Selected Poetry of John Donne: What's Inside

Selected Poetry
of John Donne
Study Guide by Course Hero
of Donne's work, titled Poems, by J.D. With Elegies on the

What's Inside Authors Death, was published in 1633, two years after the
poet's death, with the exception of "Elegy: To His Mistress
Going to Bed," which was first published in 1669. This
j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1 collection later became known as Songs and Sonnets.
Subsequent editions, as well as scholarly collections, usually
d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1
arrange Donne's poems and refer to them as the Songs and
a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 3 Sonnets, Holy Sonnets, Elegies, and Satires. This collection
examines nine poems from the Songs and Sonnets, including
h Characters .................................................................................................. 4 "The Flea," "The Dream," "The Ecstasy" and "The Good-
Morrow." Four are selected from Donne's Holy Sonnets,
k Plot Summary ............................................................................................. 8
including "Death Be Not Proud" and "A Hymn to God the
Father." Four come from Donne's Elegies, and three from his
c Poem Summaries .................................................................................... 11
Satires.
g Quotes ........................................................................................................ 26
l Symbols ..................................................................................................... 28
m Themes ...................................................................................................... 28
d In Context
Metaphysical Poetry
j Book Basics
Metaphysical means "beyond the physical" or "highly abstract."
AUTHOR Metaphysics is a philosophy that studies the nature of reality
John Donne and being. Metaphysical poetry is characterized by intellectual
complexity and the use of unusual figurative language. English
YEARS PUBLISHED poet John Donne (1572–1631), British poet George Herbert
1633–69 (1593–1633), and English poet Andrew Marvell (1621–78) have
all been called metaphysical poets. Their works deal with love,
GENRE
Christian philosophy, and spirituality while using witty and
Religion, Romance
complex language. Metaphysical poetry is often narrated in the
AT A GLANCE first person. It frequently makes use of imagery from art,
This collection analyzes 20 of the most read and critically philosophy, and religion as well as conceits—complex
acclaimed works of English poet John Donne. Donne was the extended metaphors—that connect paradoxical or disparate
most prominent of the metaphysical poets, whose writing was elements to startle and force the reader to confront the
intellectual and known for its use of unusual and clever ideas. poems' subtle arguments. Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding
Few of Donne's poems were published during his lifetime, but Mourning" contains his famous comparison of lovers to the
they were copied and distributed by admirers. The first edition legs of a drawing compass. The hinge of the compass is the
point of connection of the lovers' souls. In "The Flea" Donne
Selected Poetry of John Donne Study Guide In Context 2
compares the mixing of the lovers' blood inside a flea to other his followers became known as Protestants. The reasons
types of union, both spiritual and sexual. Henry VIII founded the Church of England were more political
than religious, but before he broke from Rome―the seat of the
Metaphysical poetry typically uses the rhythms and language pope and of Catholic power―Henry was a harsh critic of
of normal speech. In "The Sun Rising" the simple statement, Martin Luther. Regardless of these changing views, Henry
"She's all states, and all princes I, / Nothing else is" is a ignited a long and bloody struggle over religion in England.
startlingly clear description of the speaker's emotional
perspective. This reliance on natural speech and simple In 1553 Mary (1516–58), Henry VIII's daughter by Catherine of
statement lends itself to the language of direct address. In Aragon, became queen. She was a devout Catholic and was
many of Donne's poems, the speaker speaks directly to determined to return England to Roman Catholicism. Among
someone else, such as a lover, God, or Death. In "The other changes, she reinstated laws against heresy—meaning
Canonization" the speaker takes an aggrieved tone toward a Protestantism. When a rebellion broke out, Mary's Catholic
critic, telling him, "For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me supporters violently quashed the Protestant rebels. Hundreds
love." In "The Good-Morrow" the speaker asks his beloved, "I more Protestants were violently persecuted and burned as
wonder, by my troth, what thou and I / Did, till we loved?" heretics during the rest of Mary's reign.
Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth (1533–1603), ascended the throne
Catholicism and the Church of in 1558. As Queen Elizabeth I she reversed the course set by
Mary and returned England to Protestantism. She placed
England Protestants in positions of power and forbade the Catholic

mass. She required priests and those seeking university
degrees to swear allegiance to her. In the late 1500s religious
Henry VIII (1491–1547) took the English throne in 1509.
tensions intensified. In 1593 Donne's brother, Henry, was
Desperate for a male heir, he changed religion and history
imprisoned for sheltering a Catholic priest and died while
when he decided to divorce the first of his six wives, Catherine
incarcerated. This incident made societal religious tensions
of Aragon (1485–1536), and marry Anne Boleyn (c. 1507–36).
deeply personal for Donne and may have contributed to his
Divorce was forbidden by the Catholic Church, and the pope
decision to denounce Catholicism later in life. Scholars have
refused to grant an annulment, the legal procedure that
also speculated that Donne's desire to advance his career
cancels a marriage by proclaiming it never legally existed.
beyond the prospects afforded to Catholics may have played a
Henry subsequently took drastic measures. He passed the Act
role in his conversion.
of Supremacy in 1534 that made him head of a new church, the
Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas
Cranmer (1489–1556), granted Henry the annulment he
desired, and he duly married Anne Boleyn.
In another attack on Catholicism, German theologian Martin

