Donne’s Poetry Essay

This essay will look at the form, structure and mental ability of The keepsake in an attempt to offer an explanation as to what the poesy is approximately. It will examine the metaphysical poets, and discuss the techniques employed by them to discourse their views. The item consists of three 11-line stanzas which incorporate tetrameter (four metric feet), pentameter (five metrical feet) and two tri-meter (three metrical feet) lines per stanza. It is written mainly in iambic pentameter and has a rhyming innovation of aabbcddceee. This gives the numbers a songlike quality which is associated with this type of lyric poesy.each stanza is made up of a single sentence which, with the help of the meter, forces the commencement four lines of each verse to be read rapidly. The caesura then slows polish up the reading, ca apply the proofreader to reflect more deeply on what has been said. In the first gear line of The Relic, Donne uses images in allied with decease. This makes it easy for the reader to break the theme of the poesy as creation about dying. By using the personal pronoun my (l. 1) placed alongside the noun encrypt (l. 1) it is suggested that it is Donnes own threatening which is creation made reference to, thus reinforcing the impression of a plaintive poem.However, when Donne goes on to describe the exhumation of his and his extolrs corpses, after they consent rotted away, the poem changes from embodying death to celebrating deal. The reader becomes aw are that although he is dead, death is not the true significance here. The move from death to delight is introduced with A bracelet of bright hair about the bone, (l. 6). This line could be construe as a wedding ring joining the jibe unitedly adding to the intensity of their love. However, this is explained in The Funeral (p 309) as a lock of hair buttoned about his arm (p 309).This explanation could detract from the top executive of the line. The line seems to entertain more po tency without this knowledge, adding an extra dimension to the poem, so allowing the reader to good deal their own conclusions about the relationship mingled with the twosome. The juxtaposition of a grave with a pair of lovers is a powerful, paradoxical metaphor that is shocking to the reader. This sexual union would not automatically be seen as ro domaintic but Donne succeeds in conveying this impression.By indicating that the gravedigger would think that there a loving peer 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 often employed by the metaphysical poets to express their thoughts and feelings.The metaphysical poets were influenced by Neo-Platonism a system of philosophic and theological doctrines . However, this highly abstract and over theoretical approach to poetry can make it less accessible alienating a coarse selection of readers. Poetry should not only be about reason superiority which, it could be argued, is often associated with the metaphysical poets.This have the appearance _or_ semblanceed to be the view of Samuel Johnson, who was the first to label this generation of authors The Metaphysical Poets The most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together nature and art are ransacked for illustrations, comparisons, and allusions their tuition instructs, and their subtilty surprises but the reader commonly thinks his improvement dearly bought, and, though he mosttimes admires, is seldom pleased. T. S. Eliot, whilst admitting the difficulty in defining metaphysical poetry, irrelevant Johnsons view.When considering Donnes most successful and characteristic effects he used 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 con trast of associations of bright hair and bone. This telescoping of images and multiplied associations is one of the sources of the vital force of their manner of speaking. (p 1099) If we look again at line 8 of The Relic, it is observable that the gravedigger would only think that there a loving couple lies, (l. 8).It would be logical to assume that a husband would be buried with his wife, so the use of think (l. 8) is puzzling. By following 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 fantasy. Another characteristic of metaphysical poetry is its lean to use ghostly imagery to express its views. Towards the end of the first stanza, The Relic introduces the concept of their souls, at the last busy day, (l. 10).This has been interpreted as a veiled reference tojudgement day and leads the reader smoothly into the scrap stanza where the images of death are replaced with a hig h lexical density of religious vocabulary. Donne uses lexis such as mis-devotion and doth command (l. 13)Bishop (l. 15) relics (l. 16) Mary Magdalen (l. 17) and miracles (ll. 20-22) in order to debase the religious metaphor, introduced at the end of the first stanza, to evoke powerful images in the mind of the reader. Donne raises the question, in line 17, of who the I really is here? It has been suggested, all through time, that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus and perhaps even stupid him a child.This idea of Mary Magdalenes companion perhaps being messiah seems to be a concept 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 Christ is guile beside Mary Magdalene, especially when the reader takes into account the reference to harmless lovers (l. 22).The fact, that this couple wrought (l. 22) which means 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 lowestly dug up they will be presented to the Bishop and the King, (l. 15) further strengthens this connection with Christ. A Bishop (who is a old member of Christian clergy) is thought to be a successor of the xii Apostles of Christ by some churches, and a King is the ruler of a kingdom.Only the most important of people would be afforded the privilege of an consultation before either of these men. In the first stanza it is automatically assumed that Donne is the man lying in his grave.This is simply because he is the author of the poem and he uses the possessive 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 shift in focus from the overtly religious second stanza to a more reflective account of the couples love i n 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 love well and faithfully, (l.23) could indicate that at a later date the couple did not love each other quite as candidly 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 endpoint to the relationship which has occurred whilst the couple were still alive. This is reinforced with the line nature, injured by late law, roundabouts free / These miracles we did (ll. 30-31). Therefore the injuries caused by human law are more important than the miracles (l.31) of their love, which are insignificant as they are set free (l. 31) or cast aside. This indicates their love was not strong overflowing to conquer the laws of their time. This could also be a furth er reference to Christ and Mary Magdalene as, had they had a relationship, they could both have been forced to forego 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 prosody (the study of poetical meter) and language to mean the lexis being used, the vocabulary seems to be reflective of the poem itself.These lines appear to say he feels he should communicate the information to others but is faint-hearted 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 specific poetic techniques in an effective and striking way. However, the reader often gets lost in trying to define 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.A fter all, in the language of Cleanth Brooks There is no ideal reader, of course, and I suppose that the practising dilettante can never be too often reminded of the gap between his reading and the true reading of the poem. (p. 1368) Bibliography Brooks, C. (1951) The Formalist Critics, The Norton Anthology possibility And Criticism, ed. Vincent B. Leitch, General Editor, (New York W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2001). Collins, W. (2005) Collins position Dictionary, Suffolk HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.Conner, 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).Johnson, 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. (20 08) http//www. thefreedictionary. com/neoplatonism, (USA Farlex, Inc) accessed February 2008.