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CONTENTS
Getting Started - poetry and prose
1-2
Essential Knowledge
2-5
Essential Skills
5-6
Glossary of Poetry Terms
6 - 10
Reading Poetry
10-13
Literature - an historical overview
13
John Donne and Metaphysical poetry
13 - 14
The Life of John Donne
14 - 15
‘The Apparition’
15 - 17
‘The Flea’
17 - 20
‘Sunne Rising’
20 - 23
‘Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’
23 - 25
‘Holy Sonnet X’
25 - 29
‘Holy Sonnet XIV’
29 - 31
Essay Topics
31 - 33
The Key to Analysis
33
Essay Writing Skills
34 - 36
Marking Judgements
36 - 37
Essays
37-47
Acknowledgements
47
GETTING STARTED ON POETRY
To critically respond successfully to poetry for Achievement Standard 3.2 convincingly, you need
to have a considerable arsenal of language tools and analytical skills at your disposal. First we
start with some basic definitions and knowledge revision:
POETRY: is a written composition in which the words are chosen for their sound and the
images/ideas they suggest, not just their obvious meaning. The words are arranged in separate
lines which often, but not always, end in rhyme. It creates a concentrated, imaginative
awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional
response through meaning, sound and rhythm. It seeks to express action, feelings and thoughts
in an imaginative way through the use of condensed, arresting and emotive language that
follows a metrical or rhythmic pattern.
TASK: Identify the key defining words in this extract, and write them below.
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Now, in your own words, write your own definition of poetry.
Poetry has three basic “voices”: lyric, dramatic, and narrative.
1. Lyric - this is the first person voice of poetry and uses first-person singular or plural
pronouns such as ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘mine’ (singular) or ‘us’, ‘we’, ‘our’, (plural). The content presents the
thoughts and feelings of a single speaker, and the poet and the poem’s speaker seem almost the
same. It is the most emotional voice. A lyric expresses subjective feelings, the personal hopes,
joy, sorrow, fantasies of the author. These poems are often intense and short.
2. Dramatic - uses second person pronouns such as ‘you’, (thee), ‘your’ (thine) and
presents the voice of an imaginary character speaking directly to an imaginary audience. The
writer does not intrude to offer his comments, but allows the reader to decide what value to
place on the speaker’s words. It relies on irony, as more is revealed to the reader about the
speaker, than s/he intends.
3. Narrative - tells a story and is usually told using third person pronouns – ‘they’, ‘he’,
‘she’, ‘them’, etc. This is the ‘eye-of-God’ objective voice of poetry. There are three main
classifications: Ballads, Epics and Romance.
ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE FOR POETRY RESPONSE:
Essay questions expect you to demonstrate your knowledge of many language features, and
comment on how they contribute to the author/poet‘s purpose. The author’s purpose may
relate to the theme s/he is trying to impart, or may be the impact s/he wishes to have upon the
reader in terms of their understanding or emotions.
1.
Syntax – this term refers to the grammatical arrangement of words in a sentence.
You should ask whether they follow a logical, ‘correct’ order, or whether parts of speech
are modified or the syntax inverted in some way in order to have greater impact or to
emphasise something.
Grammar - the rules about how words change their form and combine with other
words to make sentences. It explores how the seven parts of speech are organised
within a sentence.
REVISION TASK: Define, and cite examples of, the seven parts of speech which are listed
on the next page.
Noun:
e.g.
Pronoun:
e.g.
Verb:
e.g.
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Adverb:
e.g.
Conjunction:
e.g.
Preposition:
e.g.
Adjective:
e.g.
2.
Diction - The word choices the writer has made, and how these choices contribute to
impact upon the reader.
3.
Style - The way the writer uses language so that his/her work is unique. It is the mode
of expression or the language the writer uses, a writer’s particular ways of managing
words that we come to recognise as habitual or customary. A distinctive style marks the
work of a fine writer: we can tell his or her work from that of anyone else.
TASK: List features which may contribute to a writer’s distinctive style.
Direct address
4.
Punctuation - you need to know the purposes of punctuation in order to make
critical judgements about its use when you are analysing poetry.
Symbol
.
:
;
,
“ …”
T
…
Label
Uses - there may be more than one!
4
?
!
_
(…)
5.
Imagery - You need to show understanding of the nature and effect of imagery.
imagery – this asks you to identify similar what images are predominant, and explain
how they link together to form a focus for the reader. Imagery - does NOT mean image!
nature: how imagery (related clusters of images) is created through clusters of images,
and what techniques are used. This involves exploring linked images (imagery) such as
sensory imagery, animal imagery, imagery of violence, death/disease, supernatural,
nature, etc.
It also requires you to show that you know how imagery is built through such features
as: metaphor, simile, personification, connotative vocabulary, symbolism, and how
sound devices support these.
effect: You must be able to explain how imagery contributes to the whole poem by
impacting upon the audience, evoking intellectual and personal engagement and
response. You must also be able to suggest how imagery contributes to revealing the
theme (the poet’s purpose).
6.
Sound devices - onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, rhyme, rhythm,
consonance, etc., and how they contribute to purpose and support the imagery.
7.
Tone - the attitude the poet takes towards the theme or subject in the text. Is the
poet being affectionate, hostile, earnest, playful, sarcastic, bitter, lonely, happy,
disillusioned or sorrowful, etc. An attitude is made clear to us by the careful choice of
certain words (diction), certain details, pace, sound devices, etc. Like a tone of voice, the
tone of a text implies the feelings of the author. Those feelings may be similar to the
feelings expressed by the narrative persona, but sometimes they may be completely
different. E.g. the characters may be regarded as sad, but we sense that the author
regards them as amusing.
8.
Form - This is the physical structure of the text. The first determining factor is
whether the text is prose, or poetry. If it is prose, we expect certain conventions such as
full sentences, paragraphs, chapters, etc. With poetry there are several discrete forms,
each with particular conventions:
Ballad - a poem which tells a story. It is usually written in iambic heptameter (seven
unstressed-stressed pairings of syllables per line), and has four-line stanzas. The second
and fourth lines rhyme, but not the first and third.
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Sonnet - comprises 14 lines, and is a form of lyric poetry. There is often, but not always,
a rhyme scheme, and there may be internal divisions within the sonnet into quatrains
and a couplet, or an octave and a sestet.
Free Verse - a form of poetry which recognises no rules. Therefore, it often lacks both
rhythm and rhyme. It may or may not have stanzas.
Blank Verse - comprises iambic pentameter, but contains no rhyme. The meter – iambic
pentameter - is the defining characteristic. This is the major form of the verse used in
Shakespeare’s plays.
Ode - a poem written for a special occasion or subject. It is dignified and serious,
although modern wit has opted to parody the form. It contains a rhyme scheme.
Dramatic Monologue - reveals both situation and character. It has a single speaker who
is NOT the poet, uses direct address and is very energetic and ironic.
Villanelle - comprises five, three line stanzas and a final stanza of four
lines.
Sestina - has seven stanzas. The first six have six lines, the seventh stanza has three lines.
The defining words of each come right at the end of the stanza.
Elegy - a poem which laments the dead. It is written in dactylic meter (one stressed
followed by two unstressed syllables).
9.
Narrative viewpoint or narrative voice - these can be first person
singular, first person plural, second person (direct address), third person omniscient,
third person limited. Who is telling the story?
10.
Language features - all the devices which are used in the creation of a text. You
must be able to identify them, quote support to prove they exist, and explain why they
have been used - this should relate to their impact upon the reader. (See pp 6-12 for a
glossary of poetry terms).
ESSENTIAL SKILLS FOR 3.2:
Analyse: This major skill expects you to examine in detail the various features
and/or the structure of a text. You should be able to deconstruct a text down to smaller
parts, so that you can demonstrate how it is constructed through forms, language
features, etc. There are several steps in analysis:
a) Identify – the technique, form, diction, punctuation. Use the correct terminology in
doing this. This is the “what”.
b) Examples – when you have identified your technique, etc, you must prove you have
identified correctly, by quoting examples from the text.
c) Describe – once examples have been cited, you must describe how they work. This
will work in different ways for different techniques and examples. For instance, in
discussing diction, you must describe the connotations of the chosen vocabulary. For
a metaphor, you may need to describe what two things are being compared.
d) Explain – once the description is completed, you need to explain how the technique
impacts upon the reader. This requires you to explore specific elements of the
examples you have chosen.
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e) Evaluation – this is the final step in analysis. You need to explain how well the
technique works, and judge how it contributes the text, or to the poet’s purpose.
Interpret: Some questions in ask you to explore something specific. You should bring out
the meaning of that specific aspect of the text, and reveal the underlying meaning of it
by the application of special knowledge or insight.
Identify: This merely asks you to recognise and prove certain features exist within a text.
Explain: This skill asks you to make something known in detail, and relies on clarity of
written expression. You need to clearly express and justify your understanding of the
meanings of certain complex elements within a text. (See above)
Evaluate: Evaluation requires you to appraise or assess elements of a text - to make
personal judgements as to how well something works, or what it contributes to the
whole. (See above)
Describe: For this skill you need to recount clearly how specific elements within a text are
used, placed, etc. A major factor in mastering this skill is your ability to identify whether
description is a required component of the question asked. (See above)
Discuss: This skill requires you to be to explore, either verbally or written, all aspects of the
topic suggested in the question. You should draw your own conclusions with regard to
your discussion.
Respond: Your personal thoughts and feelings with regard to the text are revealed. The trick
is not to get too emotional in your response, but to offer your thoughts and feelings in a
formal manner.
Glossary of Poetry Terms
ALLITERATION: deliberate repetition of a speech sound - especially the initial consonant
sounds or stressed sounds - within a series of closely related words. Contributes to rhythm, pace,
imagery, and tone. E.g. ‘knock-kneed’, ‘sorry seasons’, ‘false feares’.
ALLUSION: reference, explicit or implicit, to well-known texts, persons, places, events. E.g.
‘This is my Waterloo’ is an historical allusion to the place where Napoleon was finally defeated.
The allusion suggests the speaker has reached a crisis point just as Napoleon did at Waterloo.
AMBIGUITY: expressing two or more diverse attitudes or feelings.
ANALOGY: comparison showing similarities between two ideas/things.
ANTITHESIS: contrast or opposition in meanings or ideas.
APOSTROPHE: direct and explicit address either to an absent person or an abstract or
inanimate entity. E.g. ‘Devouring Time, blunt thou the Lion’s paws’, ‘Death be not proud’
ASSONANCE: deliberate repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds in a sequence of
nearby words. E.g. ‘How now, brown cow’.
BLANK VERSE: verse of iambic pentameter, but which does not rhyme.
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CAESURA: significant pause within a line of verse. E.g. ‘Marke but this flea, and marke in
this’. The comma represents a pause within the line.
CATHARSIS: release or relief of strong feelings - usually applied to tragedy, when the tragic
events have purged the play world – see ‘The Apparition’.
COLLOQUIALISM: relaxed language of conversation. E.g. ‘Gidday. How’s it going?’ In
Donne’s poetry ‘thee’ and ‘thine’ are formal, ‘you’ and ‘your’ tend to be colloquial.
CONCEIT: elaborate, extended metaphor. E.g. The flea in John Donne’s poem of the same
name where the flea is one element in several comparisons: flea = nothing; flea = sexual union;
flea = marriage; flea = church; flea = Jesus Christ; flea = nothing.
CONSONANCE: repetition of a sequence of two or more consonants, but
with a change in
the intervening vowel. E.g. ‘pitter-patter’.
CONTRAST: illustrates ideas through the use of opposites. E.g. ‘for I/except you enthrall
mee, never shall be free/nor ever chast except you ravish mee’. Two contrasts are evident in
these two lines from Donne’s Holy Sonnet XIV - slavery (‘enthrall’) and freedom (‘free’), and
chastity (chast’) and rape (‘ravish’).
DIDACTIC: that which is designed to teach or instruct.
ELLIPSIS: deliberate omission of words in a grammatical sequence. E.g. ‘Going to town’
instead of ‘I am going to town ’. The first two words of the grammatically correct sentence are
left out, giving the sentence a colloquial flavour and changing the sentence structure from a
simple sentence (one which contains a subject and a verb), into a minor sentence (a sentence in
which the subject is merely implied). In formal writing, ellipsis is used when words from a
quotation are omitted to save time. In this form of ellipsis, the omission of words is signalled by
three dots (...). E.g. ‘Most poems ... strike us a witty and clever’.
EMOTIVE LANGUAGE: to argue using personal feelings, and an emotionally charged
vocabulary. E.g. ‘These vile criminals…’. It is used to manipulate the reader’s emotions.
ENJAMBEMENT: a carrying over of one verse line into another. The first line often
contains meaning which is then modified when the next line is perceived. Hence, you get
layering of meaning.
HYPERBOLE: deliberate exaggeration for effect. E.g. ‘Thousands came to my party!’
IMAGERY: word pictures which may be literal (i.e. building a picture without using any
figurative language) or may be built using similes, metaphors, personification, symbolism, etc. In
literature, imagery may be built into related image clusters, such as religious imagery, nature
imagery, sensual imagery.
IMPERATIVE: command form of a verb. E.g. ‘Go!’
INJUNCTION: command given with authority. E.g. ‘Batter my heart, three person’d god”.
INNUENDO: an indirect or subtle reference. E.g. ‘She’s the sort of girl who would ask men to
carry her terribly heavy matchbox’. The subtext suggests that the girl is good at gender games.
INTERIOR MONOLOGUE: the thoughts a reader is aware of, but that other characters
know nothing of. The reader is able to see directly into the mind of the character.
IRONY: a way of speaking or writing where the words used differ from the thoughts in the
speaker/writer’s mind. E.g. ‘She was born to overcome an affection formed so late in life as at
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seventeen...’ (Jane Austen of Marianne Dashwood in ‘Sense and Sensibility’). Austen is really
poking fun at Marianne for taking her puppy love so seriously!
JARGON: specialised vocabulary. e.g. Medical Jargon: appendicitis, stethoscope; Computer
Jargon: byte, CD-ROM. John Donne’s poetry contains jargon related to his education as a lawyer
and a minister, and his interest in mathematics, the sciences, colonisation, and astrology.
JUXTAPOSE: to place things side by side for impact. Noun = juxtaposition.
LISTING: sequenced, formulaic, itemised mention of objects, places, etc.
LYRIC: short, first person personal poem which expresses thoughts and feelings.
METAPHOR: direct comparison between unlike items to create an image which creates
greater understanding. E.g. ‘The stars are diamonds in the night sky.’ Diamonds are pale,
glittering, small, precious, all of which now applies to our understanding of stars!
METER: the organisation of rhythm stresses into a recurrence of regular units. Combinations
of these stresses are called feet. Types include:
Iambic foot
Anapaestic foot
Trochaic foot
Dactylic foot
Spondaic foot
Pyrrhic foot
- a light stress followed by a stressed syllable.
- two light syllables followed by a stressed syllable.
- followed by a light syllable.
- a stressed syllable followed by two light syllables.
- two successive syllables with approximately equal
strong stresses.
- two successive syllables with approximately equal light
stresses.
METONYMY: the literal term for one thing is applied to another with which it has become
closely associated. E.g. The crown is used generally to signify the laws and government of a
country: The crown vs J. Smith. It is a specialist metaphor.
MOTIF: a repeated theme, subject or pattern.
ONOMATOPOEIA: a word whose sound seems to closely echo the sound it denotes. E.g.
howl, snap, cough.
OXYMORON: a paradox which juxtaposes two terms that in ordinary usage are contraries.
E.g. ‘It is a living death’; ‘The icy fires of love’.
PARADOX: self contradictory statement – in Donne’s ‘Holy Sonnet XIV’, the speaker
announces that ‘except you enthral me, never shall be free/Nor ever chaste except you ravish
mee.’ He is speaking directly to God and is implying that God needs to enslave (enthral) him if he
is to gain spiritual freedom, and that God needs to totally possess him (ravish) if he is to gain
spiritual purity. These ideas seem to be contradictory, but on further examination there is logic
in the argument being offered.
PARALLEL STRUCTURE: a sentence/paragraph/ etc. in which the grammatical pattern
is repeated. E.g. ‘With malice towards none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right...’
(Abraham Lincoln).
PARAPHRASE: re-state something in your own words.
PASTORAL: literary convention whereby an urban poet expresses nostalgia for the peace
and simplicity of things rural. The rural environment is sentimentalised as a golden place which
encourages physical, spiritual and mental health.
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PATHOS: generating feelings of sadness or pity.
PERSONAL APPEAL: an emotional and personal request.
PERSONIFICATION: giving objects/ideas human features. E.g. ‘The sun is smiling’.
PRONOUNS: words which stand in for the noun they represent. There are two main types:
PERSONAL PRONOUNS such as ‘I’ and ‘me’ (singular), and INCLUSIVE PRONOUNS such as ‘we’
and ‘us’ (plural).
PROSE: an inclusive term for literature which is not patterned into lines and rhythms of
verse. Prose usually uses full sentences and paragraphs.
PROTAGONIST: the major character in a story, play, novel or film, etc.
PUN: word play which emphasises ambiguity or innuendo for humorous effect. A pun usually
has two meanings, a figurative meaning and a literal meaning. E.g. ‘That was a smashing
experience’ - literally means something has been broken, figuratively means fun.
RHETORIC: the art of using words persuasively in speeches or writing.
RHYME: the repetition of the last stressed vowel, and all the consonants which follow it.
There are several types:-
End Rhymes - occur at the end of a verse line.
Internal Rhymes - occur within a verse line.
Masculine Rhyme - consists of a single stressed syllable.
Feminine Rhyme - consists of a stressed syllable followed by an
unstressed syllable. This is also called a double rhyme.
Triple Rhyme - a rhyme involving three syllables.
RHYTHM: a recognisable yet variable pattern in the beat of the stresses in the stream of
sound. If the rhythm of stresses is structured into recurring regular units, it is called meter (see
above).
SARCASM: mocking or ironic language intended to scorn or insult.
SATIRE: the use of mocking, exaggerated humour to ridicule faults/vices.
SIMILE: explicit comparison between unlike items using ‘like’, ‘as’, ‘appears’, ‘seems’. E.g.
‘Her laugh was like breaking glass!’
STANZA: one of a series of uniform groups of lines into which a poem may be divided.
SYNECDOCHE: a part of something represents the whole of it. E.g. ‘The head of English’ - a
specialist form of metaphor.
SYMBOL: a concrete representation of something else, usually an abstract idea or quality.
E.g. A Rose symbolises love.
SYNTAX: grammar - the arrangement and inter-relationship of words in
phrases and
sentences. The way sentences are ordered.
TONE: the attitude of writer to the reader or speaker to listener.
Try these: using your language features list, fill in the gaps in the table on the next page..
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Feature
Definition
Example
Effect
To argue using emotions
and an emotional
vocabulary
‘Words: riderless
horses’
Deliberate repetition of
vowel sounds in a group
of nearby words
Direct address to an
abstract concept
I’d rather be stabbed
with a red-hot steak
knife than do that!
Minor
Sentence
READING POETRY
‘Reading and discussing poetry needs to be a regular part of English programmes...’ (Marking
Schedule and Examination Commentary, 1998)
Oh my Gosh! Oh my Gosh! Poetry has the reputation of being a difficult genre. It is often
something we shy away from because the language is compacted and dense, and we need to
solve some kind of linguistic code in order to get at the heart of it. Take heart. Many people,
including your teachers, are often perplexed on first encountering a poem. True meaning is only
gleaned through familiarising yourself thoroughly with the text. Do not give up. Effort put into
poetry is truly rewarding.
Below are some tips to help you read, analyse and understand poetry in preparation for
completing your John Donne assignment and for writing critically responsive essays on poetry for
3.2 in the external examination. The best preparation is to build up your reading muscles by
reading a wide range of Donne’s poems slowly and with careful attention to detail. Become
familiar with the kinds of questions you’ll be asked, and learn how to deal with them confidently.
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BASIC PRINCIPLES