Theological Ideas in Donne's
Luther (1483–1546) began the Protestant Reformation in 1517
by nailing his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of a church.
Poems
These statements criticized certain Catholic practices and
As Donne's writing career progressed, his poems turned from
doctrines, especially the selling of indulgences. Buying an
satires and love poems to religious poems. He was well versed
indulgence from the Church reduced the amount of penance
in the Christian Scriptures as well as both Catholic and
(actions a person must take to be forgiven for their sins) the
Protestant theology. As a clergyman, he would have had to
person owed for the sins they had committed. The Church sold
accept the doctrinal statement known as the Thirty-nine
some indulgences with the claim that they would fully erase the
Articles, the official doctrinal statement of the Church of
purchaser's sins. Some indulgences were said to have the
England adopted in 1571 under Queen Elizabeth I. The
power to reduce the amount of time a person would spend in
following are a few of the theological concepts woven
purgatory, the place in the afterlife where sinners make up for
throughout Donne's religious writings:
the sins they commit on earth in order to become fit for
Heaven. Luther was excommunicated, but his ideas spread and
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Selected Poetry of John Donne Study Guide Author Biography 3
The Trinity: According to Christian doctrine, God is one being not be able to be resurrected. Donne was particularly
made up of three persons: the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, concerned with this since he had family members who were
and the Holy Spirit (sometimes called the Holy Ghost). This considered heretics. In a sermon preached on November 19,
three-person unity is known as the Trinity, Godhead, or Triune 1627, he said that "God knows in what ... part of the world every
God. The doctrine of the Trinity is referenced in "Batter my grain of every man's dust lies; [and] ... that body that was
Heart, Three-person'd God," but the idea that multiple persons scattered over all the elements, is sat down at the right hand of
can become one unified person is found throughout Donne's God, in a glorious resurrection."
poetry. This recurrence suggests that the underlying idea of
the Trinity resonated strongly with Donne. The Thirty-nine A handful of biblical verses have caused speculation about just
Articles describes the Trinity as follows: "[I]n unity of this how death and resurrection occur. For example, in 1
Godhead there be three Persons, of one substance, power, Corinthians 5:5, the Apostle Paul (c. 4 BCE–c. 62 CE) writes
and eternity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." that someone who has committed a particularly bad sin should
be delivered "over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so
Incarnation: The doctrine of the incarnation is that God took on that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord." This verse
human nature and form as the second person of the Trinity, suggests that at death, the spirit and body may separate.
Jesus Christ, and was born as a human baby. The description However, in 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 54, Paul also speaks of a
of the incarnation in the Thirty-nine Articles also contains the future bodily resurrection: "[T]he trumpet will sound, and the
idea of disparate elements becoming one unified whole: "[T]wo dead will be raised ... imperishable ... When this perishable body
whole and perfect Natures, that is to say, the Godhead and puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on
Manhood, were joined together in one Person." immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'"
Sin and Forgiveness: According to Christian teaching, humans
are born into a sinful world already in a state of sinfulness. This These ideas fuel the line of reasoning found in "This is my
sinfulness is a result of inheriting the "original" sin when Adam Play's Last Scene" and "Death Be Not Proud." In these poems
and Eve, the first man and woman, disobeyed God in the Donne presents death as a temporary state after which there
Garden of Eden by eating fruit forbidden by God. In addition will be a resurrection. In the interim, Donne suggests, a
humans commit sins of various types and degrees in their own person's soul will wait with God in heaven until the resurrection
lives. The combination of original and personal sins means when they receive their new "imperishable" body.
humans are separated from God and subject to death.
According to the Thirty-nine Articles humans are by "nature
inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the
a Author Biography
Spirit; and ... every person born into this world ... deserveth
God's wrath." To remedy this situation, the incarnate Jesus
Christ gave his life to make forgiveness available to humans.
Jesus Christ "was crucified ... to reconcile his Father to us, and Early Life and Education
to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for actual
sins of men." John Donne was born into a Roman Catholic family sometime
between January and June of 1572 in London, England. At this
Death and Resurrection: Christians believe that Jesus Christ time Catholics were being persecuted in England since the
rose physically from the dead. They also believe that one day Anglican Church held the national status of being the official
humans will be physically resurrected to face final judgment. Church of England. When Donne was just four years old, his
One outcome of this teaching about the physical, or bodily, father, who was a London merchant, died. Donne began
resurrection, is that people have raised concerns over how attending the University of Oxford at age 12 and may have
God might resurrect a body that is not intact. Thus, the studied also at the University of Cambridge. Records of
practice of burying the dead, rather than cremating them, Donne's education are somewhat lacking because, as a
became the default for Christians historically. In addition the Catholic, he could not be officially awarded a degree. He did,
practice of burning heretics was embraced in part because however, study law in the early 1590s. Although he never
theologians surmised that people who died in this way would practiced law professionally, the legal world's modes of

Selected Poetry of John Donne Study Guide Characters 4
thought and speech influenced his writing. the early 19th century Donne's work was resurrected by poets
such as English poet Samuel T. Coleridge (1772–1834) who
were interested in the relationships between language,
Forbidden Love thought, and emotion. Celebrated for his inventiveness and
individuality at that time, Donne gained a renewed broad
In 1597 Donne returned to London after years spent traveling readership. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Donne was
as a soldier. He took a position as secretary to English lawyer finally fully rehabilitated thanks to new scholarly and critical
and diplomat Sir Thomas Egerton (c. 1540–1617) and lived in interest. American-born English poet T.S. Eliot (1888–1965)
Egerton's home. In 1601 Donne secretly married Anne More even argued that Donne was a precursor to modernism, the
(1584–1617), daughter of Sir George More (1553–1632), who 20th-century literary movement known for its experimental,
demanded Egerton fire Donne when he learned of the secret thought-provoking style, making Donne centuries ahead of his
nuptials. Donne was left without a job to support his new bride, time.
and they lived on the charity of family and friends for the next
decade. They had 12 children, only seven of whom survived
childhood. h Characters
Priest and Poet Speaker of "The Flea"

