"The Good Morrow" a poem by John Donne.
"The Good Morrow" by John Donne The poem "The Good Morrow", by John Donne is one of the poems, from our readings, that caught my interest. I was perplexed with the reference to the "Seven sleepers' den" (Line 4) imagery comparing the couple lying in bed. According to a popular legend, seven young Christians of Ephesus, in the second century, took refuge from Roman persecution in a cave, and miraculously slept for some two hundred years when the entrance of their cave was walled up by their pursuers 1. In the first stanza, the narrators devoted expression of love towards the female focus is full of charm and wit. Incidentally in line 6, "If ever any beauty I did see, / Which I desir'd, and got, 'twas but a dream of thee" illustrated the sincerity to which the speaker felt, because he spoke as if he knew he loved her even before he met her. This is very admirable to read since the narrators love is so devoted and deep it makes all other love seem insignificant by comparison. Donne writes with images of sleep, and the way in which one's eyes can be closed to what the world has to offer. This suggests that their absence of sight in the darkness, denies them from the light which holds the knowledge about the ways of love, greater than what the world has to offer. I criticize Donne's imagery by being crude yet witty, when imagery of the proverbial breast of a mother is used
Why has Donne's poetry been described as 'Metaphysical'?
Why has Donne's poetry been described as 'Metaphysical'? To answer this question one needs to define the term 'Metaphysical' because, although it can be applied to any poetry dealing with spiritual or philosophical matter, it is complicated by the fact that it is now generally only applied to a group of seventeenth century poets. Therefore as David Reid has aptly remarked it is a "particularly fuzzy term" and therefore it is "futile to try for watertight definition". The first problem is that behind the term, 'Metaphysical,' lies a history of different critical approaches - Giordano Bruno, the first critic to attempt a conceptual formulation of "concettismo", as the 'Metaphysical' style was known in Italy, concluded that 'Metaphysical poetry' was essentially concerned with perceiving and expressing the universal correspondence in his universe. However, Samuel Johnson wrote that "about the beginning of the seventeenth century [in England] there appeared a race" of Metaphysical poets and therefore the problem is that there are different descents of critical views about the term. Furthermore Johnson talks of a "race" of these poets but the problem is that there is not such a line of descent as this statement would suggest. There are connections between poets, who are classed as 'Metaphysical', like Dunne, Cowley, Hubert and Marvell, but only here and there; for example in
Choose two or three poems that you think exemplify the characteristics of Donne's poetry.
Choose two or three poems that you think exemplify the characteristics of Donne's poetry Donne's poetry is varied including, as it does, both religious and secular poems. However, much of his poetry is characterised by elaborate conceits, surprising symbols and persistent wittiness making use of paradox, puns and startling parallels. Donne's love poetry notably 'The Good-Morrow' and 'The Sun Rising' both succeed in exemplifying characteristics peculiar to Donne's poetry. In 'The Good-Morrow' Donne begins to wrestle with a question, which other lovers have faced. He is sure that the love he feels is different from any he has previously known, but lovers often feel that, and the fact remains that they have each loved others before. 'What thou and I Did, till we lov'd?' Donne ponders over the significance of this for the relationship they are about to begin. If they have loved, and left others in the past, what security can they have for the future? Although 'Good-Morrow' and 'Sun Rising' are secular poems they can be seen to share certain characteristics with the holy sonnet 'Batter my Heart'. To each of these poems Donne brings the full force of his passion and intelligence. None of the poems can be regarded as a simple cry from the heart: they neither are, nor pretend to be, raw expressions of emotion. All of the three poems are about Donne's relationship with others, both
A critical analysis of the message by John Donne
A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MESSAGE BY JOHN DONNE Form: The poem is set out in stanzas, not paragraphs. The three stanzas are of equal length, although the line length differs within the stanzas. The author charts out in three stages his mortal acceptance of the rejection in love. Each stanza representing a time, depict to the suffering. Lines 1, L2, are of equal length in each stanza and consist of eight syllables, inform ably an iambic tetrameter. In the following two stanzas these lines do not differ unlike line 3, which invariably changes from an iambic tetrameter in the first stanza to seven syllables in L11. Then, L19 has nine syllables within it. Lines 4 and L5 are of equal length in each stanza and consist of four syllables and do not differ in the following stanzas. Similar are lines 6 and L7 except they consist of three syllables. Line 9 and L16 has nine syllables but changes to eight syllables in the last line, L24. The rhyme-scheme is mainly rhyming couplets; i.e., every two lines, with the exception of line 3 which rhymes with line 8, L11 which rhymes with L16 in the second stanza. Then in the third stanza L19 which rhymes with L24. The Message begins using a 4 x 4 metre pattern in L1 and 2, incorporating of a rising duple. L3 changes to a falling triple then a rising triple in L4, L5, L6 and L7. Finally, L8 changes to co-inside with L3 as a falling triple.