Read through the poem several times.
Identify words/references/phrases you don’t understand. Look them up: use dictionaries and
encyclopaedias. Don’t ignore something that puzzles you: it may be important. Don’t be
afraid to admit that you find certain lines or images difficult - it’s better to talk directly about
the strangeness of some aspect of the poem than to explain it away with a wild guess or an
over simplifying comment.
Arriving at an understanding of any poem is largely a matter of question and answer.
Formulate questions and answer them. Persevere with your own interpretation, but
remember it is not a case of ‘anything goes’. Be careful not to impose your own agendas on a
poem, ignoring its specific details and contexts.
THE LITERAL MEANING: WHO, WHERE, WHEN, AND WHAT?
This is your detective role. You are trying to establish the LITERAL SITUATION of the poem before
going on to think about is wider implications. This is an important starting place for
interpretation: it is futile looking for ‘symbols’ or ‘metaphors’ before you have properly
understood the concrete details of the poem. (The questions below may not always have clear or
obvious answers. Try to answer them all. Remember that some questions may have more than
one answer. Be open to all possibilities, but always test your answers against the details of the
poem itself.)




Who is speaking in the poem? Whom is the speaker addressing? Is the speaker the same as
the poet? (If in doubt here, assume the speaker is not exactly the same: poets are always
picking up and dropping masks of various kinds. The trick is to pick what mask the poet may
be assuming in a particular poem.)
Where is the speaker? Does s/he seem to be in a particular place, landscape, or personal
situation?
When is the poem set? A particular time of day, or year, or a particular time of someone’s
life?
What is happening? Is the speaker excited about something? Doing something? Is a
particular problem or conflict suggested?
EMOTION AND TONE


What feelings or attitudes does the speaker seem to be expressing?
What is his/her tone of voice? (e.g. cheerful, angry, sad, meditative, optimistic, humorous,
cynical, sarcastic, ironic, etc.) Are there any combinations of tone, or shifts in tone? If so,
where?
You can detect the speaker’s FEELINGS or ATTITUDES as much from the choice and description of
physical details as from what people actually say or how they say it. For example, objects may
often ‘stand for’ ideas and feelings; some settings may have certain emotional connotations that
the poem may be working with or against.
‘Students need to work on how objects may be said to represent ideas and feelings.’ (UB Marking
Schedule and Examination Commentary, 1998)
EMOTION is indicated by the choice of words. Keep the literal situation of the poem in mind as
you look at its emotional vocabulary. People are complicated - we don’t always say exactly what
we mean. Sometimes we strike a pose. Sometimes we hedge around what we really feel. Look
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carefully at the surface (the words). Poets are quick to exploit discrepancies between
appearances and an underlying emotional reality.
TONE is sometimes used to mean ‘emotion’ or ‘mood’ or it may refer more specifically to the
tone of voice in which it seems appropriate to read the poem. To determine an appropriate tone
of voice, you have to have a fair idea of the poem’s emotional content.
CONNECTIONS



Can you link up any words or images connecting one line of the poem to another? Are there
patterns running in the poem?
What details stand out? Why? What is their effect on us as readers?
Look closely at the poem’s images. Try to visualise the pictures they conjure up. (This will
make the poem more vivid, and will probably help clarify the meaning.) Why did the poet
choose these particular images? Do they add up to some wider whole? Does anything NOT
fit in? Why?
What is the poet driving at by assembling these details? Looking at them, can you establish the
key subject of the poem?
LANGUAGE, RHYTHM, STRUCTURE




