Donne Essay, Research Paper
Ideas are clearly the imaginative core of John Donne s poetry. This is
vividly evident through the study of Donne s poetry, and in particular his
works; “The Relique”, “The Sunne Rising” and “A Valediction: forbidding
mourning”.
Donne utilizes a focus concept throughout his array of poetic works, and
maintains his audiences attention through the exploration of those concepts.
Various thematic settings are applied to convey the intended thought, and
provide a base on which Donne builds his exploration of ideas. With a vast
array of imagery and conceits combined, Donne manages to produce
imaginative exploration of his intended concepts.
Through the study of “The Relique”, it is clearly evident that Donne’s
use of imagery is essential to the audiences understanding of the ideas
portrayed. Throughout this poem Donne explores his ideas using the
hypothetical image of his grave being reopened by future generations. He
questions what will be thought of his character when his casket is opened and
“A bracelet of bright haire about the bone” is discovered. He feels very strongly
about the purity of the love that he shares, and portrays this using detailed
imagery to construct this hypothetical situation.
Donne s use of conceits also largely adds to the clarify that ideas are the
imaginative nucleus of his poet works. This is clearly evident after an
analytical view of the work “A Valediction: forbidding mourning”. The
thematic setting and central focus of the poem is that of love surpassing
physical boundaries. The conceit Donne manipulates in order to express this is
the famous compass; “If they be two, they are two so/ As stiffe twin compasses
are two” , through which he is writing about the two souls. This conceit is set to
convey the idea of l
ideas are the imaginative core of Donne s poetry.
“The Sunne Rising” also utilizes conceits to express the ideas that are the
imaginative core of his poetry. As opposed to the conceit that “A Valediction:
forbidding mourning” represents, “The Sunne Rising” is a self centered conceit.
Placing the author and his lover not only as the center of each others lives but
as the center of the universe. When the two lovers are disturbed by the sun
shining through their window in the early hours of the day. In the opening
phrase the author draws his audiences attention to his own celestial supremacy
with; “Busie old foole, unruly Sunne”. Yet, within the last stanza, the author
adopts a serious tone, quoting that “She is all States, and all Princes, I/ Nothing
else is” while still belittling the sun and ordering it to “Shine here to us, and
thou art everywhere/ This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere”. This
conceit proves itself effective by placing the two new found lovers at the center
of the universe, it shows how strong and issue love is for them, which in turn is
the central focus of this poem. This again supports the statement that ideas are
the imaginative core of Donnes poetry.
Through an extensive study of John Donnes poetry and, in particular,
extensive study of “The Relique”, “The Sunne Rising” and “A Valediction:
forbidding mourning”, it is evident that the author employs a vast array of
techniques to convey various complex ideas through his poetry. It is clear that
the imaginative core of Donnes poetry lies in the in-depth exploration of
complex conceptions, which, integrated with his use of conceit and extensive
imagery, produces these poetic masterpieces. Ideas are definitely the
imaginative core of John Donne’s Poetry.