John Donne - A Valediction Forbidding Mourning
John Donne - A Valediction Forbidding Mourning At the beginning of 'A Valediction Forbidding Mourning,' the poet, John Donne, engages in a didactic lesson to show the parallel between a positive way to meet death and a positive way to separate from a lover. When a virtuous man dies, he whispers for his soul to go while others await his parting. Such a man sets an example for lovers. The separation of the soul from the body, and the separation of lovers from each other, is not an ending but the beginning of a new cycle. The poem ends with the image of a circle, the symbol of perfection (Hall's 69, 297), representing the union of souls in a love relationship. This perfection is attained by parting at the beginning of the circle and reuniting at the point where the curves reconnect. According to Helen Gardner, the metaphysical poem takes the reader down a certain path, a fixed line of argumentation (17). This valediction, an act of bidding farewell, proceeds in the guise of a monologue in which a speaker attempts to persuade a lover to remain faithful during his absence. The monologue is dramatic in the sense that the stay-behind lover is the implied listener. Donne's monologue is unique because he uses metaphysical comparisons to show the union of the lovers during their period of separation. Although the poem attempts to persuade the lover as an implied listener, it also
The Dampe- a critical commentary.
The Dampe - a critical commentary John Donne's, The Dampe epitomises the curious nature of his genius in seduction, displaying a creative audacity that effectively seduces from a foundation of peculiarity. The title itself immediately creates a somewhat macabre mood; though in contemporary reading the word 'damp' holds little gravity in its association with moisture, its original connotations were that of death and disease. From the morbid beginning, where Donne sees his own grotesque autopsy, he gently slides into a profession of love with remarkable seductive prowess. To begin Donne foresees his death, where he has been laid out upon a table, while his 'friends curiositie' has resulted in his corpse being opened up, in effect being autopsied. The initial image is extremely unpleasant and crude if one considers the autopsies of Donne's era, giving rise to visions of blood and gore. Indeed the simple imagining of his own death and subsequent autopsy is intensely bizarre and uncomfortable. Despite the implications of such a situation, Donne avoids being distasteful or crude by not dwelling on the aspects of an autopsy and lightens the tone with his fluency of addressing his mistress, 'When they shall find your Picture in my heart,' simultaneously transforming death and disease into love and fantasy. The idea of a woman's picture residing in his heart in a literal
Compare the poems by Shakespeare and Donne. Show how, though written in the same era and both connecting love the two parts have different styles through which to express their ideas.