Is the language formal or informal? Colloquial? Jargon? Is it appropriate to what is going on
in the poem? Does anything stand out as unusual or inappropriate to the prevailing tone?
Why? Is this a signal of some sort?
Are there any unusual typographical details? (Capitals, lower case, use of punctuation, etc.)
What do these contribute to the poem’s effect?
What sort of rhythm does the poem have? Read it aloud for best results here. How does this
rhythm serve the interests of the poem? Does it change at any point? Where? Why? (Look
for a corresponding change in tone and/or subject.)
To uncover the structure of a poem, ask yourself: does it seem to go through different
stages? What are they? How are they indicated? (Look at how the poem is laid out on the
page.) Is there a point around which everything else revolves? Where is it? Is this a key
moment in reading the poem? How does it convey that importance to you?
TITLE AND OVERVIEW
Go back to the beginning: in the light of what you’ve uncovered, think about the poem’s title. Is
it an obvious choice? Does it make you more responsive to something in the poem? What does it
do for the whole poem? (If the title has no obvious connection with what you’ve found so far, are
there reasons for this? Or have you missed something?)
Take the poem as a whole: read it again from beginning to end. Has the work you’ve done on the
poem reinforced or challenged your original interpretation? Can you see how your new
interpretation pays closer attention to the details, the tone, and the language of the poem?
Check to see if you’ve missed something or taken a wrong turning. Look at details again, and
listen to the words. Then weigh your close observations against your idea of the poem as a
whole.
SIGNIFICANCE:
What affects you most about this poem? What aspects of it are memorable? Has your close
reading given you some idea of how this poet works as well as what s/he has to say? Have you
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learned something about human behaviour or needs from the poem? Why has the poet written
this poem – what is its purpose?
LITERATURE: AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD : Norse myths/legends e.g. Beowulf
THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD: Middle English develops from mix of Anglo-Saxon/French/
Latin introduced after 1066 - Norman Conquest of Britain. Arthurian legends - Thomas Mallory’s
‘Le Morte d’Arthur’. First printing presses developed. Ballads sung widely to largely illiterate
population. Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’. Morality plays, travelling shows.
THE RENAISSANCE (1400s-1600s): Petrarchan sonnets. English versions developed
by Thomas Wyatt (mid-1500s). Shakespeare further develops sonnet form in late 1500s. Includes
works by Shakespeare, Spenser (‘The Faery Queen’), Jonson. Mostly plays, poems and letters.
JACOBEAN PERIOD: (Immediately following Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603, and lasts
until the interregnum of the 1640s): still mostly verse and plays from writers such as Andrew
Marvell, Thomas Middleton. John Milton’s ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ and ‘Paradise Lost’.
THE RESTORATION: (1660s - the restoration of the monarchy following Oliver
Cromwell’s death). Wild, bawdy restoration comedies by William Whycherly, Aphra Behn. First
novels emerge: ‘Oronooko’ by Aphra Behn (first woman to make her living by the pen - poet,
novelist, playwright, and short story writer!) Daniel Defoe’s ‘Robinson Crusoe’.
THE AUGUSTANS: (18th Century. Also called The Enlightenment). Includes Swift’s satire
‘Gulliver’s Travels’, Alexander Pope, Thomas Gray, Henry Fielding. First dictionary in English is
compiled by Samuel Johnson - helps to standardise English spellings. Goldsmith’s ‘She Stoops to
Conquer’ and Richard Sheridan’s ‘A School for Scandal’ offer satirical comedies. Novel flourishes.
THE ROMANTICS: (Late 18th early 19th century) Poets like Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge,
Byron, Shelley, and Keats investigate the role of the artist, nature, and mortality. First ‘lending
libraries’ open. Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ is written, and Jane Austen’s satirical novels on
society: “Pride and Prejudice’, ‘Emma’, ‘Northanger Abbey’ etc.
VICTORIAN ERA: (1840s - early 1900s) Many renown poets and novelists. Works develop a
social commentary flavour and often seek social reform. Poets include Tennyson, the Brownings,
Rossetti, Manley Hopkins. Novels - the Bronte’s, Mrs Gaskell, Dickens, George Eliot, Hardy.
THE MODERN ERA: (20th Century) Novels by Woolf, Atwood, Lawrence, Joyce, Forster,
Hulme, Proulx, Jhavala. Poets: Owen, Eliot, Yeats, Thomas, Williams.
POST COLONIALISM: (latter part of 20th Century) Gives rise to voices from countries as
diverse as India, Australia, Africa. In New Zealand literature voices emerge from distinct cultural
perspectives: Samoan mythology to Albert Wendt; Maori Mythology to Patricia Grace, Hone
Tuwhare, and Witi Ihimaera; European prose - Lady Barker to Maurice Gee, Katherine Mansfield,
and Janet Frame; European verse - From Thomas Bracken to Cilla McQueen.
John Donne and Metaphysical Poetry
The term metaphysical is applied to a style of 17th Century poetry which employs highly
intellectual and often complex imagery. It deals with philosophical and emotional concepts –
concerns which are beyond (meta) the physical. Simply put, it is the poetry of ideas!
14
Characteristics of Metaphysical Poetry:

Argumentative structure: The poem often engages in a debate with a persuasive
purpose; it is an intellectual exercise as well as, or instead of, an emotional outpouring.

Dramatic-Lyric voice: The poem often describes a dramatic event rather than being a
reverie, a thought, or contemplation. Diction is simple, and colloquial, and usually
directly addressing an intermediary audience (i.e., an audience that is NOT the person
reading the poem). The verse is occasionally rough, like speech.

