John Donne essays

John Donne essays John Donnes The Sun Rising. Metaphysical love poetry such as John Donnes The Sun Rising has certain characteristic features. The frequent use of colloquial speech stresses the occasional quality of the poems in the sense, that they often seem to rise out of a specific occasion, and in some cases they even seem to be deliberately provocative. Further characteristics are the elaborate and innovative metaphysical metaphors, that deliberately distance the tenor from the vehicle, thus stressing the unusual and original by startling contrasts. Also intricate rhythmical patterns aim towards wit and originality. The love poetry often features a deliberate intellectualisation of emotional states (love); The lover becomes a logician instead of a suffering victim, and the poetry addresses the mind rather than the heart. Although metaphysical love poems acknowledge the poetic tradition of the renaissance - the Petrarchian love sonnet as a part of the courtly love tradition - it nevertheless represents a distinct break with that tradition according to form and content. Since I find it impossible to touch upon all of the above characteristics in a limited analysis like this one, the following aims to point to the ways, in which Donnes love poem treats a traditional theme in an innovative manner by turning the Petrarchian conceits up side down, creating instead a poetical universe that not only demands an imaginative effort on the part of the reader but also seems to challenge, provoke and transcend a well established literary tradition. Busy old fool, unruly sun/ Why dost thou thus/ Through windows and through curtains call on us?(ll.. 1-3). The opening lines of the first stanza of Donnes The Sun Rising are constructed in intricate, varying and abrupt rhythmical patterns that seem to mirror the speakers state of mind. In an emotional out...