Despite these miserable circumstances, Donne studied
The speaker of "The Flea" argues that, since the flea has bitten
theology and law and began writing both prose and poetry. His
both him and his lover, their blood is already mixed inside the
writing gained him the attention of wealthy patron Sir Robert
flea. He claims that this makes them practically married, and
Drury (1575–1615), who from 1612 allowed the Donne family to
therefore she should not withhold physical intimacy from him.
live in a house on his estate. It is unclear just when Donne
This poem is not the only one in which the speaker attempts to
converted to Anglicanism, but in 1615 he was ordained a priest
persuade a woman to have sex with him. However, this poem is
in the Church of England. Just a few years later, however,
more self-aware. The speaker's tone is almost tongue-in-cheek
tragedy struck. Anne died in 1617 because of complications in
as he uses the image of the flea to speak of love. In this way he
childbirth. Donne refused to marry again and devoted himself
pokes fun at romantic poetry.
to his work as the dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. He
became known for his powerful sermons.
Most of Donne's writings went unpublished during his life. They Speaker of "The Good-
were instead copied and passed around by friends and
admirers. Scholars believe that in the 1590s, he wrote his Morrow"
elegies and satires and then proceeded to write the poems
found in Songs and Sonnets. He wrote religious poems during The speaker of "The Good-Morrow" says that he and his lover
his marriage, and his hymns were his last works, written in the are like two hemispheres, and each hemisphere is like its own
1620s. world. However, when these two hemispheres, the two lovers,
mix together, they make one whole world. The speaker even
describes their love as if it were immortal. This speaker is
Death and Legacy unashamed of his poetic language. The sentiment that the two
lovers become an entire world is one that occurs throughout
John Donne died on March 31, 1631. He is among the great Donne's poems. This speaker shows more of Donne's romantic
English poets, remembered for his remarkable love poetry and side.
his passionate religious writings. In the decades following
Donne's death, he was widely read and acclaimed but went out
of fashion in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. However, in

the whimsical first line, "Go and Catch a Falling Star," the
Speaker of "The Canonization" speaker is certain that any beautiful woman believed to be
faithful will have already been unfaithful with two or three men
The speaker of "The Canonization" seems exasperated as he by the time the reader finds her. He tells the reader to search
begins, "For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love." As far and wide for such a woman while he stays at home.
if to spite this critic, the speaker then describes his love affair
in the grandest possible way, saying the love he shares with his
lover will become legendary. They will become saints to whom
others will pray, he says, in hopes of having similarly amazing
Speaker of "Death Be Not
love affairs.
Proud"
The speaker of "Death Be Not Proud" faces and criticizes
Speaker of "A Valediction: Death personified, similar to the way the speaker of "The Sun
Rising" criticizes the sun. This poem is the speaker's argument
Forbidding Mourning" against Death. It is less emotionally driven than other poems,
relying on religious beliefs about death and resurrection to
The speaker of "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" takes a provide the evidence that Death is defeated and will eventually
more intellectual approach to describing the love he shares be banished altogether.
with his lover. He takes a reassuring tone to explain just how
extraordinary their love is. He uses the idea of the drawing
compass to describe the mystical connection between them.
They are like two legs of a drawing compass, he explains,
Speaker of "The Perfume"
connected over the world's vast distances. Their connection
The speaker of "The Perfume" has been sneaking into his
always brings him around in a complete circle—back home to
lover's home for a long time as they have carried on their affair
where she awaits.
in secret, though her overprotective and suspicious parents
have tried to catch them. He is pleased by the fact that they
have escaped being caught for so long. However, as time
Speaker of "The Sun Rising" passes he becomes overconfident and self-satisfied and
begins wearing a perfume that is popular at court. This
The speaker of "The Sun Rising" seems a little arrogant as he boldness leads to his downfall as the perfume is so strong his
chastises the sun. His disgruntled sentiment seems lover's father smells it in the night and wakes up. The poem
natural—he's been up all night with his lover, perhaps. But his ends on a note of regret for ever deciding to wear the perfume.
scolding tone suggests he feels superior to the sun and can
order him around. As the poem progresses, the speaker's tone
becomes even more condescending. He suggests the sun is
old and feeble, and in need of rest. Then he offers to help the
Speaker of "To His Mistress
poor sun out by saying he can just shine on the two lovers and
he will have done his job, for they are the whole world.
Going to Bed"
The speaker of "To His Mistress Going to Bed" uses sensual
imagery and sexually suggestive double entendre to reveal his
Speaker of "Go and Catch a thoughts. The speaker is unashamedly celebratory about being
he and his lover being naked. His praise and joy are palpable as
Falling Star" he describes what parts of her he wants to touch—all of them.
He is cheeky as he suggests that she take off her coverings so
The speaker of "Go and Catch a Falling Star" suggests many he can become her covering.
impossible tasks that would be as easy as finding a woman
both beautiful and true, such as catching a falling star. Despite

Motley humorist
In "Satire 1" the speaker is invited out for a walk in the streets
of London by a "motley humorist," a social climber who is
known for fawning over the well dressed, well connected, and
wealthy of the city. The motley humorist smiles and waves at
"every fine silken painted fool" they see as they walk. He goes
out of his way to cross the street to greet important people.
But he is easily distracted by a woman and gets into a fight
when he goes to see her.

Full Character List In "Satire 2" Coscus is disliked by

the speaker because he is a
Coscus
dishonest and unscrupulous
lawyer.
Character Description
In "Death Be Not Proud" the

The Speaker of "The Flea" uses a
Speaker of "The speaker chastises a personified
flea to try to persuade his lover to Death
Flea" Death to "be not proud" because
have sex with him.
he is ultimately irrelevant.
The speaker of "The Good-

In "The Perfume" an
Speaker of "The Morrow" uses lofty and hyperbolic
Father in "The overprotective father wakes up
Good-Morrow" imagery to describe the perfect
Perfume" when the speaker sneaks into his
love he and his lover share.
home wearing a strong perfume.
The speaker of "The