Metaphysical wit: The poem contains unexpected, even striking or shocking analogies,
offering elaborate parallels between apparently dissimilar things. The analogies are
drawn from widely varied fields of knowledge, not limited to traditional sources in
nature or art.
Analogies from science, mechanics, housekeeping, business, philosophy, astronomy, etc.
are common. These "conceits" reveal a play of intellect, often resulting in puns,
paradoxes, and humorous comparisons. Unlike other poetry where the metaphors
usually remain in the background, here the metaphors sometimes seem to take over the
poem and control it.
Metaphysical poetry represents a revolt against the conventions of Elizabethan love poetry and
especially the typical Petrarchan conceits (like rosy cheeks, eyes like stars, etc.).
The Life of John Donne
o
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o
o
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o
John Donne was born in London in 1572 into a prosperous Roman Catholic family at a
time when anti-Catholic sentiment was rife. His well-to-do father died suddenly in 1576
and left three children to be raised by their mother.
Donne's first teachers were Jesuit priests. At the age of 11, with his younger brother
Henry he entered Oxford, where he studied for three years. He spent the next three
years at Cambridge, but could take no degree because, as a Catholic, he could not take
the Oath of Supremacy required at graduation. During 1591-2, he studied law, and
embarked upon a legal and diplomatic career.
In 1593, Donne's brother Henry died in prison after being arrested for hiding a Catholic
priest. This made Donne begin to question his faith. His first book of poems, Satires, was
written during this period and is considered one of Donne's most important works.
Having inherited a considerable fortune, young “Jack” Donne spent his money on
womanizing, books, the theatre, and travel. He also befriended Christopher Brooke, and
Ben Jonson – both fellow writers. In 1596, Donne joined the naval expedition against
Cádiz, and the following year joined an expedition to the Azores.
On returning to England in 1598, Donne was appointed private secretary to Sir Thomas
Egerton. Donne was beginning a promising career. However, in 1601, he secretly married
Lady Egerton's niece, seventeen-year-old Anne More. Her father, Sir George More,
Donne thrown into Fleet Prison, along with his friends Samuel and Christopher Brooke
who had aided the couple's elopement. Egerton dismissed Donne, and for the next
dozen years the poet struggled to support his growing family. Donne later wrote of it:
"John Donne, Anne Donne, Undone."
Relatives and friends helped them, but it was not until 1609 that there was reconciliation
between Donne and Sir George, who finally paid Anne’s dowry.
During the next few years Donne made a meagre living as a lawyer. His principal literary
works from this time were Divine Poems (1607) and the prose work Biathanatos.
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o
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He published two anti-Catholic polemics Pseudo-Martyr (1610) and Ignatius his Conclave
(1611). They were public testimony of Donne's rejection of the Catholic faith. These won
Donne the favour of the King.
Donne refused to take Anglican orders in 1607, but King James persisted and in 1615,
Donne was reluctantly appointed Royal Chaplain and Reader in Divinity at Lincoln's Inn.
Donne's style of elaborate metaphors and religious symbolism, his flair for drama, his
wide learning and his wit established him as one of the greatest preachers of the era.
Just as Donne's fortunes were improving, Anne Donne died, aged thirty-three, after
giving birth to their twelfth child, a stillborn. Grief struck, Donne wrote the seventeenth
Holy Sonnet, "Since she whom I lov'd hath paid her last debt." According to Izaak
Walton, Donne was thereafter 'crucified to the world'. Donne continued to write poetry,
notably his Holy Sonnets (1618), but no more love poetry. In 1620, he was appointed
Dean of Saint Paul's, a post he held until his death. At last he was financially secure.
On March 27, 1625, James I died, and Donne preached a sermon before Charles I. His
poor health prevented him from becoming a bishop in 1630. Obsessed with death,
Donne preached his own funeral sermon, Death's Duel, just weeks before he died in
1631. The last thing Donne wrote was Hymne to God, my God, In my Sicknesse.
John Donne’s Writings
Donne’s writings can be divided into three categories: secular love poetry such as “Sunne
Rising”; bawdy ‘love’ poetry such as “The Flea” and “The Apparition”; and devotional, religious
poetry and meditations/sermons such as “The Holy Sonnets”.
A ghost - this
represents the
woman’s conscience
5
10
15
The Apparition
When by thy scorne, O murdresse, I am dead,
And that thou thinkst thee free
From all solicitation from mee,
Then shall my ghost come to thy bed
And thee, fain'd vestall, in worse armes shall see;
Then thy sicke taper will begin to winke,
And he,whose thou art then, being tyr'd before,
Will, if thou stirre, or pinch to wake him, thinke
Thou call'st for more,
And in false sleepe will from thee shrinke,
And then poore Aspen wretch, neglected thou
Bath'd in a cold quicksilver swear wilt lye
A veryer ghost than I;
What I will say, I will not tell thee now,
Lest that preserve thee; and since my love is spent,
I had rather thou shouldst painfully repent,
Than by my threatenings rest still innocent.
Glossary
thy
scorne
thou
solicitation
=
=
=
=
your
contemptuous rejection
you
pleading
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fain’d
vestall
taper
quicksilver
aspen
=
=
=
=
=
false
virgin
candle
mercury
a pale tree which seems to quiver
1. Summarise the literal content of the poem:
2. Who is the speaker, and who is s/he speaking to?
3. There are several clusters of imagery here, which work together to create the tone.
Complete the following grid to gain an understanding of the variety of imagery, and then
use your findings to determine the various tones of the poem
Image cluster (imagery)
Disease/death
Quoted examples
Reasons for use
Sexual
Supernatural
4. List below three words which describe the speaker’s attitude to his/her audience. Then,
identify where in the poem these attitudes are most apparent.
Attitude
Proof from the poem
5. Sound devices usually support the imagery and contribute to the tone of the poem. The
major one used in this poem is sibilance, which is a specialist form of alliteration. List
examples of sibilance from the poem.
Now, explain how they support the tones and imagery of the poem.
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6. Poets usually wish to teach us something. This is their main purpose in writing, and their
messages are called themes. Below, write two fully expressed messages Donne is trying to
transmit to us about human behaviour.
a)
b)
The Flea
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10
15
20
25
Marke but this flea, and marke in this,
How little that which thou deny’st me is;
It suck’d me first, and now it sucks thee,
And in this flea, our two bloods mingled bee;
Thou know’st that this cannot be said
A sinne, nor shame nor losse of maidenhead,
Yet this enjoyes before it wooe,
And pamper’d swells with one blood made of two,
And this, alas, is more than we would doe.
Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,
Where wee almost, yea more than maryed are.
This flea is you and I, and this
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is;
Though parents grudge, and you, w’are met,
And cloystred in these living walls of Jet.
Though use make you apt to kill mee,
Let not to that, self murder added bee,
And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.
Cruell and sodaine, hast thou since
Purpled thy naile with blood of innocence?
Wherein could this flea guilty bee,
Except in that drop which it suckt from thee?
Yet thou thriumph’st, and saist that thou
Find’st not thy selfe, nor me weaker now;
‘Tis true, then learn how false, feares bee;
Just so much honor, when thou yeeld’st to me,
Will wast, as this flea’s death tooke life from thee.
1. Vocabulary: list the words from this poem which present you with problems, and research
their meanings.
2. This poem is formed using tripartite structure – three part structure. Each stanza develops
part of the argument that the speaker is making. In order to understand how the argument is
18
structured, you need to explore the literal content of each stanza. Complete a literal
translation of each stanza into modern English.
Stanza 1:
Stanza 2:
Stanza 3:
2. Speaker =
Audience =
3. The poem is a play with action: between each of the stanzas, a physical action occurs. What
are these?
Between 1 and 2:
Between 2 and 3:
4. The imagery in this poem revolves around the conceit of the flea. A conceit is an extended,
elaborate and startling comparison. In this poem, Donne structures his argument by
developing the status of the flea. List all of the things the flea is compared to in this poem.
Flea =
Now, explain how the changing flea helps the speaker to achieve his goal of seduction.
“The Flea” is also created through clusters of related images which can be divided into two
broad groups: sexual and religious. Using the table below, identify the elements of each and
explain what the imagery contributes to your understanding of Donne’s purpose – to seduce
the young maiden.
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Examples:
Purpose:
Religious Imagery
Sexual Imagery
5. The dramatic lyric voice: clearly, there is an audience in this poem that is not us. This means
the poem is delivered using direct address which is apparent in the uses of the second
person pronouns. List the different second person pronouns from the poem.
Now, list all the inclusive first person pronouns used.
Finally, list all of the first person singular pronouns used.
Now, for each type of pronoun, complete the following grid:
When and where used
Why used
Second person
First person plural
(inclusive)
First person singular
Now that you have identified and explored Donne’s uses of pronouns in this poem, explain
how they contribute to
a) Structuring an argument
b) Building a relationship between the speaker and the intermediary audience
6. Language/sound devices: identify and describe three language devices, and explain how they
contribute to the text.
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7. List below three tones which reveal the speaker’s attitude to his audience. Then, identify
where in the poem these attitudes are most apparent.
Attitude
Proof from the poem
8. Remember that the poet’s main purpose when writing, is to get their messages (themes)
across to their readers. Below, write two fully expressed messages Donne is trying to
transmit to us about human behaviour in “The Flea”.
a)
b)
The Sun Rising
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10
15
20
25
30
Busy old fool, unruly Sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains, call on us?
Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run?
Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
Late schoolboys, and sour prentices,
Go tell court-huntsmen that the king will ride,
Call country ants to harvest offices,
Love, all alike, no season knows, nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.
Thy beams, so reverend and strong
Why shouldst thou think?
I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,
But that I would not lose her sight so long:
If her eyes have not blinded thine,
Look, and tomorrow late, tell me
Whether both the'Indias of spice and mine
Be where thou leftst them, or lie here with me.
Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,
And thou shalt hear: "All here in one bed lay."
She'is all states, and all princes I,
Nothing else is.
Princes do but play us; compar'd to this,
All honour's mimic, all wealth alchemy.
Thou, sun, art half as happy'as we,
In that the world's contracted thus;
Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
To warm the world, that's done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;
This bed thy centre is, these walls, thy sphere.
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1. Vocabulary: list problem words and research their meanings.
2. This poem is formed using tripartite structure – three part structure. Each stanza develops
part of the argument that the speaker is making. In order to understand how the argument is
structured, you need to explore the literal content of each stanza. Complete a literal
translation of each stanza into modern English.
Stanza 1:
Stanza 2:
Stanza 3:
2. The poem is like a monologue from a play, using direct address. Identify the participants:
Speaker =
Audience =
3. What characteristics identify the voice of this poem as being dramatic lyric?
a)
c)
b)
d)
What effect does the use of dramatic lyric have upon the reader?
Why?
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4. The imagery in the poem is created through conceits, metaphors, and personification.
Complete the following by describing the impact of examples the on audience’s
understanding of the text or the theme, and explain why this effect occurs – i.e. what it is
about the techniques that evokes a response.
Evidence
Conceit – the
lovers are the
world
(geographical)
Metaphor
Personification –
the Sun
Connotations
Effect
“tell me/Whether
both the 'Indias of
spice and mine/Be
where thou leftst
them, or lie here with
me”
“She is all states and
all princes I”
“hours, days, months,
which are the rags of
time”
“Busy old fool, unruly
Sun”
“Saucy pedantic
wretch, go chide/Late
schoolboys, and sour
prentices,”
5. Identify and analyse three language devices and explain how they contribute to the text.
6. What is the speaker’s main purpose in this poem?
He achieves his purpose through his argument. How does the argument develop?
Stanza 1:
Stanza 2:
Stanza 3:
7. Describe the speaker’s attitude to the Sun (tone):
a) In Stanza 1:
b) In Stanza 2:
c) In Stanza 3:
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Explain why this attitude changes throughout, using evidence from the poem as proof.
8. Write down two themes Donne is trying to reveal about humans and the world they
inhabit in “The Sunne Rising”.
a)
b)
Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
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10
15
20
25
30
35
As virtuous men pass mildly away,
And whisper to their souls, to go,
Whilst some of their sad friends do say,
