Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 141 views

    Donne

    Uploaded by

    faisal jahangeer
    John Donne was a 17th century English poet born in London to a wealthy Catholic family at a time when Catholicism was illegal. He studied at Oxford but did not graduate due to his refusal to renounce Catholicism. Donne later abandoned Catholicism and became a priest in the Church of England. He wrote love poems early in his career and religious poems later. Donne is considered a pioneer of metaphysical poetry, which uses unconventional metaphors and paradoxes to explore philosophical and spiritual themes.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Donne

    Uploaded by

    faisal jahangeer
    141 views26 pages
    John Donne was a 17th century English poet born in London to a wealthy Catholic family at a time when Catholicism was illegal. He studied at Oxford but did not graduate due to his refusal to renounce Catholicism. Donne later abandoned Catholicism and became a priest in the Church of England. He wrote love poems early in his career and religious poems later. Donne is considered a pioneer of metaphysical poetry, which uses unconventional metaphors and paradoxes to explore philosophical and spiritual themes.

    Original Description:

    donne

    Original Title

    Donne PPT.ppt

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    John Donne was a 17th century English poet born in London to a wealthy Catholic family at a time when Catholicism was illegal. He studied at Oxford but did not graduate due to his refusal to renounce Catholicism. Donne later abandoned Catholicism and became a priest in the Church of England. He wrote love poems early in his career and religious poems later. Donne is considered a pioneer of metaphysical poetry, which uses unconventional metaphors and paradoxes to explore philosophical and spiritual themes.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    141 views26 pages

    Donne

    Uploaded by

    faisal jahangeer
    John Donne was a 17th century English poet born in London to a wealthy Catholic family at a time when Catholicism was illegal. He studied at Oxford but did not graduate due to his refusal to renounce Catholicism. Donne later abandoned Catholicism and became a priest in the Church of England. He wrote love poems early in his career and religious poems later. Donne is considered a pioneer of metaphysical poetry, which uses unconventional metaphors and paradoxes to explore philosophical and spiritual themes.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    You are on page 1of 26

    John Donne & Metaphysical

    Poetry

    1
    Donne’s Early Life
    • John Donne was born in Bread Street, London in 1572 to a prosperous
    Roman Catholic family - a precarious thing at a time when anti-Catholic
    sentiment was rife in England, and the practice of Catholicism was
    illegal.

    • Donne’s mother was the great-niece of the Roman Catholic martyr,


    Thomas More. This tradition of martyrdom would continue among
    Donne's closer relatives- many were executed or exiled for religious
    reasons. Religion played a passionate and tumultuous role throughout
    Donne’s life.

    • His father, also named John Donne, was a well-to-do iron dealer and a
    respected Roman Catholic who avoided unwelcome government
    attention out of fear of persecution. Donne's father died suddenly in
    1576, and his mother married a wealthy widower a few months later.
    Donne’s Education & Some
    Personal Tragedy
    • In 1583, the 11-year-old Donne began studies at Hart Hall, now Hertford College,
    Oxford (there was no chapel, and it was popular among Catholics because they
    couldn’t check attendance at services) . After three years of studies there, Donne
    was admitted to the University of Cambridge where he studied for another three
    years. However, Donne didn’t obtain a degree due to his Catholicism, since he
    refused to take the Oath of Supremacy required to graduate.

    • He was admitted to study law as a member of Thavies Inn (1591) and Lincoln's


    Inn (1592), and it seemed natural that Donne should embark upon a legal or
    diplomatic career.

    • Donne's brother Henry was also a university student prior to his arrest in 1593 for
    harboring a Catholic priest, William Harrington, whom he betrayed
    under torture. Around the time of his brothers death, Donne to began questioning
    his Catholic faith.
    Travel & True Love
    As a young man hungry for
    adventures, he went with Essex on
    the expedition to Cadiz in 1596 and
    later became secretary to Lord
    Keeper Egerton. In 1601 he eloped
    with the niece of Lord Keeper and
    was imprisoned by the girl's
    father. For several years after his
    release, he lived in poverty. But
    during this time he wrote some of his
    most beautiful poems, many of which
    were believed to have been written
    to his wife. These were known as his
    youthful love lyrics.
    4
    So Much Death and Poverty…
    • Married in 1601, had 12 children (incl. 2
    stillborns)
    • Three more children died before age 10
    • His wife died in 1617; he never remarried
    – Rare for this time
    • In a state of despair, Donne noted that the
    death of a child would mean one less
    mouth to feed, but he could not afford the
    burial expenses. He mourned her deeply
    and wrote of his love and loss : (
    Life
    In 1615 he gave up
    Catholic faith and
    entered the Anglican
    Church and soon
    became Dean of
    Saint Paul's Church.
    As the most famous
    preacher during the
    time, he wrote many
    religious sermons and
    poems. And these
    were known as his John Donne’s House
    sacred verses.
    Just So You Know…
    • “Donne wrote some of the most passionate love poems and
    most moving religious verse in the English language”
    (Damrosch and Dettmar 1669).

