Reflection Of Donne And Milton

The topic of spirituality, divinity and otherworldly phenomena is quite common in medieval literature and there is a multitude of contexts, in which these topics are addressed. The protagonists of those texts find themselves in a balancing act between the secular world and a supernatural world, where they need to overcome struggles to master the difficulties of their worlds’ dualisms. Be it an otherworld of fairies or the christian hereafter, those worlds and the mundane conducts often influence each other reciprocally in the stories of medieval literature.

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.

A text is essentially a product of its context, as its prevailing values are inherently derived by the author from society. However, the emergence of post-modern theories allows for audience interpretation, thus it must be recognised that meaning in texts can be shaped and reshaped. Significantly, this may occur as connections between texts are explored. These notions are reflected in the compostion of Edson’s W;t and Donne’s poetry as their relationship is established through intertextual references, corresponding values and ideas and the use of language features. Edson particularly portrays key values surrounding the notions of the importance of loved based relationships, and death and resurrection: central themes of Donne’s Holy Sonnets

Milton draws his inspiration from these verses in describing Satans pride and his attempt to wage war in heaven. However, in his attempt to make Paradise Lost both a conversation and a narration, Milton decides to describe Satans descend from heaven in closer detail, even with the risk of committing sacrilege.

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 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.

The Renaissance period was marked with bouts of religious change, from the Protestant Reformation in Germany to the formation of the Church of England. Much of the literature published during the Renaissance was a reaction to these constant changes – the works of John Donne and Francis Bacon are no different. Donne and Bacon were prominent writers of their time. They were well-known for indulging in religious debate through their work, especially with relation to other societal issues such as the rise of science. Donne's Satire III highlights the issue of religious uncertainty

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

This essay will address the theme of death in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 12 (1609) and George Herbert’s poem Virtue (1633). Both Shakespeare and Herbert explore notions of death in their poems, in terms of the tension between the psychical and the spiritual in a religious context. However, where they differ is that Shakespeare places emphasis on the importance of the corporeal, and of what is left behind on earth after death. In contrast, Herbert focuses on the impermanence of the physical, instead advocating a focus on the eternal life of the soul in heaven.

Donne uses personification to give death human characteristics and to challenge its power. This is conveyed to the reader in the following statement, “Death, be not proud, though some have called thee /Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;” (Donne 1-2). The tone and the way in which Donne is talking about death, seems like he is talking to a person, he tells death that it is neither powerful nor dreadful, and it has nothing to be proud of. Also he refers to death using the word “thou,” which means you, which shows that he is personifying death. His argument would not have been as strong without personification, because the personification makes it look like he is actually talking to someone.

The theme of the 'heroic' in John Milton's Paradise Lost is one that has often been the focus of critical debate, namely in the debate surrounding which character is the 'true' hero of the poem. Most critics of the subject have, however, noted that the difficultly in defining the 'hero' of Milton's work is mainly due to our “vague understanding of what constitutes heroism”1 and the fact that “the term itself is equivocal”2. The 'vague' terming of what heroism can be defined as it what draws critics to disagree with one another over the nature of heroism, as Charles Martindale points out that there are 'different models of heroic', many of which Milton employs in his epic poem. To incorporate these different 'models' of the heroic into his

    Many of John Donne's poems contain metaphysical conceits and intellectual reasoning to build a deeper understanding of the speaker's emotional state. A metaphysical conceit can be defined as an extended, unconventional metaphor between objects that appear to be unrelated. Donne is exceptionally good at creating unusual unions between different elements in order to illustrate his point and form a persuasive argument in his poems.

In Plato’s text “The Republic” his ideal nation is one without poetry. Plato makes the assertion that poetry imitations reality and it takes us further, instead of closer, to the forms (i.e. truth), thus leading to falsehood (142). Platonism in relation to Milton’s “L’Allegro” and “IL Penseroso” are what makes these two poems in opposition of one another. The poem “L’Allegro” affirms Plato belief about poetry because it offers readers an illusionary and sensationalize approach to reality. Whereas, “IL Penseroso” refutes this notion by bestowing on the readers a rational view, which in turn leads to the truth.

The central theme, introduced quite early within the poem, is the helplessness of death. Throughout the poem the speaker belittles death and approaches it with such bravery and poise. Donne confronts death by saying it is not in any regard “mighty and dreadful” (2), but rather brings “much pleasure” (7). Death is personified in the poem, and in this regard, possess no greater power over man. The speaker of the poem is Donne himself. He uses his literary tools of rhetoric and poetic devices to belittle death. Throughout the poem, the speaker comes across as being slightly arrogant, but he refuses to show weakness. His arrogance shows that he is not afraid of death as he demands death not to be proud. Donne takes the association of death and sleep, and reinvents this comparison to a greater effect. He describes sleep as being “pictures” (5) of death and death is no more different or more frightening. He extends this metaphor throughout the poem. In the second last line of the poem he

I shall now talk about how religion relates to Donne’s poetry. His life passed during a major change of religion in England the king wanted all control of the church so he could divorce his wife, he declared himself head of the Church of England. My first poem that relates to religion is ‘The Flea’ in this poem Donne is trying to convince a woman to sleep with him by using religion to sanctify him sleeping with her for example when he says ‘Where we almost, nay more, than married are…our marriage bed, and marriage temple is[2]’, he makes the bed seem holy and that g-d wants them to sleep together this may of reassured her as it connects g-d and the church together to make everything alright and holy . This poem proves that Donne is a very