaker is convinced of God’s love, he doubts his ability to reciprocate. This is in contrast to many of Donne’s other Holy Sonnets in which the speaker continuously implores ...
Although the imagery in each poem is distinct, the similarity of message in both poems is evident. The poems are similar in that the narrator’s lives are empty and contain no passion for pursuing anything. The ideas reflected in these poems are seen even today, in such things as listless living and job-related apathy. Both poems suggest that a life where dreams of meaningless things are pursued will end without purpose or significance.
Mark Jarman, in his sonnet “Unholy Sonnet” 7, shows the conflicts that philosophical naturalism face in their struggle to discover God. At the beginning of the sonnet, saying that we can keep faith “reducing the proof of nature” (1 Jarman), this seems to be strongly agreed with a philosophical naturalism worldview. In support of this idea, the author continues in the next lines with a minimalist posture trying to prove that reducing ourselves to the most minimalist shape, “our bodies kept their faith” (2 Jarman). Then, the turn of the poem happens in the ninth line, when all the minimalization seems to go to nowhere, using jumble sentences like “We couldn´t see…” (11 Jarman) and “We couldn’t find…” (10 Jarman).
In “The Lost Island” and in “The City of the End of Things”, the future is depicted as something detrimental to the society which each story represents. In Pauline Johnson's short story, which is called “The Lost Island”, this concept is manifested in the visions given by the Medicine Man, from the story which the tilicum tells. In Archibald Lampman's poem, which is called “The City of the End of Things”, this concept is expressed through the downfall of greater human society in favour of a colder, more “robotic” age.
...s that of the internal struggles the speaker has and the understanding of those struggles by the audience. The rhyme scheme, though all used one, are completely different and show little, if any, sign of being similar. The theme is main adhesive as to what binds these three great works together, in that, the guilt and regret felt by the speaker is so immense, signaling to the audience that the poems have a great bit in common, though, through each one’s differences, they are unique unto themselves.
forced to watch one of his men die after failing to put his gas mask
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.
I am going to start by comparing the form of each poem. The souls of
...ast each other well. Both poems use imagery, repetition, alliteration and rhyming and both have many biblical references and rhetorical questions. Although each poem is different in its structure, theme and the way it is written.
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