    • He is hailed as the “Monarch of Wit” (Dickson xi).

    • He wrote FIVE different types of poems:


    – Satires
    – Elegies
    – Verse Letters
    – Songs & Sonnets
    – Holy Sonnets or “Divine Poems”
    Satires
    • Dealt with common Elizabethan topics,
    such as corruption in the legal system.
    • They also dealt with the problem of true
    religion, a matter of great importance to
    Donne. He argued that it was better to
    examine carefully one's religious
    convictions than blindly to follow any
    established tradition, for none would be
    saved at the Final Judgment.
    Three stages of Donne’s Poetry
    Not necessarily chronological, but an easy way to categorize Donne’s works.

    1. The young “Jack Donne:” reflected by a misogynistic,


    lusty, and cynical persona in his early poetry (“The
    Flea,” “The Bait,” and “Song—Go and Catch a Falling
    Star”);
    2. The courting / married lover: reflected by a Neoplatonic
    ideal of transcendent love- but a love also founded in
    the physical (“A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” and
    “The Ecstasy”)
    3. Dr. Donne, the dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral: religious
    poetry (Holy Sonnets) and prose (“Meditation 17”) that
    sometimes praises, sometimes struggles with God’s
    transcendent perfection.
    Stage 1: Early Poetry (Elegies)
    • Donne's earliest poems: Knowledge of
    English society coupled with sharp
    criticism of its problems
    • His Erotic Poetry- Donne’s early career
    was also notable for his erotic poetry(sexy
    stuff, wooo), especially his elegies
    • He employed unconventional
    metaphors to portray sex
    Stage 2 Poetry- (Neo) Platonic
    Love
    • Physical love (animal lust) is base, common, low-born;
    • Spiritual love is worthy, unique, divine
    • Love, through procreation, is the closest humans come to
    immortality
    • Comprehension of love brings comprehension of beauty as infinite
    • Stages of Platonic love:
    1) Initiated by Sense 2) Founded in Reason 3) Attains Spiritual Quality

    • A Neoplatonic Syllogism:
    1. God is everlasting, perfect divine love;
    2. True, spiritual love is everlasting and perfect;
    3. Therefore, two lovers united by spiritual love are close to divinity.

    • These works include: “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” and “The


    Ecstasy”
    Stage 3- Religious Poetry
    ❖a more somberand pious tone in his
    later poems: Because of His numerous
    illnesses, financial strain, and the deaths
    of his friends
    ❖Donne focused his literary career on
    religious literature.He quickly became
    noted for his sermons and religious
    poems.
    Religious Poetry Cont (Stage 3)
    • His early belief in the value of skepticism
    now gave way to a firm faith in the
    traditional teachings of the Bible.
    • The lines of these sermons come to
    influence future works of English literature.
    – E.g. Ernest Hemingway‘s For Whom the Bell Tolls, which took its title from a
    passage in Meditation XVII
    – Thomas Merton’s No Man is an Island,which took its title from the same
    source.
    Meditation XVII

    • No man is an island, entire of itself; every


    man is a piece of the continent, a part of
    the main. If a clod be washed away by the
    sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a
    promontory were, as well as if a manor of
    thy friend’s or of thine own were.Any
    man’s death diminishes me because I am
    involved in mankind, and therefore never
    send to know for whom the bell tolls; it
    tolls for thee.
    Later Poetry Continued- A
    Challenge to Death
    Towards the end of his life Donne wrote
    works that challenged death, and the fear
    that it inspired in many men, on the
    grounds of his belief that those who die
    are sent to Heaven to live eternally.
    * 16
    What Does Metaphysical Mean?
    • The word 'meta' means 'after,' so the literal translation of 'metaphysical' is
    'after the physical.' Basically, metaphysics deals with questions that can't be
    explained by science. It questions the nature of reality in a philosophical
    way.
    • Here are some common metaphysical questions:
    – Does God exist?
    – Is there a difference between the way things appear to us and the way
    they really are? Essentially, what is the difference between reality and
    perception?
    – Is everything that happens already predetermined? If so, then is free
    choice non-existent?
    – Is consciousness limited to the brain?
    • Metaphysics can cover a broad range of topics from religious to
    consciousness; however, all the questions about metaphysics ponder the
    nature of reality. And of course, there is no one correct answer to any of
    these questions. Metaphysics is about exploration and philosophy, not about
    science and math.
    So… what’s metaphysical
    poetry?
    • The poems classified in this group share common characteristics: they are
    all highly intellectualized, use rather strange imagery, use frequent paradox,
    contain extremely complicated thought, wit, and argument.

