JOHN DONNE POETRY ANALYSIS
Celina Medina
Stephanie Perez
Nathalie Toro
“THE BROKEN HEART”
He is stark mad, whoever says,
That he hath been in love an hour,
Yet not that love so soon decays,
But that it can ten in less space devour;
Who will believe me, if I swear
That I have had the plague a year?
Who would not laugh at me, if I should say
I saw a flash of powder burn a day?
If ’twere not so, what did become
Of my heart when I first saw thee?
I brought a heart into the room,
But from the room I carried none with me.
If it had gone to thee, I know
Mine would have taught thine heart to show
More pity unto me; but Love, alas!
At one first blow did shiver it as glass.
Ah, what a trifle is a heart,
If once into love’s hands it come!
All other griefs allow a part
To other griefs, and ask themselves but some;
They come to us, but us love draws;
He swallows us and never chaws;
By him, as by chain’d shot, whole ranks do die;
He is the tyrant pike, our hearts the fry.
Yet nothing can to nothing fall,
Nor any place be empty quite;
Therefore I think my breast hath all
Those pieces still, though they be not unite;
And now, as broken glasses show
A hundred lesser faces, so
My rags of heart can like, wish, and adore,
But after one such love, can love no more.
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE…
Whoever says that love only lasts an hour is crazy
But love does not dwindle so quickly
Instead it grows so large till it devours
Who would believe me, if I swore
That I have had the plague for a year
Who wouldn’t laugh at me if I said
I saw a flash of gun powder burn a day
How insignificant is a heart
If it falls in love
All griefs can coexist with each other
But love cannot
Grievances come to us but we go to love
Love swallows us whole and doesn’t chew
Love, like chained cannonballs in war, kills an
entire rank
Love is a pike (large fish) while our heart is the fry
(small fish)
If this weren’t true, then what became
Of my heart when I first saw you?
I came into the room with a heart
And left without it
If my heart had gone to you, I know
It would have taught you how to show
More pity to me, but love at least
In one blow you shattered my heart
Yet nothing can just disappear
And no place can be completely empty
Therefore I think my chest still has
All those pieces, though they may not be
together
And now, like a broken mirror that shows
A hundred smaller faces
My used-up heart can like, wish, and adore
But after that love, it can never love again
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
 Personification
Example: “He is the tyrant pike, our hearts the fry.” Line 16
Explanation: Love is a pike (large fish) while our heart is the fry (small
fish). He personifies love as the predator and our hearts as the prey.
 Metaphor
Example: “…That I have had the plague a year?” Line 6
Explanation: He has been in love for a year; he is directly comparing love
to a plague.
 Hyperbole
Example: “I brought a heart into the room, But from the room I carried
none with me.” Line 19-20
Explanation: A woman “stole his heart” and he is exaggerating his heart
being physically taken away from him.
Contribution: Donne portrays the heart as prey which contributes to the holistic
idea that our fragile hearts can be easily destroyed by love.
METER // RHYME
 Meter:
Lines 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 utilizes iambic tetrameter
Lines 4, 7, 8 utilizes iambic pentameter
Contribution of meter: Meter, in general, works the same way as music does;
it creates a certain pattern in the reader’s head. It also creates emphasis on
certain words.
 Rhyme:
4 stanzas
8 lines each stanza
ABABCCDD
Contribution of rhyme: For every stanza that Donne writes, he personifies
love in a different angles.
THEME AND SUMMARY
STATEMENTS
 Theme Statement: “ My rags of heart can like, wish, and adore, but after
one such love, can love no more.”
 Summary Statement: Donne’s idea of love strays from the usual, he views
it as a deadly disease that devours its victim: the heart. Because of the
violent nature of love, once it destroys you, you can never love the same
way again.
“DEATH, BE NOT PROUD”
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.
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE…
Death, don't be proud, though some have said you are
Mighty and dreadful, you are not.
Those people you think that you destroy
Don't die, and you can't kill me either. Poor Death!
Death is like rest and sleep, from rest and sleep we get
Much pleasure. So to be dead must be even more pleasurable
And the sooner the best people in the world die the better,
O Death who gives rest to their bones and delivers their souls
(to heaven).
You are a servant to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And your companions are poison, war, and sickness,
And, anyway, poppies or charms can make us sleep even
Better than you can. Why do you swell with pride, then?
After a short sleep, we will be awake forever [in heaven]
And death will exist no longer. Death, it is you who will die.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
 Personification
Example: “…poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.” Line 4
Explanation: Death is being personified as a person, like a Grim Reaper
instead of the act of dying.
 Irony
Example: “One short sleep past, we wake eternally, and death shall be no
more; Death, thou shalt die.” Line 13-14
Explanation: The irony is that death will end up dying while we will live.
 Alliteration
Example: The repetition of the same consonant sounds such as: “those,”
“Thou,” “Thinkst,” and “overthrow.” Line 3
Explanation: Alliteration adds appeal to the poetry. With its music like
quality, it makes the poem sound more entertaining or eloquent.
Contribution: Donne utilizes the figurative language to emphasize the idea that
there is life after death and, because of this, we should not fear death.
METER // RHYME
 Meter:
Iambic pentameter, which means that each line has ten syllables, and every
second
syllable is accented.
Contribution of meter: Meter, in general, works the same way as music does; it
creates a certain pattern in the reader’s head. It also creates emphasis on certain
words.
 Rhyme:
1 stanza
14 lines
ABBA
ABBA
CDDC
AE
Contribution of rhyme: For every stanza that Donne writes, he personifies love in a different
angles. The couplet at the end of the poem has a different rhyme scheme compared to the rest of
the poem. This serves to emphasize the last word of the poem, which is death.
THEME AND SUMMARY
STATEMENTS
 Theme Statement: “One short sleep past, we wake eternally. And death
shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” Line 13-14
 Summary Statement: Donne’s idea of eternal life after death is exemplified
through his Grim Reaper personification of Death and its inability to truly
kill. Death isn’t mighty and dreadful, instead it is an eternal rest and sleep
which brings pleasure.