In this essay I will mainly focus on two poems written by John Donne, The Rising Sun and Death be not proud. These poems were written during the Elizabethan era, which was an era mainly characterized by love and colonialism, on separate terms of course. These principles often influenced poets who lived during this period. Their poetry acts as testimonies of their underlying thoughts and desires. Furthermore, metaphysical poets deliver a more divine and profound perspective to their poetry. Within their conceits, they manage to engage and delight themselves in deeper movements. This essay will further discuss how John Donne used death and the sun to his disposal. I will also critically analyse the two poems as well grasp on external aspects which emerge from these poems.
Metaphysical poetry gains unique recognition for its unnatural nature and complexity. It engages in philosophical and spiritual dimensions and develops a completely unconventional sense of knowledge. One of the most influential meta-physical poets was John Donne. His work was known to be intriguingly sophisticated. Donne laid his spirituality as a foundation to his work which allowed him to shape his poetry to greater extents of spirituality and morality. Although Donne is widely known for the spiritual allusions in his work, he also wrote love poem. His poetry was not inspired by a single person, but rather his surroundings and tragic emotional experiences sparked his creativity. Characteristics of the Elizabethan era are evident in his work. He was also inspired by the developments of science and religion, this is evident in both Death be not Proud, as well as The Rising Sun.
The sonnet Death be not proud, written by John Donne in the 15th century, is a select...
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... spiritual poetry. He has shown true devotion to his spirituality throughout his poems, while simultaneously, not only focusing on religion, but also other spheres of his life in which he took interest. Donne’s poetry about love includes great passion and his images of love are skilfully dramatized.
In conclusion, metaphysical poet John Donne has broadened the horizons of philosophy within English literature. We grasp his intellectual poetry and appreciate the dramatic sincerity that comes along with it. Both these poems take on unrealistic challenges that can only be constructed in the mind. These poems are an escape from reality to a place of no limitations and unpredictability. Readers do not necessarily engage critically, but rather insightfully. Metaphysical poetry has created a world beyond reality which, in most regard, is much more pleasantly portrayed.
When readers reflect on the poetry of the seventeenth century, poets such as John Donne and the
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 emphasizes his belief that death is not as bad as people think it really is, but can actually be advantageous.
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.
John Donne’s poems are similar in their content. They usually point out at same topics like love, lust, sex and religion; only they are dissimilar in the feelings they express. These subjects reflect the different stages of his life: the lust of his youth, the love of his married middle age, and the piety of the latter part of his life. His poem,’ The Flea’ represents the restless feeling of lust during his youthful days but it comes together with a true respect for women through the metaphysical conceit of the flea as a church in the rhythm of the sexual act.
Holy Sonnet XV deals with the question of reciprocal love that runs throughout Donne’s religious poetry. The Sonnet is an address of the speaker’s mind to the speaker’s soul; it is a meditation on the Trinity and man’s relationship to God. The poem’s form and the multi-layered conflation throughout expound upon the nature of the Trinity. The theme of humility in reciprocal religious love or receiving and understanding God’s glory (as Donne understood it) runs throughout the poem. This allows the speaker’s soul to understand his own need for humility in order to love god fully. Donne uses the Sonnet form cunningly in this poem; the formal divisions of the Sonnet reflect the trinity, with three four-line sections, while the inner workings of the poem expound upon God’s love for mankind and the need for humility. The poem’s rhyme scheme is abba/abba/cddc/ee. This formally divides the poem into three four part sections that move from the spiritual to the physical downward through the Trinity, increasing tangibility with regard to the physical and allowing the speaker to achieve a closer relationship with God through Christ.
Whether Donne wrote his poem for his wife or just touched a universal theme for of us to learn from, the huge apparent differences bring the mortal love between the speaker and his lady to a level of perfection and no journey can ever break that.
In 'Twickernham Garden ' Donne cleverly uses a spider as the conceit of the poem to comment on the nature of love, to emphasise that just like a spider love traps you insidiously and leaves you helpless. As well as that there is religious connotations to transubstantiation and manna and serpents. By doing this Donne finds another way to create an effective poem in emphasising his meaning and thoughts. The Major conceit in 'A Valediction Forbidding Mourning ' is that of a compass. Samuel Johnson a fellow poet, who coined the term metaphysical poetry criticised Donne by stating that 'the poem 's compass analogy highlights the violence used by metaphysical poets to force the most heterogeneous ideas together. Disagreeing with this statement, Donne 's use of the compass to reinforce the idea that their souls are like the legs of the compass, even though they will physically separate he will always come back as they create something perfect 'Thy firmness makes my circle just and make me end where I begun '. The conceit reassures his lover that it is inevitable that he will return because they are joined spiritually, mentally and physically, and their love is strong because he will always come back to
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.
In both ‘The Sun Rising’ and ‘The Good Morrow’ Donne presents the experience of love, in a typical Metaphysical style, to engage his reader through sharing his own experiences. These poems show distinctive characteristics of Metaphysical poems which involve colloquial diction, drawing inventive imagery from unconventional sources, passionately analysing relationships and examining feelings. Donne presents the experience of love through conceits, Metaphysical wit, language techniques and imagery, in a confident tone using logical argument. The impact of Donne’s use of direct and idiomatic language shows the reader how he feels about a woman and ultimately love.
Granted that Donne's personification of God reduces the deity from an almighty force to a human archetype, divinity is not undermined. The metaphoric figures of inventor, ruler, and lover, each retain specific skills and purpose, but can not compare to the Christian suggestion of God's role and strength. However, the presentation of striking, violent imagery charges the poem with a sense of power and complete domination, and allows the image of God to transcend his designated human forms. Through the projection of life's frailty, powerlessness in captivity, and sexual
John Donne's use of deep religious themes, unique poetic devices, and vivid imagery create a stunning and convicting poem. Donne's talents are on full display as he moves through each line with such beauty and simplicity. One can easily imagine his sorrow and pain as he penned the words of this poem and poured his heart into it. Donne's work reminds readers of the sorrow of sin, the necessity of forgiveness, and the hope of restoration. Although he focuses on anguish and sorrow, his message is truly one of joy and hope. All who take his words to heart find internal peace and rejoice in the mercy of their
"John Donne - Biography and Works." The Literature Network. 1 Jan. 2000. 9 Dec. 2001.
John Donne will not accept death as the finale, his religious conviction supports in the belief of eternal life proceeding death. Throughout the poem Donne’s main purpose was the personification of death, his use of figurative language gave death humanistic characteristics and made death vulnerable and unintimidating. The structure of three quatrains and a couplet for the poem allowed for easier understanding of the context because the layout and rhyme scheme helped the poem flow and also revealed the tones. The imagery of death described by Donne breaks down death’s pride and bravado, as well as shine an encouraging light past the process of dying, on to the hope of delivery to eternal life. Each element played a significant role in the interpretation of the paradox of the poem, that ultimately death is not the universal destroyer of life.
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
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.