Lover in "A The speaker's lover in "A
Canonization" takes a combative
Valediction: Of Valediction: Of Weeping" weeps
Speaker of "The tone toward some unknown critic,
Weeping" as the two part ways.
Canonization" who has had the gall to give a
negative opinion of the speaker's
manner of loving. The speaker's lover in "The
Lover in "The
Dream" wakes the speaker from
Dream"
an erotic dream.
The speaker of "A Valediction:
Speaker of "A
Forbidding Mourning" does not
Valediction:
want his lover to weep or mourn at In "The Ecstasy" the speaker's
Forbidding
their parting because that is for Lover in "The lover's soul leaves her body and
Mourning"
ordinary lovers. Ecstasy" mingles with the soul of the
speaker.
Speaker of "The The speaker of "The Sun Rising"
Sun Rising" chastises the sun for shining. The speaker's lover in "The Flea"
kills the flea he is using as his
Lover in "The Flea"
metaphor for their mystical and
The speaker of "Go and Catch a
Speaker of "Go and sexual union.
Falling Star" bitterly states that a
Catch a Falling
woman who is both beautiful and
Star"
faithful does not exist. The speaker's lover in "The
Perfume" has been sneaking the
Lover in "The
speaker into her bedroom at night,
The speaker of "Death Be Not Perfume"
in spite of her parents'
Speaker of "Death Proud" takes a scolding tone
watchfulness.
Be Not Proud" toward something arguably larger
than any human—Death.
In "Elegy on His Mistress" the
Mistress in "Elegy speaker's mistress wants to travel
The speaker of "The Perfume"
on His Mistress" with the speaker, disguised as a
Speaker of "The expresses regret at being caught
boy.
Perfume" by his lover's father after wearing
strong perfume.
In "Jealousy" the speaker's
Mistress in
mistress would not be sad if her
The speaker of "To His Mistress "Jealousy"
Speaker of "To His jealous husband died.
Going to Bed" invites his lover to
Mistress Going to
undress and come to bed, where
Bed"
he is waiting. Mistress in "To His In "To His Mistress Going to Bed"
Mistress Going to the speaker's mistress is asked to
Bed" undress and come to bed.
In "Satire 1" a motley humorist acts
Motley humorist in an embarrassing, fawning
manner toward the well dressed.

Selected Poetry of John Donne Study Guide Plot Summary 8
Mother in "The
In "The Perfume," a suspicious
mother tries her best to catch the
The Flea
Perfume"
speaker sneaking into her home.
The speaker notices that a flea has bitten both him and the
woman he is with. He uses the fact that their blood has mixed
In "The Perfume," the speaker's
Siblings in "The lover's siblings are engaged by her inside the flea to try and convince the woman to have sex with
Perfume" parents as spies and sneak into him. He argues that they are already practically married
the bedroom at night.
because their blood has mixed, so it is not wrong to have
physical union as well.
Speaker of "A
The speaker in "A Valediction: Of
Valediction: Of
Weeping" begs his lover not to cry.
Weeping"
The Good-Morrow
The speaker of "Elegy on His
Speaker of "Elegy Mistress" wants his lover to stay The speaker praises the love he and his lover share. It is a
on His Mistress" home rather than travel with him perfect love, like two perfect hemispheres of the world. The
disguised as a boy.
two of them are a world unto themselves, and their love is
immortal.
The speaker of "Jealousy" has
Speaker of been having an affair with a
"Jealousy" married woman, whose husband is
jealous.
The Canonization
Speaker of "Satire The speaker of "Satire 2" dislikes The speaker begins by chastising someone who has criticized
2" bad writers and bad lawyers.
his love affair: "For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me
love." After telling this critic to mind his own business, the
The speaker of "Satire 1"
Speaker of "Satire reluctantly walks about in London speaker goes on to describe the love affair in epic terms. He
1" with a "motley humorist" and later says their love will become legendary, so that someday after
regrets it. they have died, people will pray to them as saints of love. They
will become the model of a perfect love, and others will seek to
Speaker of "Satire The speaker of "Satire 3" exhorts emulate them.
3" the reader to "seek true religion."
Speaker of "The
In "The Dream" the speaker has
dreamed of making love with his A Valediction: Forbidding
Dream" beloved and wants to make his
dream come true. Mourning
The speaker of "The Ecstasy" The speaker and his love must say farewell for a time, but he
Speaker of "The
describes the unity of his soul with
Ecstasy" says it would be wrong to mourn their parting. Ordinary lovers
that of his lover.
cannot bear to be parted, but their love is extraordinary. They
are like two legs of a drawing compass, connected no matter
how far apart they are.
k Plot Summary
A Valediction: Of Weeping
The speaker and his love say farewell, and both weep. The
speaker first observes that they are like two hemispheres of a
world then describes their tears as filling up and overflowing

the world. Finally, he begs his love not to weep because he before people wake to eternal life. He tells Death that once
might drown in her tears. people have passed through this sleep to immortality, Death
itself will be dead.
The Sun Rising

Batter my Heart, Three-
The sun has risen and shines into the bedroom where the
speaker and his lover are in bed. The speaker scolds the sun person'd God
for waking them and suggests he go elsewhere. Then the
speaker describes him and his lover as a world, saying that The speaker begs God to "batter" his heart and make him a
when the sun warms the two of them, he warms the whole good man because more gentle means are not effective. He
world. needs God to overpower him because even Reason, which
God gave him to help him become a better person, is unable to
change him. He says that God must take him prisoner, so that
Go and Catch a Falling Star he can be free.
In this poem, also known as "Song," the speaker argues that

the reader is as likely to catch a falling star as to find a faithful A Hymn to God the Father
and beautiful woman. He says that even if the reader did find a
woman both true and fair, by the time the speaker met her she The speaker asks God if he will be forgiven for his sins: original
would have been unfaithful with two or three men. sin, sins he has committed, and sins he has caused others to
commit. He says that when God has forgiven these, he will still
have more forgiving to do because the speaker will continue to
The Ecstasy sin. The speaker confesses his sin of fear. He then promises to
trust that God will make good on his promises of forgiveness.
The speaker and his love sit by on the bank of a river in
springtime. As they sit, holding hands, their souls leave their
bodies and mingle, becoming as one. The speaker argues that This is my Play's Last Scene
since their souls are so unified, they should also be united
physically. The speaker compares his life to a play, a pilgrimage, and a
race, emphasizing that he is in the last part of it. He thinks
about what will happen after he dies. He envisions his soul
The Dream leaving his body behind for a time and going to heaven. His
sinful body will stay in the earth until his sins fall back into hell.
The speaker has been having a dream of making love with his This event will purge him of his sins.
beloved and has been awakened by her. He wants to continue
the lovemaking from his dream in real life. She seems reluctant,
and he complains that she is like someone who lights a torch Jealousy
only to put it out. He says if she leaves, he will only survive by
continuing to dream of making love with her. The speaker is having an affair with a married woman, whose
husband is the jealous type. While the woman complains of her
husband's jealousy, the speaker tells her it is actually a good
Death Be Not Proud reminder to be more cautious. He says they are like rebels
against a tyrannical king, who must move the location of their
The speaker chastises Death for being arrogant. He says that treasonous activities to another location. There they can
even though people think Death is powerful and to be feared, continue to defy the king, her husband.
he is really powerless because Death is only like a short sleep

