John Donne free essay sample

Born in a catholicfamily -Married Anne Moore in secret in 1601 -Converted to Anglican Church, became an Anglican priestand a dean at St. Paul -Two sides of his character: Jack Donne/ Dr. John Donne As the passionate lover he was always analytic, thoughtful, trying to dissect and explain his passion almost scientifically. As the divine, he approached God with the passion he had formerly shown to women : he addresses Christ with the fierceness of a lover. -Startling, invigorating and curiously modern 2. His Poetry -Not published after his death Ranges from fervent love poetry to powerful religious poetry -Tone: passionate, sensualandintellectual -Classified as Metaphysical Poetry : far-fetched comparison[ conceit ] Reacts against the traditional amorous poems of courtly love -Techniques : extreme comparisons[ conceits ], puns, paradoxes, obscurity, exaggeration -Demands an imaginative effort from the reader 2)Metaphysical Poets -A group of Britishlyric poets of the 17thcentury -Share wit, inventiveness, subtle argumentations, and the metaphysical conceits -The term was first applied to the 17th century poetry in 1693 by John Dryden He[Donne] affects Metaphysics, . We will write a custom essay sample on John Donne or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page . . n his amorous verses, where natureonly should reign; and perplexes the minds of the fair sex with nice speculations of philosophy, when he should engage their hearts. Dryden disapproved of Donnes stylistic excesses, particularly his extravagant conceits (or witty comparisons) and his tendency towards hyperbolic abstractions. Reacts against the 16th century verse [smooth and sweet stylevs. energetic, uneven and rigorous style] The clicheto this point had been bleeding hearts, lips like cherries, cheeks like roses, Cupids shooting arrows of love. -Brought back to life in 20th century by T. S. Eliots essay The Metaphysical Poets(1921) T.S. Eliot argued that their work fuses reason with passion and that it shows a unification of thought and feeling. -John Donne, George Herbert, Richard Lovelace, Andrew Marvell 3)Conceits (Metaphysical Conceits) -An elaborate metaphorthat offers a surprising or unexpected comparison between two seemingly highly dissimilar things ex) Donnes famous metaphysical conceit is comparing two departing loversto a compass. Through the strange, but fitting comparison, he tries to capture the idea that as one lover, or compass leg, moves further away, the one remaining stationary will lean and hearkenâ€Å" after it. The idea of circle is important too. Circles have all sorts of symbolic meanings : eternity, completeness, and perfection to name a few. -The metaphysical conceit can strike from our minds the same spark of recognition that the poet had, and can give us an understanding of a real but previously unsuspected similarity that is enlightening. It can speak to both our minds and our emotions with a great force. (C. Hugh Holman, A Handbook to Literature) -Dr. Samuel Johnsons description of a conceit : the most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together Dr Johnson obviously disliked the metaphysical conceit. And healso mentioned that a reader is seldom pleased with it. 4)Dramatic Monologue (? Dramatic Lyric) 1. Dramatic Monologue -A type of lyric poem perfected by Robert Browningin his My Last Duchess. -Features a. a speaker utters the entire poem in a specific situation at a critical moment to an implied auditor b. theres a gap between what the speaker says and what he actually reveals about his character 2. Dramatic Lyrics : The focus of interest is primarily on the speakers elaborately ingenious argument, rather than on the character John Donne free essay sample As the passionate lover he was always analytic, thoughtful, trying to dissect and explain his passion almost scientifically. As the divine, he approached God with the passion he had formerly shown to women : he addresses Christ with the fierceness of a lover. -Startling, invigorating and curiously modern 2. His Poetry -Not published after his death Ranges from fervent love poetry to powerful religious poetry -Tone: passionate, sensualandintellectual -Classified as Metaphysical Poetry : far-fetched comparison[ conceit ] -Reacts against the traditional amorous poems of courtly love -Techniques : extreme comparisons[ conceits ], puns, paradoxes, obscurity, exaggeration Demands an imaginative effort from the reader 2)Metaphysical Poets -A group of Britishlyric poets of the 17thcentury -Share wit, inventiveness, subtle argumentations, and the metaphysical conceits -The term was first applied to the 17th century poetry in 1693 by John Dryden He[Donne] affects Metaphysics, . . . n his amorous verses, where natureonly should reign; and perplexes the minds of the fair sex with nice speculations of philosophy, when he should engage their hearts. We will write a custom essay sample on John Donne or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Dryden disapproved of Donnes stylistic excesses, particularly his extravagant conceits (or witty comparisons) and his tendency towards hyperbolic abstractions. -Reacts against the 16th century verse [smooth and sweet stylevs. energetic, uneven and rigorous style] The clicheto this point had been bleeding hearts, lips like cherries, cheeks like roses, Cupids shooting arrows of love. Brought back to life in 20th century by T. S. Eliots essay The Metaphysical Poets(1921) T.S. Eliot argued that their work fuses reason with passion and that it shows a unification of thought and feeling. -John Donne, George Herbert, Richard Lovelace, Andrew Marvell 3)Conceits (Metaphysical Conceits) -An elaborate metaphorthat offers a surprising or unexpected comparison between two seemingly highly dissimilar things ex) Donnes famous metaphysical conceit is comparing two departing loversto a compass. Through the strange, but fitting comparison, he tries to capture the idea that as one lover, or compass leg, moves further away, the one remaining stationary will lean and hearkenâ€Å" after it. The idea of circle is important too. Circles have all sorts of symbolic meanings : eternity, completeness, and perfection to name a few. -The metaphysical conceit can strike from our minds the same spark of recognition that the poet had, and can give us an understanding of a real but previously unsuspected similarity that is enlightening. It can speak to both our minds and our emotions with a great force. (C. Hugh Holman, A Handbook to Literature) -Dr. Samuel Johnsons description of a conceit : the most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together Dr Johnson obviously disliked the metaphysical conceit. And healso mentioned that a reader is seldom pleased with it. 4)Dramatic Monologue (? Dramatic Lyric) 1. Dramatic Monologue -A type of lyric poem perfected by Robert Browningin his My Last Duchess. -Features a. a speaker utters the entire poem in a specific situation at a critical moment to an implied auditor b. theres a gap between what the speaker says and what he actually reveals about his character 2. Dramatic Lyrics : The focus of interest is primarily on the speakers elaborately ingenious argument, rather than on the character