"The breath goes now," and some say, "No:"
So let us melt, and make no noise,
No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move;
'Twere profanation of our joys
To tell the laity our love.
Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears;
Men reckon what it did, and meant;
But trepidation of the spheres,
Though greater far, is innocent.
Dull sublunary lovers' love
(Whose soul is sense) cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove
Those things which elemented it.
But we by a love so much refin'd,
That ourselves know not what it is,
Inter-assured of the mind,
Care less, eyes, lips, and hands to miss.
Our two souls therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to airy thinness beat.
If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two;
Thy soul, the fix'd foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if the' other do.
And though it in the centre sit,
Yet when the other far doth roam,
It leans, and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as that comes home.
Such wilt thou be to me, who must
Like th' other foot, obliquely run;
Thy firmness makes my circle just,
And makes me end, where I begun.
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1. Vocabulary: list problem words from the poem and research their meanings.
2. Although this poem has no clear stanza divisions, it is still tightly structured. Circle all of the
full stops, and then transcribe each quatrain into modern English, to gain the literal meaning.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
3. This poem is also like an intensely personal monologue from a play. Identify the participants:
Speaker =
Audience =
What characteristics identify the voice of this poem as being dramatic lyric?
a)
b)
c)
d)
How does the use of dramatic lyric effect the reader’s understanding?
Why?
25
4. The imagery in the poem is mainly created through conceits, metaphors, and similes.
Complete the following grid by describing the impact of examples on the audience’s
understanding of the text or the theme, and explain why this effect occurs – i.e. what it is
about the techniques that evokes a response.
Conceits
Souls =
1. gold
2. a compass
Metaphors
Simile
Evidence
Connotations/description Effect
1. “Our two souls
therefore, which
are one,/Though I
must go, endure
not yet/A breach,
but an expansion,/
Like gold to airy
thinness beat.”
2. “As stiff twin
compasses are
two;/Thy soul, the
fix'd foot, makes no
show/To move, but
doth, if the' other
do.”
1.
1. Gold
1. Gold
2. Compass
2. Compass
1.
1.
2.
2.
2.
“As virtuous men
pass mildly away,/
And whisper to
their souls, to go,/
Whilst some of
their sad friends do
say,/"The breath
goes now," and
some say, "No/So
let us melt, and
make no noise,/No
tear-floods, nor
sigh-tempests
move;”
5. Identify and describe three further language devices, and explain how they contribute.
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6. What is the speaker’s main purpose in this poem?
He achieves his purpose through his argument. Identify the steps in the argument.
Describe the speaker’s attitude to his audience (tone), citing proof:
a) His lover:
b) Ordinary lovers:
c) True love:
Explain how this attitude changes throughout the course of the poem and why.
7. Write down two themes Donne is trying to reveal about humans and the world they inhabit.
a)
b)
Sonnet X
5
10
Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so,
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
Sonnet Form and JD: a sonnet is a poem written according to strict rules. They were popular in
the 17th century because their strict rules gave poets something to "work with".
Donne used the Petrarchan sonnet form. This form defined a sonnet to be composed of fourteen
lines only, divided into two distinct parts. The first 8 lines, or Octet, present a "problem, idea, or
situation"; the following six lines - the Sestet - present an answer or comment on the problem
presented in the octave.
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Petrarchan sonnets use iambic pentameter or "alternating stresses on the words, five stresses
per line". The alternating stresses are highlighted in the following line: ‘Oh make thy selfe with
holy mourning blacke;’.
Donne did not stick strictly to the Petrarchan form: the rhyme scheme of a standard Petrarchan
poem is "abbaabba cdecde". Donne's poems are often slightly different. For example, "abcaabba
dedeff". Donne also employed enjambment, the technique of running one line into another
which adds to the emotional effect of a poem, in the octet. Sometimes, too, the metre is not
simple iambic pentameter.
Donne's sonnets are sometimes described as "rough" for these reasons, but Donne had a clear
purpose every time he "broke the rules" of strict sonnet form - it adds to the emotional intensity
of his argument and makes it stronger.
1. Identify and prove the features of Petrarchan sonnet form apparent in “Sonnet X”.
Feature
Proof
2. Vocabulary: list problem words and research their meanings.
3. Complete a literal translation of “Sonnet X” into modern English, as though it is persuasive
speech from a play. Use direct address to Death – the character “onstage” who is listening to
the speaker’s argument.
4. Argumentative Structure – what is the “problem, idea, or situation” presented in the
Octave?
How is it resolved, or commented upon in the sestet?
5. List the features which identify the poem’s voice as dramatic lyric.
a)
b)
c)
d)
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Why does Donne use this poetic voice?
6. The imagery in the poem is mainly created through personification, metaphors, and similes.
Complete the following by describing the impact of examples on the audience’s
understanding of the text or the theme, and explain why this effect occurs – i.e. what it is
about the techniques that evokes a response.
Evidence
Connotations/description Explanation
Personification
Metaphor
Simile
7. Identify and describe three further language devices, and explain how they contribute.
8. What is the speaker’s main purpose in this poem?
He achieves his purpose through structuring his argument. Identify the persuasive steps in
the argument (Hint – look at the quatrains individually and then the final couplet).
9. Describe the speaker’s attitude to Death (tone), citing proof:
a) The Octave:
b) The Sestet:
Does his attitude change? If so, how?
What significance is there in the change of attitude (tone)?
10. Write down two themes Donne reveals about humans and the world they inhabit.
a)
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b)
Sonnet XIV
5
10
Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town to'another due,
Labor to'admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly'I love you, and would be lov'd fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
Divorce me,'untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you'enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
1. Vocabulary: list problem words from the poem and research their meanings.
2. Complete a literal translation of “Sonnet XIV” into modern English.
3. Identify and prove the features of Petrarchan sonnet form apparent in “Sonnet XIV”.
Feature
Proof
4. Argumentative Structure – what is the “problem, idea, or situation” presented by the
speaker in the Octave?
How is it resolved, or commented upon in the sestet?
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5. List the features which identify the poem’s voice as dramatic lyric.
a)
b)
c)
d)
Why does Donne use this poetic voice?
6. The imagery in the poem is mainly created through a military, or martial conceit,
personification, metaphors, and similes. Complete the following by describing the impact of
examples on the audience’s understanding of the text or the theme, and explain why this
effect occurs – i.e. what it is about the techniques that evokes a response.
Evidence
Connotations/description Effect
Personification
Metaphors
Simile
7. The conceit in this poem compares the speakers loss of faith and internal struggle to a war.
List all the references to war that the sonnet offers.
How does the use of these military references help with your understanding of the speaker’s
emotional state?
8. Identify, describe and explain the effects of the following upon the audience.
a) Paradox:
b) Alliteration:
c) Apparent change of speaker’s voice from masculine to feminine:
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d) Emotive Vocabulary:
9. What is the speaker’s main purpose in this poem?
He achieves his purpose through structuring his argument. Identify the persuasive steps in
the argument (Hint – look at the quatrains individually and then the final couplet).
10. Describe the speaker’s attitude to God (tone), citing proof:
a) The Octave:
b) The Sestet:
Does his attitude change? If so, how?
What significance is there in the change of attitude (tone)?
11. Write down two themes Donne reveals about humans and the world they inhabit.
a)
b)
POETRY ESSAY TOPICS – NCEA
2007
1. The power of poetry lies in its ability to express or evoke emotion. To what extent do you
agree with this view? Your response should include close reference to at least TWO poems
you have studied.
2. An individual poet’s “voice” is distinctive. To what extent do you agree with this view? Your
response should include close reference to at least TWO poems you have studied.
3. In poetry the fusion of language and theme is very strong. To what extent do you agree with
this view? Your response should include close reference to at least TWO poems you have
studied.
2006
1. To what extent does poetry express simple human emotions in complex ways? Respond to
this question with close reference to at least TWO poems you have studied.
2. With close reference to at least TWO poems you have studied, discuss the view that the
language of poetry shapes how readers interpret its themes and ideas.
32
3. To what extent do you agree that poetry is the perfect medium for the expression of
humankind’s innermost thoughts and feelings? Respond to this question with close
reference to at least TWO poems you have studied.
2005
1. To what extent do you agree that the stylistic features of poetry shape the reader’s
Understanding of its ideas? Discuss your views with reference to at least TWO poems you
have studied. g
2. To what extent do you agree that places or settings reinforce ideas in poetry? Discuss your
views with reference to at least TWO poems you have studied.
3. To what extent do you agree that poetry’s themes are universal regardless of when and / or
where it was written? Discuss your views with reference to at least TWO poems you have
studied.
2004
1. In the poetry you have studied this year, how was your understanding of the texts shaped
by methods used in crafting and shaping them? Refer to AT LEAST TWO poems in your
answer. (Note: You could refer to language, form, techniques, poet’s individual style, etc.)
2. Discuss whether poetry is better suited to sadness or to joy. Justify your views with close
reference to AT LEAST TWO poems you have studied.
3. Discuss the ways in which symbols and figurative language (imagery) are used to develop
themes in AT LEAST TWO poems you have studied.
POETRY ESSAY TOPICS – PAST BURSARY
a) ‘The best poetry speaks to us clearly of the times in which it was written.’ Discuss with close
reference to at least TWO poems.
b) Wordsworth speaks of poetry being ‘powerful feelings... recollected in tranquillity.’ With
reference to at least TWO poems discuss how ‘powerful feelings’ are conveyed and evoked.
c) Discuss with close reference to ONE poet what it is about their style of writing that
distinguishes them from other poets.
d) ‘A good poem is not a simple verbal statement but a cunningly- fashioned work of art which
can be approached from many angles. Discuss with close reference to two poems.
e) With close reference to TWO OR MORE poems, consider how subject matter and theme are
conveyed through imagery.
f) Poems can make statements, tell stories, create characters - but some of the techniques
poets use are very different from those used in film, drama, or prose fiction. What makes
poetry special? Discuss with close reference to TWO OR MORE poems.
g) Write an essay introducing the work of a poet you have studied giving particular emphasis
to what you consider to be a particular strength. You should make detailed reference to
TWO OR MORE poems in your answer.
h) Discuss the nature and effect of the imagery in any TWO poems you have studied.
i) The poet Alexander Pope said that in poetry ‘the sound must seem an echo to the sense’.
With reference to at least TWO poems you have studied, show how sound and/or rhythm
can reinforce meaning.
j) Identify ONE characteristic concern of a poet you have studied and compare the way this
concern is treated in TWO of her or his poems.
k) A successful poem is a subtle combination of message, movement, sound and sense.’
Discuss, with close reference to TWO poems.
33
l)
m)
n)
o)
p)
q)
r)
‘The finest poetry often arises out of specific events or occasions.’ Discuss, with close
reference to TWO OR MORE of the poems you have studied.
Write an essay on the importance of TWO of the following in the work of a poet or poets you
have studied: imagery; structure; use of standard verse form; sound; rhythm
Choose TWO poems that have particularly impressed you, or moved you, or made you think.
With particular reference to the subject and form of the poem, explain why it had this effect.
Discuss what is distinctive about the language used in the poems you have studied.
‘Poetical language, at its best, has the power to penetrate to the heart of thought and
emotion, to arrest attention, and, above all, to make us see and comprehend experiences
and feelings beyond our own.’ Discuss with close reference to two or more poems.
Choose TWO OR MORE poems by one poet you admire and, with close reference to the
poems, write an essay to justify your choice.
‘Part of the pleasure of poetry is the way in which form enhances content.’ Discuss, with
close reference to TWO OR MORE poems you have studied, the way in which ideas are
developed within a particular verse or stanza form.
THE KEY TO ANALYSIS
The key to analysis is to be thorough. There are five key steps to the process. To begin with you
should address each of these in detail until the depth of explanation required becomes habit for
you. You can easily remember the five parts of analysis through the acronym T.E.D.E.E. Each
letter stands for a particular factor of analysis.
T.E.D.E.E. = analysis