money and whose dishonest ways do real harm.

The Perfume
The speaker and his lover have been meeting secretly in her
home, where she lives with her parents. Her parents are very
Satire 3
protective and have done everything they can to keep the two
In this satire the speaker exhorts the reader to stop pursuing
apart. One night the speaker wears a perfume when he sneaks
worldly wealth and trusting in the power of humans. Instead,
into her house, and it is so strong it wakes her father. The
the reader should "seek true religion." This process takes time
speaker regrets wearing the perfume.
and is a struggle. There are many religious movements to
choose from, but ultimately, a person's duty is to search for
truth and trust in God.
Elegy on His Mistress
The speaker asks his beloved to stay at home in England while
he goes away rather than accompany him disguised as his
page. He says she can't successfully hide her feminine beauty
and will be recognized as a woman. Being recognized would
put her in danger. He admonishes her to keep their love secret
and to dream happy dreams of him.
To His Mistress Going to Bed

The speaker addresses his mistress, inviting her to undress
and come to bed, where he is waiting to make love. He praises
her body and expresses deep joy in full nakedness. He would
like to be the only covering she has on.
Satire 1
Against his better judgment, the speaker goes out and about in
London with a "fondling motley humorist" who has invited him.
He knows the man is likely to abandon him in the middle of the
street for some other more well-dressed acquaintance. Sure
enough, the man smiles and waves at "every fine silken painted
fool" they see. Then he goes to see his lover and gets in a fight.
He comes back to the speaker with his head hanging.
Satire 2
The speaker criticizes bad writers: writers of pitiful love poetry,
playwrights who write tedious plays for bad actors, and those
who write for the rich to gain profit. He especially loathes
writers who copy others' words. Then he criticizes bad lawyers,
like one he calls Coscus, who are only in the practice for the

Selected Poetry of John Donne Study Guide Poem Summaries 11
and the woman mix inside the flea, which has bitten them both.
c Poem Summaries This unconventionally romantic image becomes a metaphor for
the sexual union the speaker would dearly like to have with the
woman. The flea provides a rich metaphor for a metaphysical
The Flea poet, as it allows for several contrasting interpretations. Its

small size suggests that the woman's concerns about chastity
are of small importance. But the speaker also declares that the
mingled blood inside the flea is akin to marriage vows. The
Summary speaker's tone vacillates between earnest and tongue-in-
cheek as it interprets its own metaphor in different ways. The
The speaker points out that a flea that has just bitten him and
speaker may earnestly want to convince the woman to have
the woman with him. He suggests that since their blood is
sex with him, but he chooses an irritating insect to make his
mingled inside the flea, it is silly that the woman would deny
argument.
him sex. The flea's action is neither sinful nor shameful, he
says, and the flea thoroughly enjoys being full of their blood.
The flea swells with "one blood made of two," which the
speaker points out regretfully is "more than we would do." In
The Good-Morrow
the second stanza the speaker begs the woman not to kill the
flea because inside it they are "more than married." Despite her
resistance to their sexual union, they have essentially been Summary
unified inside the flea. The speaker tells the woman that to kill
The speaker wonders what he and his love did before they fell
the flea would be like killing all three of them, but she kills the
in love. Were they asleep? All the pleasures he knew before he
flea anyway. The speaker asks her what the flea did to deserve
knew his love, all the beauty he saw, and all the satisfaction of
death—it was only guilty of the small wrong of sucking their
life was simply a dream of his love. In the second stanza the
blood. He notes her reply: neither of them is weaker, or less
speaker wishes "good morrow" to their souls and notes that
honorable, for killing a flea. The speaker uses this idea to
they are now both awake and unafraid. Furthermore, their love
suggest that, in the same way, if she yielded to his appeal for
makes their small room "an everywhere." Explorers have gone
sex, she would not become less honorable.
to distant lands and new worlds, he says. But the speaker and
his love possess a world within themselves. They are reflected
Analysis in each other's eyes and can see each other's hearts in their
faces. Their two loves become one love, like the hemispheres
This poem is made up of three nine-line stanzas in alternating of the world. Their enduring and unified love brings unending
tetrameter (four metrical feet) and pentameter (five metrical life.
feet). The ninth line in each stanza is in pentameter. The rhyme
scheme of each stanza is AABBCCDDD, with predominantly
full rhymes. Most of the beats are loosely iambic and tend to Analysis
invite reading with a song-like rhythm. This slightly sing-song
This lovely poem, made up of three seven-line stanzas each
rhythm and rhyme suggests a lighthearted tone. In this poem
with a rhyme scheme ABABCCC, praises the unifying love
the tone is appropriate for a man's humorous and
between the speaker and his lover. The first stanza describes
melodramatic appeal to a woman to have sex with him.
life before the lovers met. It is far from the speaker's
The theme of love is found in many of Donne's poems, but the consciousness and casts their lives before they found each
tonal range is quite broad. In "The Good-Morrow," for example, other as sleep. Even the good parts of that sleep were just
he explores this theme in transcendent and religious terms. In dreams.
"The Flea," though, he uses the whimsical image of a flea
The phrase "good morrow" is an old way of saying "good
sucking blood, an extended metaphor, or conceit, that Donne
morning." In the second stanza, then, the speaker begins by
sustains through the entire poem. The blood of the speaker

