In Donne's Poetry the Religious and the Erotic are Dangerously Confused. Discuss

“And I their Mapp, who lie Flat on this bed”. He describes his body as a map, a metaphor for his life being a journey, which his doctors attempt to read in order to discover his illness and his suffering and ultimately where his journey ends. In reference to Cartography, Donne refers to bearings, using the imagery of a map to point out that what we see on the western edge of a flat map is also to be found on the eastern edge, showing that he believes life and death are connected to each other. In the final stanza, Donne feels joy at the though of death as he feels he will recover his identity by reuniting with the lord. In the final stanza, he returns to the idea of the first stanza, summing up the poem’s central message with the use of a paradox. “Therefore that he may raise the Lord throws down.” This paradox shows that to rise up to heaven, one must be thrown “down” by death, so therefore one must suffer to be accepted and united in a place where one’s identity is established. His extreme suffering has purged and prepared him for paradise.

Donne conveys how religion is a central idea through the use of many religious references throughout the holy sonnets. In ‘Death Be Not Proud’, Donne makes a religious reference to Jesus, ‘Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill mee’, expressing how religion was an underlying theme when handling many issues. When the two texts are studied in alliance, it allows the responder to draw a better understanding of the themes presented in ‘W;t’. This theme, science VS religion, has been emphasised due to the contrasts between Vivian and Donne and their context.

John Donne’s poems are similar in their content. They usually point out at same topics like love, lust, sex and religion; only they are dissimilar in the feelings they express. These subjects reflect the different stages of his life: the lust of his youth, the love of his married middle age, and the piety of the latter part of his life. His poem,’ The Flea’ represents the restless feeling of lust during his youthful days but it comes together with a true respect for women through the metaphysical conceit of the flea as a church in the rhythm of the sexual act.

Written during the 17th century, John Donne utilizes an unconventional genre in his poem, demeaning and objectifying the female sex. A common motif in poems of the Renaissance, Donne uses a flea as a metaphorical comparison to sexual intercourse and the eternal bind between man and woman. Illustrated throughout the poem, Donne

Patriarchal culture has dominated society throughout history. Males have control in many aspects of life and women have continued to fight for equal rights in society. There are many ways women have contributed to the fight for equality; some more physical and other less abrasive. Education and Literature gave the voice to a few women in a male-centered world. Poet Lady Mary Wroth captures the injustices experienced by women in the feminine narrative of Sonnet 9 from her collection of sonnets, songs, and lyrics entitled 'Pamphilia to Amphilantus. In this poem, Wroth explores the thoughts of elite women in the 1700s and uses aspects of her own cultural and historic circumstance to convey the theme of a religious patriarchal society.

In the time period of the 14th century, many woman faced inequality. Women were not viewed to uphold the same quota as men. Most females were viewed as passive to males and were not able to make many demands in their relationships or make any contributions to their own survival or life. In the “Wife of Bath Tale”, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, Chaucer gives an insight into the struggles of a woman. Chaucer gives a voice for women who cannot speak for themselves. He creates a tale for the Wife of Bath that includes and questions the societal views of women. Written in the words of a woman, Chaucer undermines what it means to be a female in the fourteenth century who desires independence and

Chaucer’s Wife of Bath gives the reader a glimpse into the world of medieval women and at the same time is a commentary on Chaucer’s view of deficiencies of his world. In the Knight’s Tale, the reader sees a resistance to the rights of women, typical of the medieval period and in the Wife’s Tale there is a peek at the beginning of the sovereignty of women of their own

In “Holy Sonnet 14”, John Donne talks to God because he feels that as long as he has free

John Donne’s diction, detail, point of view, metaphysical format, and tone used in “Holy Sonnet 10” convey both a feeling of cynical and domination, and also a sense of mockery of death. The effects on the reader include assurance and confidence in facing death.

The theme of a story can often directly relate to the title of the text, but sometimes the true meaning of the story hides in between the lines of the poem. Donne utilized this technique in “The Ecstasy” to justify the meaning of his poem, while the text presents a slightly different idea. According to the an online encyclopedia, the “title of the poem refers not to the modern meaning of the word ecstasy—rapture or delight, especially of a sexual nature—but rather to a Renaissance-era meaning that describes the movement of the soul outside of the body” (Overview: The Ecstasy). This explains the denotation that the text presents and the importance that the title has towards Donne’s theme of spiritual love. The term “ecstasy,” in modern language, relates to the idea of physical excitement or satisfaction. However, the way Donne uses it in his work is through the consideration of two souls and the journey to true love.

The ideas that are received from the poems of John Donne and George Herbert present us with a very distinct view on God, and more generally, religion. Both were writing in the late 1500s and early 1600s; however the methodologies used by each are very distinct.

In “Holy Sonnet 14” by John Donne, dramatizes the conflict between contradictions and a relationship with God.

Donne even goes so far as to command God to destroy the person he has

By making many references to the Bible, John Donne's Holy Sonnets reveal his want to be accepted and forgiven by God. A fear of death without God's forgiveness of sins is conveyed in these sonnets. Donne expresses extreme anxiety and fright that Satan has taken over his soul and God won't forgive him for it or his sins. A central theme of healing and forgiveness imply that John Donne, however much he wrote about God and being holy, wasn't such a holy man all of the time and tried to make up for it in his writing.

Near the end of the poem, Donne makes an unlikely comparison between the couple and a draftsman's compass. This is one of his most famous metaphysical conceits because the two elements which are being compared appear completely different, and yet, amazingly, Donne is able to connect them. He explains that his wife is his "fixed foot" that leans towards him as he roams and straightens again as he returns, but remains his center. Her firmness is what makes his circle complete, "[a]nd makes [him] end where [he] begun"(line 36). The imagery of the circle and the spheres in this poem solidify the eternity of their love and the knowledge that the speaker will always return to the place where he began. Donne's comparisons create an image of celebration rather than mourning.