'Donne’s Poetry Essay\r'

'This establish will look at the form, structure and nub of â€Å"The item” in an attempt to offer an written report as to what the verse form is about. It will examine the metaphysical poets, and discuss the techniques employed by them to express their views. â€Å"The token” consists of three 11- get stanzas which incorporate tetrameter (four metrical feet), pentameter (five metrical feet) and 2 tri-meter (three metrical feet) lines per stanza. It is written mainly in iambic pentameter and has a rhyming pattern of aabbcddceee. This gives the poem a songlike quality which is associated with this type of lyric poetry.\r\n individually stanza is made up of a single curse which, with the help of the meter, forces the first four lines of separately rhythm to be pronounce rapidly. The caesura then slows down the reading, create the lecturer to reflect more deeply on what has been said. In the first line of â€Å"The Relic”, Donne uses images allied wi th death. This names it easy for the annulorser to mistake the theme of the poem as universe about dying. By utilize the personal pronoun ‘my’ (l. 1) placed alongside the noun ‘grave’ (l. 1) it is suggested that it is Donne’s own grave which is be made university extension to, thus reinforcing the impression of a mournful poem.\r\nHowever, when Donne goes on to describe the exhumation of his and his warmthr’s corpses, by and by they have rotted away(p), the poem changes from embodying death to celebrating savor. The referee becomes awargon that although he is dead, death is non the truthful significance present. The move from death to fare is introduced with: ‘A wristband of coruscant bull about the bone,’ (l. 6). This line could be interpreted as a marriage ring joining the couple together; adding to the saturation of their love. However, this is explained in ‘The Funeral’ (p 309) as ‘a loc k of pilus tied about his arm’ (p 309).\r\nThis explanation could with reach from the source of the line. The line seems to have more pronouncework forcet without this bedledge, adding an extra dimension to the poem, so allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions about the affinity between the couple. The apposition of a grave with a pair of l overs is a potent, paradoxical metaphor that is shocking to the reader. This pairing would not automatically be seen as romantic solely Donne succeeds in conveying this impression.\r\nBy indicating that the gravedigger would ‘think that at that place a loving couple lies,’ (l. 8) after noticing the ‘bracelet of bright hair about the bone,’ (l.6), Donne successfully communicates that ‘The Relic’ is a poem about eternal love; love has survived beyond death. This collocation of opposing elements is a technique ofttimes employed by the metaphysical poets to express their thoughts and fe elings.\r\nThe metaphysical poets were influenced by Neo-Platonism ; a dust of philosophical and theo transp bent doctrines . However, this highly abstract and over theoretical approach to poetry can make it less accessible; alienating a spacious selection of readers. Poetry should not only be about intellectual superiority which, it could be argued, is often associated with the metaphysical poets.\r\nThis appeared to be the view of Samuel Johnson, who was the first to enunciate this generation of authors ‘The Metaphysical Poets’: The puff up-nigh heterogeneous inclinations are yoked by violence together: nature and trick are ransacked for illustrations, comparisons, and allusions; their learning instructs, and their subtilty surprises; but the reader commonly thinks his improvement dearly bought, and, though he sometimes admires, is seldom pleased. T. S. Eliot, whilst admitting the difficulty in formation metaphysical poetry, opposed Johnson’s view.\r\n When considering ‘Donne’s near successful and characteristic effects … ’ he employ sections of the line ‘A bracelet of bright hair about the bone,’ (l. 6) to illustrate his approval of their methods: … the most powerful effect is produced by the sudden contrast of associations of ‘bright hair’ and ‘bone’. This telescoping of images and multiplied associations [… ] is one of the sources of the invigoration of their language. (p 1099) If we look again at line 8 of â€Å"The Relic”, it is noticeable that the gravedigger would only ‘think that thither a loving couple lies,’ (l. 8).\r\nIt would be logical to assume that a husband would be buried with his wife, so the use of ‘think’ (l. 8) is puzzling. By chase this with the apparently polysemous ‘lies,’ (l. 8) the poem could be read differently, altering the entire meaning to suggest that their love was only a fa ntasy. Anformer(a) characteristic of metaphysical poetry is its tendency to use ghostlike mental imagery to express its views. Towards the end of the first stanza, â€Å"The Relic” introduces the apprehension of ‘their souls, at the last busy daytime,’ (l. 10).