wishing their "waking souls" good morning. The reality of their also like phoenixes that die and are reborn.
love—in the waking world—is far better than any precursor.
Love has caused their souls, not just their bodies or emotions, In the fourth stanza the speaker says the lovers may die of
to wake up in what Donne presents as a religious experience. love, but the legend of their love will live forever in poems of
various types—sonnets and hymns. They will be "canonized for
The speaker then uses a number of images to suggest that the Love." In the final stanza he continues this train of thought.
two lovers, unified in their love, compose a world. Their small After they die, people will pray to them so they can follow the
room makes "everywhere" because of the power of the love same "pattern" of their love.
they share. The next image of explorers discovering and
mapping new worlds suggests that the speaker and his love
are explorers mapping each other and the new world they have Analysis
created together.
This poem is made up of five nine-line stanzas with the rhyme
The third stanza illustrates the unity of two halves of one scheme ABBA CCCAA. In addition, the final word of each
whole. It begins with the powerful image of the two lovers stanza is love, emphasizing the idea that the speaker's
gazing into each other's faces. The reflected images of their consuming concern is the amazing love he and his lover share.
faces create an infinite loop in which their love for each other The poem follows a somewhat iambic meter, but the lines are
is apparent. In a nod to the "world" imagery of the second of varying lengths, giving the poem a unique rhythm. The short
stanza, the speaker also compares the lovers to the final line of each stanza brings additional emphasis to the
hemispheres of the world, perfectly united. Yet, the speaker poem's theme.
draws a distinction between the perfection of their love and
the imperfect world. The northern and western hemispheres Against the all-encompassing and perfect love the couple
are "sharp" and "declining," and in the world things are not shares, the unnamed critic should mind his own business when
mixed equally. In contrast the speaker and his lover are so alike it comes to the speaker's love life. The first three stanzas,
in their love that its power will never slacken, and they will not though they make up the majority of the poem, feel like an
die. This ending is significant because it cements the idea that annoyance or distraction from what the speaker wishes to
love has religious power. It can awaken souls and give immortal focus on. In the third stanza, as the speaker defends the love
life. affair, the tone shifts away from annoyance. While he might
have begun by defending or justifying the affair, once he gets
going, he falls into lush praise. Love kills them and causes them
The Canonization to rise again. It makes them mysterious and legendary.
The final two stanzas explain the title. In the Catholic Church,
canonization is the process of declaring someone a saint after
Summary they die. In the poem the speaker declares that he and his
lover will become saints. However, the speaker seems to imply
In this poem the speaker addresses someone who has a mild critique of sainthood. As he describes their love, he says
criticized him. He begins, "For God's sake hold your tongue, they can die by their love even if they can't live by it. This idea
and let me love." The speaker invites the critic to critique his suggests that the legend of their love might actually be greater
health, gray hair, and lack of wealth and suggests he turn his than it was in death than in life. By extension, Donne is
attention to other things, such as gaining wealth or learning suggesting that saints' lives become more perfect after they
new things. In the second stanza the speaker asks rhetorically, die and become canonized. They are more saintly in death than
"Who's injured by my love?" Has his love sunk ships, flooded in life.
the ground, or changed the seasons? Soldiers still fight and
lawyers still litigate. The speaker's love doesn't change any of
those things.
In the third stanza the speaker refers to himself and his lover
like candles that can only burn by eating themselves. They are

symbols of circles and gold found in the poem. Plato and

A Valediction: Forbidding Aristotle described the cosmos as concentric spheres, and this
metaphysical idea influenced the circle imagery in Donne's
Mourning poems. In alchemy, other metals can be transformed into
gold—changing the base metal to a perfect metal. This idea
also allowed gold to become a symbol of resurrection and
Summary transformation in Christian thought.
The speaker begins with the image of men dying without fuss A valediction is a farewell, and the title indicates that at this
or drama, then suggests that he and his lover should also farewell, all mourning is forbidden. The poem explains this
"make no noise." Weeping and sighing would show everyone unusual request: the speaker and his lover are no ordinary
their love, which would make their joy less divine. lovers and so should not grieve. The imagery of the poem then
expands this extraordinary love, and layers metaphor upon
In the third stanza the speaker explains that earthquakes metaphor to provide reassurance that all will be well. The first
frighten people. Yet the movement of the spheres, a greater image the speaker uses to compare ordinary and their
movement, is not feared. extraordinary love is found in the third stanza. Ordinary love
resembles the earthquakes of the third stanza, which people
In the fourth and fifth stanzas the speaker contrasts the dull,
notice and fear. But the love of the speaker and his lover
ordinary love of most people with their more-refined love.
resembles the movement of bodies in space, which people
Ordinary lovers cannot bear to be parted, but their love far
overlook despite its great significance. It is more consequential
surpasses ordinary love. It does not depend on the presence of
but less conspicuous than an earthquake. The speaker's
their eyes, lips, and hands. In the sixth stanza the speaker says
reference to the movement of the spheres is part of the
their two souls are one, so even though he must go, their
poem's use of circle and sphere imagery to describe the
unified soul will expand to fill the space between them, like
metaphysical connection between the lovers and the central
gold flattened into a broad, thin sheet.
importance of their love.
In the seventh through ninth stanzas the speaker compares