Compare the poems by Shakespeare and Donne. Show how, though written in the same era and both connecting love the two parts have different styles through which to express their ideas. Both these poems were written in the late 16th to early 17th centuries. This is shown by the language used and the things they write about in their poems. They are also both romantic and loving poems. John Donne's poem 'The Sun Rising' is a poem written by a man who is talking to a woman he is lying in bed with. The whole poem is a conceit in that the man is talking to the sun. Despite the fact that it is a love poem the first verse starts off in an angry tone. The man is angry with the sun for waking him up as he wants to stay in bed with the woman. Donne uses argumentative language and aggressive lines and the use of staccato, onomatopoeic words show that the man is angry. 'Busie old foole, unruly sunne, Why dost thou thus,' However, this is mock anger as he is showing off to the girl he is in bed with and wants to compliment her and try to amuse her. The use of repetition and alliteration: 'Through windowes, and through curtains call on us.' shows the persistence of the sun coming through two barriers (the windows and the curtains of the bed) to reach them. Donne insults the sun and asks it in bravado if the must be ruled by it. However this Is a rhetorical question as Donne knows
Discuss "The Flea" as a typically metaphysical poem
"The Flea is a typically metaphysical poem." Discuss this statement The metaphysical genre derives from the older poem of Ovid, but the form of the metaphysical poets did not begin to emerge until the seventeenth century, and although was a style used by many eminent English lyricists during this period, infusing new dynamism in to poetic trend of the time, it was not recognised as a collective style until 1744, by Samuel Johnson. The hallmark of a metaphysical poem is the conceit, a figure of speech or element of the poem that employs atypical and often paradoxical imagery. Many would consider John Donne, poet of The Flea, as the master of the conceit, cleverly entwining well rehearsed persuasive techniques with often flamboyant and seemingly illogical imagery. The Flea is arguably an almost perfect illustration of a poem of the metaphysical genre, and it can be clearly observed that Donne includes an intelligently strong argument, demonstrating his innate ability to fuse thought with passion, whilst using the metaphysical features of the poem's structure itself to support his argument. The Flea's subject itself conveys the literal sense of the metaphysical, with the flea representing much more beyond that of its physical state, which is perhaps one of the reasons that Donne's poems, as will be explored, are such powerful examples of the poetic manner of his period and the
Write a study of a sonnet, looking at examples by two different poets writing before 1900, showing how they use form to express their ideas. You should include at least two sonnets written by the same poet. Accompanying this with a sonnet of your own.
Write a study of a sonnet, looking at examples by two different poets writing before 1900, showing how they use form to express their ideas. You should include at least two sonnets written by the same poet. Accompanying this with a sonnet of your own. The greatest aspect of a sonnet is that it reflects hard work and vigour. It also displays some of the characteristics that the sonneteer may possess. For example, Shakespeare has given himself a wealth of characteristics throughout his works, but what struck me most, was his power to fulfil what he wanted to say and would take up innumerable roles in which to display his message. I believe that this unveils a new side of Shakespeare every time he writes. I feel that my main aim in this essay is to look at the differences, both subtle and outright that make some of the greatest sonnets and sonneteers so very contrasting from one another. Firstly, it is very important to explore a sonnet. The first sonnet is called, "Batter My Heart" by John Donne. This is a classic English sonnet written at the beginning of the Seventeenth century where Donne unravels his negativity towards himself, and how he demands to be freed from his evil and cast back to God's side. The second sonnet is called, "Death Be Not Proud" by John Donne. This is a sort of argument against the rights of Death, exploring why Death does not, in fact, have any
Discuss the importance of the audience or readership to John Donne's Poem, Holy Sonnet No. 5.
Discuss the importance of the audience or readership to John Donne's Poem, Holy Sonnet No. 5. In the seventeenth century, the poet's reliance on patrons and favour at the court of the newly crowned James was paramount to achieving advancement. For Donne, born to an ironmonger and raised by a physician, his placement in any prominent position in the rising form of metaphysical poetry would have to rely not only on his talent, but in associating with equally prominent patrons, and appeasing the dictats of King James' court. Despite the radical lengths to which Donne was prepared to go in order to satisfy the terms of his patronage, his conversion and subsequent ecclesiastical career in the Church of England, I believe that the mechanical and strict religious tone set down in James' own poetry did not force Donne to limit the breadth of his work. Certainly the poetry that Donne produce was designed to appeal to the audience at court, the holy sonnets written mostly during the course of his absence from society, but there appears to be more to it than mere talented sycophancy. Donne's religious poetry often contains elements of monologue directed at God, and whilst this often fulfilled James' requirements, it has such a close correlation with Donne's life, and is performed in such a bold and innovative style, that it prevents us from dismissing his the work as blatant