\r\nThis has been interpreted as a veiled reference to judgement day and leads the reader smoothly into the gage stanza where the images of death are replaced with a high lexical density of religious vocabulary. Donne uses lexis such as ‘mis-devotion’ and ‘doth command’ (l. 13);\r\n‘Bishop’ (l. 15); ‘relics’ (l. 16); ‘Mary Magdalen’ (l. 17); and ‘miracles’ (ll. 20-22) in order to extend the religious metaphor, introduced at the end of the first stanza, to evoke powerful images in the top dog of the reader. Donne raises the question, in line 17, of who the ‘I’ really is here? It has been suggested, all through ti me, that Mary Magdalene was the wife of the Nazarene and perhaps even bore him a child.\r\nThis estimate of Mary Magdalene’s companion perhaps being rescuer seems to be a c oncept that the metaphysical poets would enjoy debating; so adding a cerebral quality to their work. The line ‘All women shall adore us, and some men;’ (l. 19) juxtaposed with the repetition of ‘miracles’ (ll. 20-22) adds credence to the idea that saviour is lying beside Mary Magdalene, especially when the reader takes into account the reference to ‘harmless lovers’ (l. 22).\r\nThe fact, that this couple ‘wrought’ (l. 22); which promoter moulded or formed; ‘miracles’ (l. 22) suggests that the ‘I’ (l.17) could be a reference to Jesus. The suggestion that when the couple are at long last dug up they will be presented to ‘the Bishop and the King,’ (l. 15) march on strengthens this connection with Christ. A Bishop (who is a senior ingredient of Christian clergy) is thought to be a replacement of the twelve Apostles of Christ by some churches, and a King is the ruler of a kingdom.\r\nOnly the most important of people would be afforded the privilege of an audience before either of these men. In the first stanza it is automatically assumed that Donne is the man lying in his grave.\r\nThis is patently because he is the author of the poem and he uses the genitive pronoun ‘my’ (l. 1) in the first line. This poses the question, if he was referring to Jesus, was Donne likening himself to Christ? The reader is left to wonder. There is a transform in focus from the overtly religious second stanza to a more reflective account of the couples love in the final stanza. It is implied, in the first line, that the relationship was not as perfect as previously indicated. The use of the adverb ‘First,’ (l. 23) placed before ‘we loved well and faithfully,’ (l.\r\n23 ) could indicate that at a belatedlyr find out the couple did not love each other quite as honestly as they had once done. This is followed with what could be considered as a lament from somebody who has lost their lover. The use of the past tense, with the verb ‘knew’ (l. 25) rather than ‘know’ seems to signify an ending to the relationship which has occurred whilst the couple were close up alive. This is reinforced with the line: ‘nature, injured by late faithfulness, sets free: / These miracles we did;’ (ll. 30-31). Therefore the injuries caused by human law are more important than the ‘miracles’ (l.\r\n31) of their love, which are insignificant as they are set ‘free’ (l. 31) or cast aside. This indicates their love was not strong lavish to conquer the laws of their time. This could also be a boost reference to Christ and Mary Magdalene as, had they had a relationship, they could both have been forced to fore go their love for Christianity; an idea that Donne would perhaps want to offer up for consideration. In the final lines, if we take ‘measure’ (l. 32) to mean flection (the study of poetic meter) and language to mean the lexis being used, the vocabulary seems to be reflective of the poem itself.\r\nThese lines appear to say he feels he should communicate the reading to others but is unsure whether he should tell others of the ‘miracle’ (l. 33) he feels the woman besides him was. As the poem is already doing this, it is playing a game with the reader. In conclusion, Donne uses unique(predicate) poetic techniques in an effective and striking way. However, the reader often gets lost in trying to mold exactly what he is trying to say. It could be argued that the power of poetry should lie in its subjectivity; each reader being able to take away what they want from the reading.\r\nAfter all, in the words of Cleanth put up : There is no ideal reader, of cours e, and I excogitate that the practising critic can never be excessively often reminded of the gap between his reading and the â€Å" line up” reading of the poem. (p. 1368) Bibliography Brooks, C. (1951) The Formalist Critics, The Norton Anthology opening And Criticism, ed. Vincent B. Leitch, full general Editor, (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2001). collins, W. (2005) Collins English Dictionary, Suffolk: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.\r\nConner, M. Dr. http://www. eng. fju. edu.tw/English_Literature/period/metaphysicals. html [accessed February 2008]. Eliot, T. S. (1921) The Metaphysical Poets, The Norton Anthology Theory And Criticism, ed. Vincent B. Leitch, General Editor, (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2001).\r\nJohnson, S. (1783) From Lives of the English Poet, The Norton Anthology Theory And Criticism, ed. Vincent B. Leitch, General Editor, (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2001). Princeton University. (2008) http://www. thefreedic tionary. com/neoplatonism, (USA: Farlex, Inc) [ accessed February 2008].\r\n'