The exploration of this celestial love shared by the speaker
the couple to a drawing compass. If their souls are separate,
and his lover continues through the rest of the poem. In the
he says, they remain connected the way the two legs of a
sixth stanza he asserts that their separation is not a separation
compass remain connected. The fixed leg seems to stay in one
at all. Their souls are united as one, so rather than being parted
place, but it still moves as the other does. When the traveling
by the space between them, the space is filled by their one,
leg moves away, the center leg leans toward it. When the
ever-expanding soul. He uses the simile of pounded sheets of
traveling leg returns toward the center, the center leg
gold to show how one thing can be expanded to fill a greater
becomes straight again. In the ninth stanza the speaker likens
space. It is no accident that Donne chose to use gold as the
this stationary central compass leg to his lover, while he, like
material in his simile. In addition to its alchemical significance,
the outer leg, must move away. However, his lover's stance in
gold is known for its association with purity and love.
the center allows him to create a perfect circle and eventually
brings him back to his starting point. In the final three stanzas the speaker further develops the
lovers' unity using the conceit, or clever extended metaphor, of
the drawing compass. A drawing compass is made up of two
Analysis legs connected at a hinge. One leg stays in the center, while
the other, often tipped with a pencil, rotates to draw a perfect
This poem is made up of nine four-line stanzas—a circle. Smaller or larger circles can be drawn depending on the
mathematically significant arrangement. Nine is three squared; distance between the legs, essentially allowing someone to
four is two squared; and the total is 36, or six squared. All are draw concentric circles with the same center in a metaphysical
perfect squares. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, model of the cosmos. The speaker of the poem likens himself
and so on. The strict rhyme scheme and mathematically to the leg that makes the circle. He may move away from the
significant arrangement of lines aligns with the metaphysical other leg, but the hinge still connects them. When he is further

away, the stationary leg leans toward the moving leg. He heptameter—though the final line of the poem breaks the
compares this action to his lover longing for him while he is meter slightly. The regular meter produces a soothing musical
away. Moving toward the center again resembles coming rhythm in the longer lines, with emphasis and dramatic pause
home. on the shorter lines. The reader is subtly encouraged to linger
on the short lines within the stanzas.
Much like the image of gold, the image of the circle draws on
metaphysical ideas and suggests not only perfection but the Both this poem and "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning"
way the lovers become a microcosm of the universe. This idea involve the speaker telling his lover why she should not cry.
is one Donne returns to time and again in this poem. In the final However, while "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" argues
image of the poem he also notes the satisfying way a drawn that they don't need to cry because their love is so
circle ends where it began. This image promises that the lovers extraordinary, this poem uses a more emotional appeal. The
will be physically united again in the future. In addition the speaker is overwhelmed by his lover's weeping and begs her to
image of separation that ends in union echoes the opening stop. The poem uses hyperbole to describe the enormous grief
image of the poem, as good men are separated from their they feel when they must part. In Stanzas 1 and 2, the speaker
breath, their life, but go on to a union more perfect in heaven. says they are "nothing" when parted. Their tears fall and mix
together until they "overflow / This world." This image
culminates in the third stanza as the tears not only overflow
A Valediction: Of Weeping the world but threaten to drown the speaker. Because of this
threat, he begs her to stop crying, lest her tears kill him. This
image may connect to his real fears of dying at sea. He asks
Summary her not to "teach the sea, what it may do too soon;" that is,
drown him.
The speaker bids farewell to his beloved as he prepares to sail

The imagery of the poem ties it together as it describes many
across the sea. He weeps and says their tears are valuable
round things: tears like coins, a globe, the world, the moon.
though they are "fruits of much grief." He also says that when
These not only draw on a similar visual vocabulary, they also
the two are on separate shores, they are "nothing."
hearken back to the imagery of the cosmos as concentric
circles that was developed by Plato and Aristotle. This vision of
In the second stanza the speaker describes how a person can
the universe was important to the metaphysical poets. Here,
create a globe of the world by drawing the continents on a
the use of circles and spheres suggests a connection between
"round ball." In this way the person creates "nothing." Tears,
the lovers parting and the workings of the universe. This way of
too, grow like globes, or worlds, until the two lovers' tears mix
presenting lovers as a microcosm of the world is found in many
and overflow the world.
of Donne's love poems, including "The Good-Morrow" and "The
In the third stanza the speaker describes his beloved's tears as Sun Rising."
harmful. Her tears threaten to drown him the way the rising
tide would. Her sighing threatens to harm him the way a strong
wind at sea might. He asks her not to weep him to death, or The Sun Rising
sigh too much, for he might die.
Summary
Analysis
The speaker begins by scolding the sun, whom he chides for
This poem is made up of three nine-line stanzas. The line
shining through windows and around curtains to wake him and
length and meter are unusual, but consistent. In each stanza,
his lover. Instead of waking the lovers, the speaker suggests,
lines one, five, and six use iambic dimeter (two iambs, or feet,
the sun should go bother schoolboys late for school or grumpy
per line), while lines two, three, four, seven, and eight use
apprentices on their way to work. The sun should tell the court
iambic pentameter (five iambs, or feet, per line). Line nine, is
huntsmen that the king is ready to ride out on the day's hunt,
the longest, with about seven metrical feet—iambic

and tell farm workers to go harvest the crops. Love, however, beams of the sun simply by shutting his eyes. In fact, the
transcends seasons and weather, even time itself. speaker notes that his lover's eyes are so bright they can even
blind the sun, not the other way around. This emphasizes the
In the second stanza the speaker derides the sun's power, weakness of the sun. This idea surfaces in the third stanza, as
saying there is no reason to worship the sun when its light can the poem returns to the description of the sun as an old man.
be blocked by blinking one's eyes shut. But, the speaker would The sun is elderly, at a time of life when he needs lighter duties:
not want to close his eyes because then he could not see his "Thine age asks ease."
lover, whose eyes shine so brightly they could even blind the
eyes of the sun. He jests that the sun go check on the location As in other poems, Donne depicts lovers as a microcosm of the
of the Indies to see whether they are in their places or here in world. The speaker tells the sun that since his duty is to "warm
bed with the speaker. He says that all the kings the sun saw the world," he can accomplish this simply by warming the
yesterday are all here in the bed also. couple: "Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere." He ties
this into the idea that the weak and aging sun needs easier
In the third stanza the speaker says that his lover is every duties, offering it as a way to fulfill his duties without working
nation and that he is all the princes of those nations. "Nothing too hard.
else is," he asserts. Princes only mimic the lovers and their true
love. Compared to them, wealth is "alchemy"—attempts to turn
lesser metals into gold. The speaker tells the sun that the sun
should be glad that in warming the two lovers he fulfills his
Go and Catch a Falling Star
duties of warming the entire world. After all, the sun is getting
older and needs easier work. If the sun shines on the bed, it will
be as if he shines everywhere.
Summary
In this poem, also called "Song," the speaker begins by telling
Analysis the reader to do several fantastical and impossible things.