Topic – what the paragraph will be about.
Examples – relevant to the topic (a minimum of three per paragraph).
Deconstruction/Description – details of where/how example is used/how it works.
Explanation – of why the examples are used - their impact/effect upon the reader
(emotionally or intellectually, or how they contribute to the overall text.
Evaluation of the idea/topic – a value judgement on how well the topic and
examples contribute to purpose/theme of text, and the reader’s understanding of
human beings, their behaviour, world, etc.
The best way to practise this skill is to choose features from the poems, complete analytical
spreadsheets (see below) for these, and then to write an analytical paragraph which presents
your findings. There is a sample grid below (using Sylvia Plath’s ‘Words”, and an analysis of
metaphor), and another in the essay writing skills section of this handout.
Topic:
Example:
Deconstruction
Explanation
Evaluation
metaphor
‘Words/
Axes/
After whose
stroke the
wood
rings…’
The juxtaposition of the
title with the word ‘axes’
allows us to see that a
comparison is being
wrought between these
two dissimilar items. We
gain a further impression
of how words impact
from the qualifying
addition ‘after whose
stroke the wood rings’
‘Axes’ - sharp,
destructive, cutting. By
comparing words to axes
we understand that
words are cruel and
hurtful. The addition
‘after whose stroke…’
lets us know that the
impact of words
continues long after they
have been spoken.
This metaphor works
well to impress us with
how destructively
powerful words can be.
We all know the power
of axes to split wood.
In a similar way, words
may split our peace of
mind.
34
ESSAY WRITING SKILLS
Literary essays should be logically structured, technically accurate, analytical, and address the
full scope of the question. Planning is essential - it will focus your answer and save time.
PLAN: All essays must have an introduction, a conclusion and 4-5 good ideas which form the
body of your argument. A simple plan should brainstorm and order these 4-5 ideas.
OVERALL ESSAY STRUCTURE: Your overall essay should be structured using the following :
A)
INTRODUCTION: which includes:


KEY WORDS - from the topic. These ensure that you are addressing the topic..

YOUR POINT OF VIEW - No matter what the question, you will need to make your
understanding of it clear. Opinion is essential.

An indication of YOUR IDEAS - what you will discuss in the body of your essay.

The TITLES AND AUTHORS/DIRECTORS/POETS of works you will be discussing.
B)
BODY: The body of your essay should comprise three-four analytical paragraphs, each
arguing your point of view about the topic and containing supporting quoted evidence.
C)
CONCLUSION: The conclusion should reiterate your findings with conviction. NO NEW
MATERIAL OR QUOTATIONS should be included in this section of the essay.
PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE: as well as overall essay structure, each paragraph MUST be
coherently organised. The following acronyms build on your knowledge of the SET, SEXX, SEXX,
SEXX, STA formula used in previous years.
1)
INTRODUCTION: (S.E.T.)

2)
3)
Statement - a sentence or two suggesting your point of view in relation to the topic
and using key words from the question.
 Explanation - sentences explaining why you hold this belief.
 Thesis - a statement of what you will be discussing in the body of your essay.
BODY: (T.E.D.E.E. = analysis – see analysis notes on the previous page.)
 Topic sentence - what the paragraph will be addressing.
 Examples relevant to the topic.
 Details/Description - of where and how example is used.
 Explanation of why it is used and how it is relevant in relation to the topic of the
paragraph.
 Evaluative response of the idea - why it is important to the essay topic - how useful
it is.
CONCLUSION: (T.E.E.)



Thesis - reiterate your opinion in relation to the topic as suggested in your
introduction.
Explanation - explain why you hold this point of view.
Evaluate - clarify the importance of your findings.
35
SAMPLE QUESTION: Discuss the language techniques evident in the poems of a poet you have
studied.
PLAN: Intro: Language techniques - important because they contribute to purpose/theme of
poem, and engage the reader on emotional/intellectual levels. Features = conceits,
emotive language, alliteration, direct address, pronouns. Poems = ‘The Flea’, ‘The
Apparition’, and ‘Holy Sonnet XIV’.
Body Idea 1 -conceits - ‘The Flea’ and ‘Sonnet XIV’.
Body Idea 2 - emotive language - ‘Sonnet XIV’ and ‘The Apparition’
Body Idea 3 - direct address and pronouns - dramatic monologue genre – ‘Sonnet XIV’,
‘The Apparition’.
Body Idea 4 -Alliteration - ‘Sonnet XIV’, ‘The Apparition’.
Conclusion - techniques contribute to purpose/theme.
SAMPLE INTRODUCTION USING THIS PLAN AND TOPIC:
S
E
T
John Donne’s powerful metaphysical poetry owes its success to the variety of language
techniques he uses, and how these affect his readers. His careful selection of challenging
and intriguing extended metaphors (conceits), strongly emotive language, personal
pronouns, alliteration and direct address, works to engage the reader on emotional and
intellectual levels. Thus engaged, the themes of his poems become clear to the reader and
Donne achieves his purpose. This essay seeks to explore how these techniques function to
evoke reader response, and, impart themes in ‘The Flea’, ‘The Apparition’ and Sonnet XIV.
(92 words)
SAMPLE ANALYTICAL BODY PARAGRAPH PLANNING GRID FOR IDEA 4:
Topic
Alliteration
Example
‘break,
blowe,
burne’
(XIV)
‘scorn’
‘mudresse’
‘solicitation’
‘ghost’
‘sick-taper’
(Apparition)
Description
Explan...
Evaluation
First quatrain – speaker
asks God to force him to
be loyal. Sound
accumulates ‘br, bl, b’.
The addition of the
second consonant in the
first two words softens
the alliterative ‘b’, adding
strength to the third word.
Throughout the poem
sibilance creates a
malevolent tone due to
the repeated ‘s’ and ‘th’
sounds.
Gives a
sense of
violence –
force
through the
repeated
explosive
sound of the
‘b’
Yields a
sense of
hatred and
covert
violence.
Works well. Starts gently then
builds to a climax, and a tonal shift
to pleading in the next phrase
‘make me new’. The reader senses
the violence of the speaker’s
anguish. Relates to theme: God
has the power to ease anguished
souls.
Works well – creates a sinister
effect. Throughout the poem the
reader is horrified at the intensity of
the emotions. Relates to the theme
that unrequited love causes pain
and sometimes people respond to
it in irrational ways.
SAMPLE BODY PARAGRAPHS FOR IDEA 4:
John Donne also uses alliteration to evoke an emotional response in his readers, and to help
them to engage with the theme. This is evident in his use of harsh alliterative sounds in ‘Sonnet
XIV’ and softer, sinister sounds in ‘The Apparition’. In ‘breake, blow, burne’ (Sonnet XIV) his use
of alliteration is accumulative. The speaker has lost sight of his God and is begging him to
forcefully repossess him. The harsh ‘b’ suggests the violence of the speaker’s anguish, while the
secondary consonants in the first two words serve to soften the sound slightly so that it makes
the final harsh ‘b’ in ‘burn’, a climax. This allows the following phrase ‘make me new’ to take on
36
a pleading quality, as Donne’s theme becomes apparent: God can ease his tortured soul through
the use of force. The alliteration, by building the climax and highlighting the tonal shift, works
well to make the reader empathise with the speaker and his dilemma.
In contrast, ‘The Apparition’ employs a softer form of alliteration, sibilance, to
evoke a sense of the sinister purpose of the speaker. Betrayed by his mistress, the speaker’s
unsavoury opinion of her becomes clear in words and phrases such as ‘scorn’, ‘solicitation’, and
‘sick taper’. The repeated ‘s’ sound emphasises his hatred and suggests the stealth and violence
of these emotions. The reader, while perhaps empathising with the speaker’s betrayal, is also
horrified at the intensity of his emotions. They are lead, through sibilance, to understand the
irrationality and cruelty with which people sometimes react to unrequited love.
(259 words)
SAMPLE CONCLUSION:
John Donne uses a variety of powerful language features to manipulate his readers into
responding on personal and intellectual levels. By carefully constructing his conceits, using
intensely emotive language and a personal voice, and by strengthening all these with carefully
structured tone using alliteration and sibilance, he clarifies his purpose and ensures that his
readers respond appropriately to his themes. His poetry is indeed ‘the skilful making of things
with language, things which will please and stimulate the mind’ *Allen Curnow in Poetry and
Language (1935)].
(NB: The final quotation by Allen Curnow was used elsewhere in the essay, and, therefore, may
be used in the conclusion.)
Marking Guidelines - 2006
ACHIEVED
Develop a critical response,
evidenced by:
MERIT
Develop a critical response,
evidenced by:
EXCELLENCE
Develop a critical response,
evidenced by:







recognisable essay structure
attention to, but may be
narrow interpretation of the
question, possibly unbalanced
and / or undeveloped (it will
address the question)
satisfactory organisation but
with stylistic inconsistencies



conventional response.
a carefully structured essay
maturity of expression and
thinking
answering the question; being
clear in argument
keeping to the question
some occasional irrelevancies
and / or clumsiness.
using supporting evidence,
evidenced by:
integrating supporting evidence,
evidenced by:





familiarity with text(s)
attempts to support points
with appropriate evidence
engagement with text(s)
some specific references to
text(s) linked to discussion of
the question.


