IB HL English Lit

Genre Study: Poetry (Comparative Essay)

Eunice Lee

Poetry excels in presenting the intensity of love. What expressions of love have you found in at
least 2 poems you have studied and with what force have they been presented?
Through the analysis of works by the Elizabethan poet, William Shakespeare, and the metaphysical
poet, John Donne, this essay seeks to explore the presentations of romantic, physical and spiritual
expressions of love and ways in which they may be compared and contrasted with one another,
particularly focusing upon the force in which they have been presented.
Romantic love and adoration
o Shakespeare ROMANTIC LOVE: Sonnet 18
Courtly love and adoration to an object of love
Shall I compare thee to a summers day, idealizing the object of his affections,
possibly over exaggerated
Gold complexion, summers day insufficient to capture his beauty
Use of traditional metaphor (e.g. comparison to nature imagery)
Force of presentation: extremely idealized, idea of immortalization through
verse
Romantic love + physical union/act of coupling to achieve transcendental form of love
o Donne ROMANTIC LOVE: Valediction Forbidding Mourning
Conceit of compass- despite being separated, thy firmness makes my circle just,
and makes me end where I begun, idea of an eternal love, constant emotional
connection despite physical separation or difficult circumstances
Contrast between dull sublunary lovers love vs their trepidation of the
spheres speaks of deeper connection, more intimate than superficial love
which truly connects the reader to his personal feelings and affections for his
beloved
o Donne FOCUS ON PHYSICAL UNION: The Flea
Playful, natural, light-hearted tone using the atypical conceit of a flea, contrasts
w/ Shakespeares use of seasons etc.
Intermingling of blood within the flea physical act of coupling has already
occurred
Viewed as a revered object our marriage bed, and marriage temple is :. Killing
flea is a sacrilege as it is three sins in killing three(murder of flea =breakdown
in their union)
YET contrasts w/ idea that sex is not significant (yielding to desire insignificant to
flea sucking their blood) upon death of the flea, virginity is less important (loss
of maidenhead unimportant, blood enjoyed by the flea before they woo and
it is not a sinful act)
Force of its presentation: structured like an argument, AABBCCDDD, alternating
iambic tetrameter and pentameter interspersed with punctuation imitates
natural rhythms found in speech :. Makes argument more coherent and valid
However, presented as a dramatic monologue: we do not hear her
opinion yet her action of killing the flea undermines and destroys
Donnes argument as he attempts to subvert it
o Donne FOCUS ON A TRANSCENDENTAL FORM OF LOVE: The Ecstasy

IB HL English Lit

Genre Study: Poetry (Comparative Essay)

Eunice Lee

Despite The Flea suggesting that the act of sex and lust as a desire and lighthearted tone, Donne still emphasises the importance of physical love as one not
just required for sexual fulfilment, but the attainment of a purer form of love
through the use of various image in The Ecstasy
Like a pillow on a bed, a pregnant bank immediate introduces idea of
physical intimacy
Idea of intermingling (in flea) reiterated: might thence a new concoction take
and part far purer than he came, when love with one another so interanimates
two souls, that abler soul defects of loneliness controls alchemy (alloys
and elements create a pure form of gold), mixing and union of souls (deficiencies
in souls compensated when they unite)
Our hands firmly cemented, engraft our hands/as yet was all the means to
make us one, single violet transplant before was poor and scant
redoubles still , and multiplies physical intertwining of hands and plant
conceit/physical union shows individuals coming together and growing in their
union while our souls negotiate there suggests the simultaneously occurring
meeting of their souls
If any, so by love refined, that he souls language understood transcendental
love
Else a great prince in prison lies failure to consummate is ultimately a waste
as love is imprisoned within the body spiritual union cannot be expressed
without physical
Therefore argues that in order to achieve a heightened intimacy between two
lovers, and thus a transcendental form of love, the union of both physical love
(including the act of consummating) and romantic love is necessary as they
complement each other
Force of argument: ABAB rhyme scheme and tetrameter lines symbolize
closeness of spiritual and physical unions in order to attain a transcendental love
Simple rhythm reflects simplicity of the lovers union and intimacy
Physical love of Shakespeare
o Shakespeare contrasts w/ Donne (physical attraction), DANGER OF LUST: Sonnet 129
Reflective of his experience
Shows the pursuit of sex, idea that it is a bliss and a dream in the line a bliss in
proof, an proved, a very woe;/Before a joy proposed; behind, a dream thus
showing how after the act is committed, he feels the urge to condemn the
feelings of lust and temptation that has led to sex as a very woe
Juxtaposition of these two ideas: sex as positive vs negative creates
evident contrast (evident also in contrasts between heaven and hell
and idea that sex and lustful desire is sinful (contrasts with The Flea)
Loss of control mad in pursuit
Portrayal of an animalistic act murderous, savage, bloody
Anguish and repentance at succumbing to lustful deed, moral decay Waste of
shame
Contrast with Donnes use of structure to enhance the validity of his argument,
Shakespeare uses the sonnet structure as a tirade against lust