    • Metaphysical poetry is a classification of poetry, not a genre.

    • The main poets of this group didn't read each other's work and didn't know
    that they were even part of a classification.

    • Literary critic and poet Samuel Johnson first coined the term 'metaphysical
    poetry' in his book Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1179-1781). In
    the book, Johnson wrote about a group of 17th-century British poets that
    included John Donne, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, Andrew Marvell
    and Henry Vaughan. He noted how the poets shared many common
    characteristics, especially ones of wit and elaborate style.
    The main features of metaphysical poetry
    can be summarized as the following:

    • Wit or conceit is commonly used, but the wit or conceit is


    so odd that the reader usually loses sight of the thing to
    be illustrated. (This will be covered in another slide)
    • The theme is peculiar. The theme is not decorated by
    conventional comparisons. Instead, it is illumined or
    emphasized by fantastic metaphors and extravagant
    hyperboles.
    • Sensuality is blended with philosophy, passion with
    intellect, and contraries are ever moving one into the
    other.
    • Complex rhythms are used.
    19
    Dramatic manner and direct
    tone of speech
    • is one of the main characteristics of
    metaphysical poetry.
    •In the starting line of the poem “The
    Canonization” – there is given a dramatic
    starting –
    •“For God’s sake hold your tongue, and let
    me love

    20
    Concentration
    • Concentration is an important quality of metaphysical
    poetry in general and Donne’s poetry is particular. In his
    all poems, the reader is held to one idea or line of
    argument. Donne’s poems are brief and closely woven.
    In “The Extasie”, the principal argument is that the
    function of man as a man is being worthily performed
    through different acts of love. He continues with the
    theme without digression. For instance,
    • “As ‘twixt two equal armies, Fate
    • Suspends uncertain victorie,
    • Our souls, (which to advance their state,
    • Were gone out,) hung ‘twixt her and me”. 21
    Ardent Love
    •He is ardent in his love. That is, full of
    passion and so much enthusiastic that he
    cannot tolerate any intruder, neither a
    person nor any celestial object like sun.
    • Let Maps to other, world on worlds have shown,
    • Let us possesse one world, each hath one, and is one.
    (The Good-Morrow)
    • Busie old foole, unruly Sunne, Why dost thou thus,
    • Through windows, and through curtaines call on us?
    (The Sunne Rising)
    22
    •Platonic Love
    • The concept of platonic love was first given by Plato in his dialogue
    ‘Symposium’.
    • He presents love as a means of elation to the devout meditation
    towards divinity. Platonic love is characterized by the absence of
    sexual involvement. It is just a spiritual affection. Donne is also a
    great worshiper of platonic love.
    • Difference of sex no more we knew
    • Than our guardian angels do;
    • Coming and going us
    • Perchance might kiss, but not between those meals,
    • Our hands ne’er touched the seals
    • Which nature, injured by late law, sets free
    • These miracles we did; (The Relique)
    23
    Spiritual love
    • In his theory of love Donne is greatly a proponent of spiritual love.
    He is of the view that love is not the name of a relationship between
    two bodies rather it is a form of ecstasy; union of two souls; where
    two lovers’ souls communicate with each other and they remain
    intoxicated in the trance of love. True love makes the lovers merge
    in one and forget their separate entities. The more pure love gets,
    the more they (souls) are battered.
    • As ‘twixt two equal Armies, Fate Suspends uncertain victorie,
    • Our souls, (which to advance their state, Were gone out,) hung twixt her and me. And
    whilst our souls negotiate there,
    • 
    • We like sepulchral statues lay;
    • All day, the same our postures were,
    • And we said nothing all the day. (The Extasie)

    24
    Flirtatious love

    •Being flirtatious in love is another aspect


    of being ardent in love. Love needs
    expression, admiration and appreciation.
    Donne is flamboyantly proud of his love.
    He is not a seductive rather a charismatic
    flirt when he courts his sweet and says
    that they have done a miracle when they
    did not violate the chastity of love.
    Moreover, praising his beloved he calls
    herself a great miracle, a marvel. 25
    •Sometimes he is extremely cynical in his
    love unlike eastern lover where in eastern
    poetic tradition he is usually depicted by
    recurring images of suffering pain and
    sorrow of love

    26

    You might also like