use of quotation and
reference / detail to reinforce
points made in response to
the question
use of appropriate
terminology with ease and
accuracy
knowledge of and familiarity
with the text
a lucid essay with
introduction giving scope and
focus, a range of accurate and
relevant points (with accurate
referencing), a reasoned
conclusion and generally
accurate use of writing
conventions

coherent and balanced
argument and judgement.
integrating supporting evidence,
evidenced by:





“quote weaving”
accurate referencing
accurate use of terminology
generous and apt detail in
support of relevant points
accurate and comprehensive
knowledge of text(s).
and demonstrating perceptive
critical response, evidenced by:
37

“quote weaving” efforts that
may be inelegant (or not
present).



maturity and insight in
evaluating text(s) in terms of
the question
demonstration of judicious
personal response to the
text(s) and may be moving
beyond the text(s) in
evaluation
presentation of own position
as reader.
Points cited as evidence are indicative and NOT exhaustive.
An essay that DOES NOT ACHIEVE may:








demonstrate weaknesses in organisation and / or stylistic control
be random and uncritical – be short and / or simplistic
demonstrate insufficient knowledge of the text(s)
demonstrate insufficient link with the question
be reliant upon plot
lack references to, or detail from, the text(s)
make some relevant points, but without much support for them
show little personal response or appreciation.
ACADEMIC ESSAYS ON DONNE
The Circle of Souls in John Donne's A Valediction Forbidding Mourning
(by Cynthia A. Cavanaugh)
At the beginning of "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning," the poet, John Donne, engages
in a didactic lesson to show the parallel between a positive way to meet death and a positive
way to separate from a lover. When a virtuous man dies, he whispers for his soul to go while
others await his parting. Such a man sets an example for lovers. The separation of the soul from
the body, and the separation of lovers from each other, is not an ending but the beginning of a
new cycle. The poem ends with the image of a circle, the symbol of perfection (Hall's 69, 297),
representing the union of souls in a love relationship. This perfection is attained by parting at the
beginning of the circle and reuniting at the point where the curves reconnect.
According to Helen Gardner, the metaphysical poem takes the reader down a certain
path, a fixed line of argumentation (17). This valediction, an act of bidding farewell, proceeds in
the guise of a monologue in which a speaker attempts to persuade a lover to remain faithful
during his absence. The monologue is dramatic in the sense that the stay-behind lover is the
implied listener. Donne's monologue is unique because he uses metaphysical comparisons to
show the union of the lovers during their period of separation.
Although the poem attempts to persuade the lover as an implied listener, it also speaks
indirectly to the reader who is drawn into the argument. The speaker's argument is supported by
an implied reference to the authority of Greek philosophers and astronomers. According to
Patricia Pinka, this use of esteemed authority to justify a view about love is a common unifying
element throughout many of Donne's Songs and Sonnets (50).
It is probable that Donne wrote this poem for his wife, Ann Donne, and gave it to her
38
before leaving to go abroad in 1611. Ann, sick and pregnant at the time, protested being left
behind as her husband began a European tour with his friend, Sir Robert Drury (Parker 56).
The poem begins with a metaphysical comparison between virtuous dying men
whispering to their souls to leave their bodies and two lovers saying goodbye before a journey.
The poet says, "Let us melt and make no noise.... 'Twere profanation of our joys/ To tell the laity
of our love" (ll. 5-8). The word "melt" implies a change in physical state. The bond of the lovers
will dissolve quietly like the soul of a dying man separating from his body. "Noise" refers to "tear
floods" and "sigh tempests" that the speaker implores his love not to release (l. 6).
He continues by comparing natural phenomena to a love relationship, the "sigh
tempests" relating to the element of air, and the "tear floods" to the element of water. He uses
this hyperbole to demand that his lover remain stoic and resist any show of emotion upon his
departure (ll. 4-8).
Next, the element of earth is introduced. Earthquakes are perceived by everyone, and
people often interpret them as omens of misfortune. It is understandable that an earthquake
would be looked upon with fear because of its potential to ravage the land; whereas a
trepidation affecting a celestial sphere would be viewed in a different light, especially one that is
imperceptible and has no apparent meaning for the average person (Donne 444: 159 l. 11).
In order to understand the meaning of the third quatrain in the poem, it is necessary to
consider the Ptolemaic Universe and the symbolism of the sphere. During the Middle Ages and
the Elizabethan Age, the circle and sphere were looked upon as perfect shapes. The main
influence behind that thinking may have been Greek philosophers such as Aristotle, who
believed that since, "The motion of the celestial bodies is not straight and finite, but circular,
invariable and eternal. So they themselves must be eternal, unalterable, divine" (Pannekoek
115).
The well-educated Donne, 1572-1631, certainly studied famous Greek thinkers such as
Aristotle and Ptolemy, and their views concerning the universe. Donne lived during a time when
many people accepted the Ptolemaic theory of the universe, which held that the spherical
planets orbited the earth in concentric circles called deferents. Writing this poem in 1611,
Donne would most likely be influenced by his previous classical studies, and he chose to use the
circle and the sphere to represent a perfect relationship based on reason and harmony.
The "trepidation of the spheres" is another obsolete astronomical theory, used to
support the speaker's point that great changes in the heavens may be imperceptible to the
layman. (ll.11-12). The speaker presents this comparison between the earthquake and the
"trepidation of the spheres" to suggest that matters beyond one's control should be approached
rationally.
In quatrains four and five, the speaker urges his love to remain stoic by making any
change in their relationship as imperceptible to others as the "trepidation of the spheres," and
again, he uses terms from astronomy to illustrate his point. The term "sublunary" refers to the
surface below the moon. According to the Greek astronomers, this sublunar area, composed of
the four elements, was imperfect. The sphere's surface, composed of quinta essenta, the perfect
part, radiates light and heat (Pannekoek 115).
The dull sublunary lovers (l. 13) are imperfect human beings who do not practice mature
love. The soul of their love is "sense" (l. 14), so they need physical contact to cement their
relationship. However, the speaker suggests that reason can free itself from any connection with
a sensory experience. Therefore, the lovers with fully developed souls "Care less, eyes, lips, and
hands to miss" (l. 20), having developed rational souls, the third part of the Aristotelian model
for the human soul, consisting of vegetative, sense and rational parts. (Copleston, 328).
In quatrain six, Donne echoes the traditional marriage ceremony in which two become
one, so the "two souls" of the lovers are joined together. He describes separation as a stretching
exercise in which the joined soul of the lovers is gold beat to an "airy thinness" (l. 24). According
to Pinka, the comparison is "beautiful and pure" but "fragile" since there is "expansion without
39
increase" (142). The "airy thinness" emphasizes the stretching of the lovers' resources, in that
the love continues to exist, but its strength is weakened by the circumstances. He urges the lover
to look at the separation in a positive light, but he sends out undertones suggesting that he is
aware of the fragility of the situation.
The speaker then begins his closing argument, in which he changes his symbol of
perfection from the sphere to the circle. One might argue that the circle and the sphere are
slightly different objects and should not be considered one and the same; however, the
Ptolemaic Universe consisted of both perfect spheres and perfect circular orbits, and so the
concept of circle and sphere both represented perfection. Poets and songwriters have often
used sphere and circle symbolism. One such work, The Divine Comedy, written in three books:
the Inferno, the Purgatorio, and the Paradiso by Dante Alighieri, still remains well-known today.
In Dante Alighieri's Paradiso, a story of a pilgrim journeying through Paradise, Dante sees
nine concentric circles in the eyes of Beatrice, his guide. Beatrice explains to him that each of
nine circles represents an angelic order. The brightest circles are in the centre nearest to God
and represent the highest order of angels and the greatest good. According to Beatrice, each
circle also corresponds to one of the nine spherical heavens consisting of the five planets, the
sun, the moon, the fixed stars, and the Prime Mover.
It does not seem unusual for Donne to include both the sphere and the circle in his
poetry as symbols of perfection, since other writers had linked the circle and the sphere together
in various ways throughout the history of science and literature.
The speaker in the poem is unique in that he does not compare the perfection of his love
to a traditional object such as a rock or a fortress; instead he chooses to compare the twin legs of
a compass to the lovers' sense of union during absence (ll. 25-36). Such a comparison would be
called metaphysical according to Gardner, who states that a metaphysical conceit must concern
two things so dissimilar that we "feel an incongruity" (19). Here, the poet must then proceed to
persuade the reader that these things are alike in spite of their apparent differences (19-22).
The speaker proves the point by drawing the circle with the compass. The lover who
stays behind is the fixed point, and the speaker is the other leg of the instrument. Without the
"firmness" of the fixed point, he would be unable to complete the journey and make the circle
just (precise). The adverb "obliquely" (l. 34) may have several different meanings. John Freccero
supports the interpretation that obliquely means a spiral motion, referred to by the Neoplatonic
tradition as a movement of the soul (286-87). Obliquely may also indicate a slant. Either the
drawing instrument can be interpreted to move in a spiral, or the motion may refer to the
second foot's tilted position in relation to the fixed one in the centre. Such a position would be
required during the drawing of a circle.
According to Freccero, "No matter how far Donne roams his thoughts will revolve
around his love.... At the end of the circle, body and soul are one" (283). In Donne's
"Valediction," the human souls are described in the context of a joint soul that is stretched by
the separation, or two souls joined within a circle of spiritual strength. Donne once stated in an
elegy, "...perfect motions are all circular." The circle in the "Valediction" represents the journey
during which two lovers endure the trial of separation, as they support each other spiritually,
and eventually merge in a physically and spiritually perfect union.
Cynthia A. Cavanaugh is a certified English teacher and a graduate student (M.A. program) at Drew University in Madison, N.J.
John Donne: "Holy Sonnet X"
In 17th century England, preaching involved more than merely reciting verses out of the
Bible: it served as well as a form of intellectual exercise and dramatic entertainment. John Donne
was surely perfect for the role. Donne, born in 1572, attended Oxford, Cambridge, and the Inns
of Court; his studies included law, theology, and language, all disciplines which undoubtedly
40
helped to sharpen his keen, probing mind; to express his complex, intense ideas; and to develop
his remarkable skill in the use of language. His poetry is bold and abrupt; it often displays images
and metaphors so unconventional as to have a certain amount of shock value for the reader.
Such is clearly the case in one of his most well-known sonnets, "Holy Sonnet X," wherein the
speaker of the poem uses a number of rhetorical strategies to provoke in the audience/reader
the author's desired reaction to Death. The speaker in the sonnet may, of course, be said to be
Donne himself. Certainly, the persona fits with what we know about the poet. He was, in
addition to the above, obsessed with death; he supposedly preached his own funeral sermon
shortly before his death; he had a portrait painted of himself in his shroud; he wrote of the
subject often. However, if we separate the speaker in the poem from the author, we may more
appropriately consider not only the speaker but also the entire rhetorical situation.
While it is impossible to be certain of an exact setting/situation, it is clear that the
speaker is addressing Death, personified. Thus, it is merely, on one hand, one persona addressing
another. Death is thus made an equal, quite a lowering in stature in and of itself. As we shall see
later, the speaker adds insult to injury through the use of other schemes and tropes, all of which
promote a feeling of defiance and deprecation: "poor Death." The main point at issue here is
Death's power, and the speaker clearly sets about to show that he has none. It is not a
conversation, as among friends or allies; it is not a debate, as among colleagues or within a
judicial setting. It is totally one-sided, and it is a condemnation, a passing of judgment on Death,
a verdict-and the sentence is death itself. This is the ultimate paradox and the ultimate ironythat Death should in fact die. The speaker is forceful and defiant:
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so . . . .
At the same time, he seems to satirize Death, to make light of Death's power, equating it with
mere rest and sleep. But there is a second audience in the poem; besides Death himself, the
speaker seems to be addressing all those who fear Death:
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more . . . .
The speaker uses all the evidence he can summon, as well as emotional appeal, to persuade this
audience that Death is neither to be feared nor dreaded-Death is, ultimately, nothing, for it is
through Death that we find eternal life. For this audience, then, there is reassurance. The very
arguments which would appear to Death as insulting and degrading would appear to this larger
audience as shocking, since Death has always assumed a fearful, terrifying position within life; to
have Death demeaned and insulted would seem at first fantastical. It is, of course, this very
surprise and shock that the speaker uses as a powerful emotional ploy, along with a list of
arguments, to persuade. We might almost imagine a courtroom scene with Death as the accused
and all of humanity as the spectators; the speaker is both prosecutor and judge, for he not only
presents the evidence, but also passes judgment: ‘Death, thou shalt die.’
In examining specific strategies within the text itself, it is clear to see that the issue is, as
noted above, dispute over a fact: Death is not "mighty and dreadful" as some have thought.
Certainly, the speech delivered in the sonnet has as its aim both the deprecation of Death and
the reassurance of the wider audience-the Christian audience-as noted above. The speaker at
first appears to stand between the Judicial and Ceremonial genres of rhetoric. Surely there is an
accusation: Death has been proud, has "swell'st"-but with no justification. Death is powerless to
prevent life. The picture of the courtroom described above most assuredly fits the
poem/occasion, lending some support to it as judicial in form. However, equally-and perhaps
more-fitting would be a scene of sorrow and mourning, a funeral service for, possibly, one of
"our best men." The ceremony, in the present but with evidence from the past and a glimpse
into the future, is designed to blame, to dishonour Death, to lower him to the status of
"desperate men."
41
The appeal to the audience, while largely logical, is also emotional. First, and most
obvious, is the simple fact that the subject is one which could hardly be discussed unemotionally.
The idea of Death is itself so powerfully laden with emotions such as fear, dread, sorrow, loss,
etc. that it is nearly impossible to divorce a discussion of it from the emotions. The speaker in the
sonnet skilfully uses these existing feelings to play upon and add to the emotions of the
audience, for the emotional appeal is audience oriented. Again, we must look at both audiences
in the text: Death himself and the larger, listening audience. For Death, the emotional impact
would have been devastating. Picture a proud, pompous, arrogant, self-serving persona totally
convinced of his might. After all, men fear him and dread his coming. He has what seems to be
total control of and command over their destinies. And then picture the attack by one of these
mortals on him-see his shock, his anger and confusion mingled as he is confronted by one who
dares question his power. And picture his gradual defeat and horror as he finally hears the awful
truth: he shall lose in the end for "we" live eternally; it is he who shall die. This is as dramatic and
powerful a scene as ever a poet described. The defeat and horror it provoked within Death
would surely be balanced by the joyful realisation and soothing relief on the part of those in the
audience that there was indeed nothing to fear. Can you not see Death slinking off to mourn his
own destiny as the multitudes of Christians rise in triumph over Death?
Apart, however, from the emotionalism of the subject/scene itself, the speaker adds,
within the text itself, emotionally charged images and language specifically placed and included
to appeal to the Christian, 17th century audience (and to us still today) and to thwart and negate
Death. The speaker, in regards to Death, uses the topos of opposites-reality versus appearance:
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
The key word here must be "think'st"; it is unreal, untrue that Death is mighty, "though some
have called" him thus. It is an illusion. The motif of illusion over reality continues into the
following lines:
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow . . . .
Death is, through the topos of comparison, to be viewed as akin to rest and sleep, from which
pleasure comes. Therefore, according to the syllogism, which will be discussed in a following
section, so also must Death be pleasurable. It is only a temporary state, for it leads to life eternal;
thus, again, it is not as it appears. For Death, the listener/audience in the poem, this negation of
his power and situation would surely cause great torment and, we would assume, have
tremendous emotional impact. Add to that the reference to Death's being merely a "slave to
Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men," and we can imagine the growing anger and perhaps
disbelief that Death must be experiencing. The speaker delivers the final blow when he
compares Death's powers to poppy and charms; at this point, the speaker perhaps "sees" a
response-the first that is vaguely noted in the sonnet-in Death, for he asks, "Why swell'st thou
then?" While it is appropriate to assume that this is a rhetorical question meant to refer to
Death's constant prideful stance, we might also wonder if at this point the speaker may not be
seeing Death responding to the defiant, insulting, and demeaning tone of the attack.
A number of specific words/comments are made which would have tremendous
emotional appeal to the mass audience who is eavesdropping on this drama. Perhaps the most
striking of all in the sonnet is the short phrase by which the speaker addressed his quarry: "poor
Death"-what a shock this must have been to the audience. Even today, after dozens of
encounters with the sonnet, it still surprises and amazes. Through the use of just this short but
dramatically powerful apostrophy, the speaker manages to bring the entire sonnet together-it is
ironic, it is paradoxical, it is oxymoronic-and there resides in just those two short words more
power and force-more emotional appeal-than in perhaps the entire remainder of the poem.
However, placed near the beginning as it is, it sets the tone for the remainder. The audience is
not looking at Death differently, and this is followed by an emotional appeal regarding their
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"best men." Surely no audience could resist the appeal to consider their "best men" in rest and
freedom rather than bound by Death's mighty and dreaded bonds. Belittling Death, comparing
him to Fate, Chance, etc., mocking him, certainly also adds to the emotionalism of the moment.
It is only at the crucial moment, after the emotion-charged arguments, that the speaker chooses
to include his audience in the sonnet:
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more . . . .
"We wake eternally . . ."; what a triumphant and emotional declaration. What a moment of
victory for the audience. How could they possibly not be moved?
Unwilling, however, to rely solely on emotionalism, the speaker masterfully employs a logical
appeal to accompany it. In the Exordium, he introduces the topic, giving some background:
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so . . . .
This is further delineated in the Propositio, where the thesis appears:
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
The idea that Death should not be proud because he is not mighty and dreadful is then
supported throughout the sonnet by a series of interlocking enthymemes. By the use of careful
reasoning, the listing, in fact, of these four enthymemes, he produces quite a case.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow . . . .
That is to say,
Rest and sleep (Death's pictures) cause pleasure.
Therefore, Death causes pleasure.
(It is interesting to note the grammatical structure of these lines in the sonnet; the use of the
ellipsis serves to reinforce the enthymeme. More of this will be discussed later.) This enthymeme
is followed immediately by the second-joined to it, in fact, by a coordinating conjunction:
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
If the best of our men embrace Death the soonest, what is there to fear?
The third enthymeme is perhaps the most dramatic, couched as it is in series/lists which serve to
intensify the content; it is also the most concrete and detailed:
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
Perhaps this is really a series of enthymemes all interrelated to the same conclusion/resolution:

