Donne, Marvell and Time
poet’. Jonson takes the rose and, paradoxically, ‘smells, I swear,/ not of itself, but thee’, conjuring the thought of his beloved through his mind to emphasize the truth and purity of his love, which can overwhelm even the power of a pungent rose. Eliot writes that the metaphysical poets ‘feel their thought immediately as the odour of a rose’, going as far as to say that ‘a thought to Donne was an experience’. This ultimately explains what character ize s ‘The Flea’ and ‘Coy Mistress’ and embeds them as metaphysical poems; Marvell and Donne feel immediately their love towards their mistresses, and as a result, pursue a carnal instinctive response, when bestowed with ‘the task of trying to find the verbal equivalent for states of mind and feeling’ (Eliot). Thus, while the poems confront different wider themes within different structures, lyricisms and witticisms, they both share, simply, a man attempting to communicate the message of his heart, Marvell more so, however debased they both may seem by our 21 st -century standards of romance. However, Donne explores his feeling more so – I agree with Eliot, in that ‘Donne looked into a good deal more than the heart’, exploring his mind and the relationship between life and death, innocence and guilt, power and powerlessness, and ultimately, the relationship between man and woman in the 17 th century.
Bibliography
Donne, J. (2007) Selected Poems. Oxford Marvell, A. (1985) The Complete Poems. London
Eliot, T. The Metaphysical Poets. https://www.uwyo.edu/numimage/eliot_metaphysical_poets.htm. Consulted: 19/08/23 Bragg, M. host. John Donne | In Our Time: Culture (podcast) (2023). https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001gx0k. Consulted: 18/08/23 Donne, J. (1619) Preached to the LL. upon Easter-Day, at the Communion. https://ccel.org/ccel/donne/easter/easter.i.html. Consulted: 22/08/23 Donne, J. (1630) Death’s Duel https://www.online-literature.com/donne/3915/ Consulted: 22/08/23 Jonson, B. (1996) The Complete Poems. London Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | Metaphysical Poets. https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb- 9780198614128-e-95605. Consulted: 19/08/23 Poetry Foundation | John Donne. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-donne. Consulted: 19/08/23 Poetry Foundation | Andrew Marvell. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/andrew-marvell. Consulted: 19/08/23 Poetry Foundation | Ben Jonson. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ben-jonson. Consulted: 20/08/23 Poetry Foundation | To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46546/to-the-virgins-to-make-much-of-time. Consulted 20/08/23 Waller, G. F. John Donne’s Changing Attitudes to Time . Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 (1974): https://doi.org/10.2307/449684. Consulted: 22/08/22
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