IB HL English Lit

Genre Study: Poetry (Comparative Essay)

Eunice Lee

Litany/syndetic listing of words with negative connotations suggest his anger at

his weakness and resentment of the act itself Physical love and act of
consummation is bad
Sonnet 130 shows his lack of physical attraction to her beauty, different from
traditional sonnets due to tone
Most sonnet writers wrote about the concept of the idealized Other,
constitutive as a concept :. Exaggeration of their physical qualities, as
the epitome of beauty etc.
Lack of physical attraction = he loves her all the same
Force of presentation QUESTIONABLE. Use of turn too late in the sonnet
and undermines it, to decreasing validity of argument
BECAUSE he prefers marriage of true minds, excluding physical
expression of love/act of consummation/coupling, therefore contrasting
with Donne as he may perhaps believe lust and physical expressions of
love may hinder the connection between lovers from achieving its
purest form
Sonnet 116 achieving the purest form of love/Platonic love through the
marriage of true minds
Consistent metaphor of a lighthouse
Guide for lost souls: union found in love allows them to navigate
through life together star for every wandering bark
Unchanging despite the circumstances unable to be removed, will
not alter or bend
Will not diminish in spite of effects of Time, faithful through hours and
weeks and death, avoiding his bending sickle and physical separation
or difficult circumstances of lovers as it is never shaken despite the
presence of tempests (much like Valediction)
Language markedly contrasts with Sonnet 129 (positive connotations
associated with Platonic love vs. negative perception of physical love)
Spiritual love and union
o Donne Holy Sonnets (XI, XIV)
Holy Sonnet XI- Strange love still admire reflects upon the sacrificial love of God
despite crucifying him daily due to the extent of his sins
Holy Sonnet XIV- Desire to be united with God through violent means (God will
overtake his besieged castle by force)
Contrasts with romantic imagery utilized in Donnes love poetry due to use of
plosive alliteration and powerful verbs associated with aggression and event
sexual language nor ever chaste, except you ravish me
Contradictions and use of paradoxes reflects confusion
Suggests the speakers comparisons and form of a sonnet (one traditionally for
women) is subverted with his passionate entreaties to God results in a tension
between earthly, physical love and sacred, spiritual love

IB HL English Lit

Genre Study: Poetry (Comparative Essay)

Eunice Lee

May suggest that the spiritual love that is shared between him and God cannot
be confined to the traditional sonnet structure for women perhaps
supersedes it

In conclusion, both Donne and Shakespeare view love as a powerful force, achieved between
individuals that are able to truly connect with their partners. They do, however, differ in their
stances, as although Shakespeare argues that physical expressions of love degrade the purity of love
and the marriage of true minds, Donne argues that in order to achieve a transcendental, purer
form of love, the unity between physical and romantic expressions of love are required in order for
couples to attain perfect unity. However, Donne further explores the idea of spiritual love between
man and God to suggest that spiritual union may supersede the union and physical and spiritual
love, perhaps as the ultimate expression of love.