John Donne Diction

1225 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Metaphysical conceits in Donne's poetry

John Donne exemplifies the process of repentance and salvation in a non-traditional light by using the unique metaphors he is known for. This metaphor creates the intense conversation the speaker has with God. This conversation is unconventional compared to the warm relationship perceived between God and his people. This particular sonnet also gives readers an idea of Donne’s thoughts on the effectiveness of the reformation of the Christian Church. Each of these elements creates Donne’s famous style of writing that has influenced writers for centuries. This sonnet encompasses an unorthodox style and questioning of certain religious beliefs that Donne is also known for. At the beginning of the sonnet, the speaker seemingly demands that God forcefully bruise his or her heart by saying, “Batter my heart, three-personed God” (1). The way in which the speaker chooses to address God is interesting because he refers to the trinity. The speaker conveys God as three different people, which helps readers see God’s true power in each of the three entities. Next the speaker explains, that for …show more content…

Also, Donne’s idea of the journey to truth is another important aspect because without the speaker being truthful to God, he or she would not be able to receive salvation. Because of the reformation during this time and the content within this piece, readers are left to question whether or not Donne intended for this particular sonnet to be based on the Church of England and their continued corruption after the reformation. Although there are certain aspects of this piece that are left for interpretation, Donne creates a sonnet that epitomizes the desperate plea to God from one of his lost

Show More
Related

  • Professor Vivian Bearing vs John Donne in the Play Wit by Margaret Edson

    1918 Words  | 4 Pages

    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)

    Read More

  • Examination of Women's Friendships through an Analysis of Katherine Philips' Friendship's Mystery

    4227 Words  | 9 Pages

    In order to better understand Philip's critique of Donne within the lines of her poetry, a reading

    Read More

  • Vulnerability in the Works of John Donne

    2695 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • In This Strange Labyrinth, by Mary Wroth

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...e speaker admits she is worried and confused when she says, “The sonnet is the story of a woman’s struggle to make choices regarding love.” (14) Her mind is disturbed from the trials of love.

    Read More

  • Thesis Of Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God

    693 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Explication Of Sonnet 23 By Mary Wroth

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, “Sonnet 23” utilizes the form of a Petrarchan sonnet and follows the meter and rhyming scheme laid out in this form with few deviations. This sonnet employs various puns to contrast the purity of pursuits of the mind and soul against the un-Christian or impure nature of bodily pursuits. Rather than a typical question - response type sonnet, this sonnet is an exploration of the sonneteer’s personal feelings for the people around him or her and is not addressed to anyone, thus acting as more of a journal entry than a shared work of

    Read More

  • The Persuasive Tone of The Flea

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    iv[iv] Helen Gandner, ed., John Donne: A Collection of Critical Essays. (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1962) 47.

    Read More

  • Holy Sonnet 10

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    John uses many examples of figurative language in his sonnet. To begin with, when Mr. Donne first commences his poem, he uses the personification “Death, be not proud” (1). The author is giving death the human characteristics of being “not proud.” The rest of the line continues as “though some have called you thee. ” Death should not be prideful even if people think it is. John displays through this first line how he feels about death: he is too prideful for his own good. Furthermore, Donne uses another personification when he states “Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so” (2). Again, he is giving death, a concept not a human, real characteristics. He believes death is not “mighty” or “dreadful” but something else. It gives his opinion that death is not “dreadful” to people in their lives but possibly beneficial. Later, the poet says “Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men” (9). Death is merely being controlled by things like fate which is the only way he can act. He has no way to move on his own without these other forces. Like with war, death is the result not the cause: death cannot physically make people fight. This comparison devalues death in its importance and therefore its necessity. John Donne’s use of metaphors and personifications in his poem to emphasize his belief that death is not as bad as people or death thinks it really is but can actually be advantageous.

    Read More

  • Poem Analysis of Meditation 17 by John Donne

    1446 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of The Indifferent by John Donne

    1165 Words  | 3 Pages

    that Donne wrote [the poem] when he was a young man about town in Elizabethan

    Read More

  • The Flea and The Sun Rising

    1643 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...) This is one of the most important claims that Donne makes because he indirectly inducts himself and Anne into the canon of saints, thus making them sacred. The poem ends with Donne calling upon all those who have suffered from similar criticisms; this further dignifies Donne as a saint-like figure. Therefore, both of Donne’s latter poems expose the transformation that Donne acquires when he meets Anne. His sexist attitude and views transcend to a more spiritual and emotional one.

    Read More

  • The Poems of John Donne and George Herbert: Presenting a Distinct View on God

    1978 Words  | 4 Pages

    The ideas that are received from the poems of John Donne and George Herbert present us with a very distinct view on God, and more generally, religion. Both were writing in the late 1500s and early 1600s; however the methodologies used by each are very distinct.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of Jonh Milton's Sonnet 8

    1304 Words  | 3 Pages

    Milton returned to England about 1641 when the political and religious affairs were very disturbing to many. He started to apply his work in practice for that one great work like Paradise Lost when penning the Sonnets. Not every sonnet is identical but they can be difficult in interpretation, styles, word use, and so forth. The purpose of this paper is to analyze Milton’s Sonnet 8 (ca 1642), “Captain or Colonel.” This will be done by explaining the type of theme and then separating the sonnet into three sections: lines 1-4, 5-8, and 9-14 for a better understanding of how Milton used the development of ongoing events to present problems with a mystical resolution.

    Read More

  • Metaphysical Poetry In John Donne's The Flea

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Contexualist Perception in Death Be Not Proud

    1641 Words  | 4 Pages

    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...

    Read More

More about John Donne Diction

Open Document