Death is merely a slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men . . . Therefore, we
should not fear it; it is neither mighty nor dreadful.

Death dwells with poison, war, and sickness . . . Therefore, we should not fear it; it is
neither mighty nor dreadful.

Death is no better than poppy or charms . . . Therefore, we should not fear it; it is
neither mighty nor dreadful.
The final enthymeme is found in the Conclusion:
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more . . . .
In effect, since Death leads to eternal life, we need not fear it. Thus by the end of the sonnet, the
speaker has not only appealed to the audience's emotions but also to their logic. The reasons he
lists are both carefully chosen and artfully displayed so as to better persuade.
43
These reasons and appeals are contained and arranged within the traditional sonnet
form: fourteen lines with the usual octave and sestet. In this particular poem, the drama is so
high and the movement from enthymeme to enthymeme so interrelated that it is easy to miss
the division of the two parts. On closer examination, however, a change of content and tone
does appear. The octave contains the classical Exordium (lines 1-2), the Propositio (lines 3-4),
and part of the Confirmatio-the first two enthymemes (lines 5-8), as described earlier. The sestet
contains the final two enthymemes (lines 9-14), described above, and Peroratio (lines 13-14).
That the speaker/author intended a strong break between the octave and sestet is reinforced by
the period at the end of line 8, one of few in the sonnet. And there is a difference between the
content of the two enthymemes in the octave and those in the sestet. Those in the octave do not
directly assault Death; they comment on the nature of sleep and on the passing of "our best
men," but they neither attack nor defy Death directly. It is only when we get to line 9 that we see
a frontal attack, with insults and condemnation aimed directly at Death. Thus the argument is
tremendously intensified in the sestet, appropriate as we near the conclusion, for it is there that
the speaker/author stirs the audience to great emotionalism: ‘Death, thou shalt die.’
He has stated his thesis: Death is not mighty or powerful and cannot kill or destroy life.
And he has supported it through dramatic arguments to a shocking conclusion. Death is the one
who dies, not those whom he thinks to overthrow. The balanced and parallel structures of the
opening of line 1 and the closing of line 14 serve to reinforce and emphasize that thesis
splendidly:
Death, be not proud, . . .
. . . Death, thou shalt die.
Within the structure/arrangement of the sonnet and the enthymemes are found a number of
the classical topoi. We may, for example, discover several uses of comparison/similarities. Death
is compared to rest and sleep (lines 5-6). Additionally, in noting that Death is a slave to "Fate,
Chance, kings, and desperate men," the speaker places him on a lower level than all these,
comparing him unfavorably even to "desperate men." Still further, Death's powers are viewed as
no better than "poppy, or charms." In addition to comparison, definition appears, though
loosely; rest and sleep are defined as the pictures of Death (line 5). A third topos found is
cause/effect. For example, because Death is slave to Fate, et al, and dwells with poison, war, and
sickness, he is, therefore neither "mighty nor dreadful." The effect of such associations make him
pitiful, an unexpected and startling reaction to Death.
Such a reaction is not uncommon in Donne's poetry. His skill in the use of the
metaphysical conceit, for example, wherein verbal logic was exploited to such a degree that it
sometimes became bizarre and most certainly became shocking, was masterful. Few writers
have equalled his control of language, images, and, in turn, ideas; as noted above, the blending
of both the emotional and logical appeal is forceful and when his absolute control of stylistics is
added, we can only read with wonder the results.
Within the framework of the classical "ornaments of style," the poet/speaker utilized
various of the schemes and tropes with grand skill. Among the schemes that are most prominent
are parallelism, anastrophe, and ellipsis. Parallelism is to be found, as shown above, in the
Exordium and Peroratio, between sentence/phrase structures. It is also used with lists/series, as
in lines 9-10:
Thou are slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell . . . .
These series are especially interesting in their structure/order. Ordinarily, such series are set up
to move from lesser to greater, in order of climax. Here, that order is reversed, as line 9 begins
with the greatest and descends to the least. It rather neatly matches Death's descent.
Counterbalancing this list, however, line 10 begins with the actions associated with the last
named in line 9 and moves in reverse order back up. Anastrophe appears also:
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, [comes]
44
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow . . . .
The use of such inversion of normal word order here serves to amplify and augment the content
within; there is an inversion of Death's role/function as perceived by the speaker, an inversion
imitated by the sentence structure itself. Ellipsis is also present in these same two lines with the
omission of the verb "comes" or "flows."
Along with various schemes, many tropes are used, with personification being the most
dominant in that Death itself is personified throughout; becoming no more than a person makes
Death less, degrades him, and sets up his final mortality. The apostrophe in line 4-"poor Death"enhances this concept of him as someone to be (perhaps sarcastically) pitied, to be looked down
on. It is, as previously noted, a powerful phrase-an oxymoron which is ironic and paradoxical on
which the entire sonnet seems to hinge-ironic in that Death is "poor" and paradoxical in that
these are normally contraries. Irony and paradox appear repeatedly; it is ironic that Death is a
slave to Fate, et al, when usually these forces are slaves to Death; it is paradoxical that Death is
said to die. The speaker/author seems not to let up; we are not allowed to relax or consider for a
moment as argument follows argument, reason follows reason. Even the rhetorical question,
another of the tropes, in line 12, allows for no response, no debate.
The total effect on the audiences of this intense, dramatic, and reasoned argument is
one of surrender. How is it possible for Death to answer such evidence? Surely he cannot. How is
it possible for the audience overhearing the indictment to doubt such evidence? Surely they
could not.
‘The Apparition’
John Donne’s poems portrayed and intellectually analysed emotion in two forms: love
for God, and the more erotic love of man for woman. His secular love poems reacted against the
sweet, adulatory sonnets previously favoured by many poets, and took on facets that were
sensual and intense. The soul transcended the purely physical, making love great and at one with
the universe. By using tonal variations, powerful images, and carefully selected words, Donne
successfully conveys, in his poem ‘The Apparition’, the pain of failed love.
In ‘The Apparition’ the poet examines revenge. The speaker imagines he is dead and that
his ghostly visage has survived to haunt the unfaithful mistress who has caused his ‘death’. The
poem’s title is derived from this idea. Donne suggests that his soul can conquer death and will
return to torment the lady who scorned him.
Dramatic tone is established in the opening line: ‘When by thy scorne, O murdresse, I am
dead...’. It is harsh and cynical and has an accusatory note which portrays the outrage of the
speaker. He is stating what he imagines to be a fact: that her scorn is a weapon of murder, and
he the victim. There is no doubt in his mind that his soul will return to plague her and that this
will be his revenge. As a ghost he thinks he will have power over her, a kind of possession that
she evaded in his lifetime.
After stating his intention in the opening four lines, the speaker commences his
derogatory denunciation of her. He starts by calling her ‘fain’d vestall’, insinuating that she is not
chaste. In bitter anger, he tells her that she will be condemned to lie in the arms of someone less
worthy than he, and that, as a result of promiscuity, she will end by needing a cure for the pox.
His words are brutal as he describes her needing a ‘quicksilver bath’ to effect a cure. The low
quality of her life will make her more dead than he is. She will be in a living hell of her own
making.
The tone changes in the final quatrain. He conveys that perhaps she is innocent of
unchasteness after all, but that his injured pride demands that he torment her. The speaker
refuses to disclose what he will say when he comes to haunt. That will be saved for the
45
appropriate moment, and in the meantime, she will be kept in suspense: ‘I had rather thou
should’st painfully repent/Than by my threatenings rest still innocent.’
The poem has a twist at the end. The speaker declares that his love has withered away.
This doesn’t stop him wanting vengence and he wants her to realise the pain she has caused
him. To tell her of it would be to admit her innocence, and deny the speaker the power of
revenge.
The witty language yields a series of images that leave little doubt about the speaker’s
intentions. He describes her as a ‘poore Aspen wretch...’ and an image of the lady trembling in
abject terror at the sight of his apparition is conjured. The line ‘a veryer ghost than I...’ leads to a
picture of the lady being in a worse predicament than him. At least he is dead, but she is not
even given that respite. The use of ‘nasty’ words such as ‘pinch’, ‘shrinke’, and ‘sicke’ emphasis
that he has been driven to the limits of sanity, mental health, due to thwarted lust.
By using the word ‘solicitation’ with its sibilant snake-like sounds a malevolent mood of
insidious, creeping ill-will is created. Following words: ‘dead’, ‘bed’, ‘scorne’, ‘ghost’, have crisp
sounds, like a snake repeatedly striking. These evoke the sense that the speaker is the dominant,
uncompromising snake, attacking its victim - the mistress.
The poem deals with ugly circumstances in such a way as to create the whole sensual
picture in a realistic way. Snarling vindictiveness is conveyed through the use of simply effective
words.
(667 words)
TOPIC: With close reference to TWO or MORE poems you have studied, discuss the ways in
which imagery and/or sound are used to explore/enhance a particular theme.
Much of the pleasure of John Donne’s poetry is gained through his manipulation of
imagery to impart theme. The narrative persona’s attitude towards religion is an underlying
theme in Donne’s two Holy Sonnets, Death be not proud and Batter my heart. This theme is
explored and developed in different ways using colourful imagery and clever use of metaphysical
conceit for which he is well renowned.
Donne’s tenth Holy Sonnet; Death be not proud, is a confident address to Death
personified, indicating the speaker’s strong faith. The narrative persona’s confidence in his
religion and relationship is shown through his repeated sleep imagery. Due to his beliefs, the
speaker is confident in telling Death it has nothing to be proud of, ‘though some have called thee
mightily and dreadful’ as he sees death as only being a short sleep, a transition period, between
earthly existence and eternal life. He mocks death saying ‘from rest and sleep, which but thy
pictures be,’ he gains much pleasure and as death is only a more elaborate ideal of sleep, then
there must be even more pleasure to be gained from it than there is from resting. Growing
cockier as his address continues the speaker goes on telling death that it is merely ‘slave to fate,
chance, kings and desperate men…’ along with a host of death images that the speaker insists
are more fearful than death itself, he has belittled death by calling it a slave. The sleep imagery
introduced in stanza two is brought to a climax in the final couplet when the speaker says ‘One
short sleep past, wee wake eternally’. The theme of the sonnet is summarised in these two lines,
a conclusion built by the imagery of the first three quatrains leading us to clearly understand the
power of conviction and the speakers utter faith in God and the promised eternal life.
In Batter my heart Donne’s forteenth Holy Sonnet, the narrative persona’s attitude
towards religion has changed. In a sonnet filled with violent imagery and pleas to God, the
theme imparted is that the speaker, imprisoned by the Devil, requires God to possess him and
return him to his faith. The violent imagery used emphasises the despair of the narrative
persona’s situation.
Imagery is introduced and developed through a collection of conceits that alter through
the quatrains and throughout the course of the sonnets fourteen lines. The first two conceits
46
liken God to a tradesmith of sorts. The speakers initial depiction of God ‘for you; as yet but
knocke, breathe, shine and seek to mend,’ liken him to a Goldsmith. This conceit develops as the
speaker, imperative now, demands that God be rougher with him ‘…break, blow, burn and make
me new.’ This listing of verbs creates violent imagery which we can readily identify with and
already we understand the speaker to be pleading with God to be less gentle in his reforming of
the speaker’s character. Violent force is needed.
This violent imagery continues into the next quatrain when Donne uses martial
metaphor to compare the speaker to a ‘usurpt town.’ This is continued and developed when he
likens reason to a military viceroy ‘reason, your viceroy in mee,’ and says how although he
labours to admit God, his reason which would normally lead him to do so has been held captive
and he must now find other means of renewing his faith. As a caesura signifies a change in voice
from masculine to feminine, the imagery does not become any less violent, informing God that
she is ‘betrothed unto your enemie,’ imprisoned against her will to the Devil, she demands that
God savagely break the bands and take her as his. Using the violent paradox, ‘for I, except you
enthrall me, shall never be free, nor chaste, except you ravish me,’ is demanding that God take
complete possession of her.
The violent imagery used in Batter my heart emphasises the passion and despair the
speaker feels about being separated from his faith. This contrasts with the mocking, witty
conceits used by Donne in Death be not proud, where it is made decisively clear that the speaker
has no qualms with his faith or God.
( 695 words)
TOPIC: New Zealand poet Bill Manhire has written ‘Voice is simply unmistakable, distinctive
sound that a writer makes on a page’. With close reference to TWO or MORE poems, discuss the
distinctive ‘voice’ of a poet whose work you have studied.
In John Donne’s poems ‘The Flea’ and ‘the Apparition’, several types of imagery is used
to enhance a particular theme. Within both poems is the theme of sexual desire and rejection,
and therefore both poems contain sexual imagery. However, ‘The Flea’ also contains religious
imagery, and ‘the Apparition’ contains violent imagery.
In “the Flea,’ the speaker of the poem refers to a flea as the basis for his argument in
entering into a sexual relationship with a young woman. The flea conceit is extensive and used
throughout the poem, and this is the basis for the imagery contained in the poem, as well as the
speakers argument. The sexual imagery involved within ‘The Flea’ enhance the sexual theme, so
there is an extensive use of innuendoes within the poem. ‘How little which thou deny’st me is’
and ‘ Thou knowst this cannot be said, a sinne, nor shame, nor losse of maidenhood’ both
highlight the sexual imagery is not blatant, the speaker does refer to the young woman’s virginity
(‘maidenhead’) and also uses the flea to further elaborate on his argument for why a sexual
relationship should go ahead. The speaker refers to the flea as pregnant (‘pamper’d swells with
one blood made of two’) and also a marriage bed (‘marriage bed…’). The use of these images
enhances the theme of sexuality and desire by providing the basis for the argument the speaker
uses.
The sexual imagery within ‘the Apparition’ takes a different connotation. ‘the Apparition’
is a much more darker account of the speakers rejection and betrayal by his young mistress.
Therefore, the images provided by the speaker in this poem contribute a ‘darker’ meaning to the
poem. ‘O Murderess’ starts the dark imagery, and the sexual imagery us highlighted in
‘solicitation’ (regarding the mistress as a prostitute), ‘in worse arms shall see’ (the speaker will
see the young woman in worse arms than that of the speaker), and ‘fain’d vestall’ (fake virgin) all
combine to create very horrible and intense sexual imagery. This imagery builds the audiences
understanding of the dark sexual theme of ‘the Apparition.’
47
‘The Flea’ also contains religious imagery which builds the understanding of the sexual
theme. The speaker compares the flea to the marriage bed, church and actual marriage of
himself and the young woman he is referring to in ‘this flea is you and I, and this, our marriage
bed and marriage temple is.’ The speaker also refers to the flea as a pregnant flea, by the
couple’s combine blood: ‘thou pamper’d swells…’ The speaker goes on to say that if the young
woman killed the flea, she would be committing murder, suicide and sacrilege, all sins against
the church; ‘thou use make you apt to kill mee, let not that, selfe murder added be, and
sacrilege, three sinnes in killing three.’ The religious imagery within this poem aids the
understanding and development of the sexual theme, as the poet states that technically, the
sexual relation they would have in permitted in the eyes of God.
‘The Apparition’ continues the development of a dark, sexual imagery by the inclusion of
violent images, such as murder. The poem is told through the eyes of a ghost, who was
murdered by scorn from an unfaithful mistress: ‘When by thy Scorn, O Murdresse, I am dead.’
This imagery immediately evokes emotions for the reader of the poem, and the use of the
elaborate ghost conceit adds to the theme of the brutal sexuality. Other violent images created
within ‘The Apparition’ includes ‘Solicitation’ (prostitution), ‘Poore Aspen wretch, neglected
thou’ (insinuates that the mistress is infected with disease mad alone), ‘veryer ghost than I,’
(more obvious and apparent ghost than the speaker) and ;thou shouldst painfully repent.’ These
images create a very dark and powerful violent sexual theme.
‘The Flea’ and “The Apparition’ both contain sexual imagery, as well as violent and
religious imagery that enhances the understanding of different types of sexual themes. These
images aid the understanding of the sexual themes by creating dark, witty or memorable images
for the audience.
(674 words)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS – the C.H.S. English Faculty would like to thank the following for their
contributions to this workbook: Lee Hill, Stephanie Oliver, Gareth Manins, Helen Gardiner, Sarah
Shieff, NZQA, various web sites – addresses unknown but acknowledged when possible.