These include catching a falling star, making a mandrake root
This poem is made up of three 10-line stanzas with the rhyme pregnant, and teaching the speaker to hear mermaids singing.
scheme ABBACDCDEE. It takes an irritated tone toward the In the second stanza the speaker goes on to say that if the
sun, which the speaker personifies and addresses directly as reader is accustomed to "strange sights" and can see the
an "old fool." The overall message of the poem is that the invisible, he should journey 10 thousand days and nights until
couple's love grants the speaker authority over the sun. he becomes old. Later, when he tells of his journeys, he will say
that "Nowhere / Lives a woman true, and fair." In the third and
The speaker asserts his authority in the first lines, as he scolds final stanza the speaker says if the reader does happen to find
the sun for waking them up and then tells him to go elsewhere. a woman who is both faithful and beautiful, he should let the
The source of his condescending tone is explained in the last speaker know. Then he changes his mind. He says the reader
two lines of the first stanza. The sun is related to seasons, should not bother to tell him because by the time the speaker
hours, and days—things that mark time. But love is not bound meets her, she would have been unfaithful with two or three
by time. Therefore, the speaker is confident that his love men.
makes him more significant than the sun, and he feels
comfortable telling the sun to go elsewhere. Images of kings
and princes in the second and third stanzas also develop the Analysis
idea of the lovers as authorities. The speaker declares, "She's
all states, and all princes, I," suggesting that the two of them The poem has a musical quality, as its alternate title, "Song,"
represent human civilization—nations or states with rulers over implies. It maintains a fairly regular form and rhyme scheme. It
them. The natural order of the sun is of a lesser importance. is made up of three stanzas of nine lines each, and each with a
rhyme scheme of ABABCCDDD. Each stanza begins with six
In the second stanza the speaker also describes more specific lines generally written in trochaic tetrameter. This type of
ways he has authority over the sun. He can eclipse and dim the meter has four metrical feet per line, and each foot is a

trochee—one accented syllable followed by an unstressed and are occupying the space between them. There, the souls
syllable. Donne does not adhere strictly to this meter. In many seem like two armies engaged in negotiations. This state of
lines the last foot is cut short, so that both the first and last affairs continues all day as the two sit and remain silent.
syllables are stressed: "Go, and catch a falling star, / Get with
child a mandrake root." This pattern adds to the sing-song The speaker then imagines what a bystander might think of
quality of the verse. However, this rhythm is interrupted by them. He says if this imaginary bystander understands the
lines seven and eight, each of which is two words long. This language of the soul, he would be able to hear their souls
creates a jarring slowing of stanza's pace. The two shorter speak as one soul. He would be made "purer" by witnessing
lines set apart the final line of each stanza and the hesitation their love. Their souls, mixed and intertwined by love, have
caused by the short lines gives extra punch to this final line. transformed two into one—a new soul made of the two.
The lines do seem like the punch lines of a joke. Donne's tone
The speaker wonders why, since their souls are so unified, they
is playful as he pokes fun at honest minds and beautiful
continue to forego sex. Their bodies are the vehicles that
women.
brought them together and where their souls first lived before
In the first stanza the speaker uses a commanding tone, with they combined into one soul. He notes that their souls must
sentences in the imperative: Go, Get, Tell, Teach, and Find. The eventually go back into their bodies, and the combination of
images are fantastical and mythical, with references to soul and body is part of being human.
mandrakes and mermaids. This mythical imagery and

commanding tone continue in the second stanza, as the reader
is told to "ride" until he is old and white-haired.
Analysis
The reader is supposed to do all the moving and journeying in This poem is made up of mostly iambic tetrameter, or lines of
this poem—traveling endlessly in search of a woman "true, and four iambs, with a simple rhyme scheme of ABAB, CDCD,
fair." While the reader is out on this long quest, however, the EFEF, and so on. The title is based on the Greek root word
speaker will be staying home. He already knows the outcome. ekstasis, which means "standing outside." And this movement
A faithful and beautiful woman cannot be found, and the happens in the poem: the souls of the two lovers leave their
speaker is not going to waste his time pursuing one, just as he bodies and hang suspended between them. Their bodies are
would not pursue a mythical beast. passive, as still as statues, while their souls take on the active
role. The speaker likens their souls to two armies meeting to
Some scholars have noted that this poem is humorous in tone negotiate.
at first but by the end, its tone and message are more of a
complaint. The speaker does not believe a woman can be both Passive or active, the imagery of both bodies and souls is that
faithful and beautiful. Readers are left with the sense that the of union or meeting. The lovers' hands are "cemented"
speaker has experience with unfaithful women. His complaints together, their gazes "twisted" together, the images in their
and mockery may be products of these painful experiences eyes becoming their offspring—"propagation." Meanwhile, love
despite couching his pain in humor. mixes their souls, making "both one, each this and that." This
combined soul is a "new soul" that belongs to them both. Yet,
this spiritual union does not mean the two can be content
The Ecstasy without physical union, as the speaker of "A Valediction:
Forbidding Mourning" seems to argue. The message in this
poem is more akin to "The Flea," in which the speaker argues
that since the couple's blood is mixed in the flea, they should
Summary not avoid a sexual union. Here, the speaker questions why they
forego uniting their bodies when their souls are so united. The
The speaker and his beloved sit together on the bank of a river.
body and book imagery of the poem supports this conclusion.
It is spring, and the violets are blooming. The two hold hands
Lovers' souls come from their bodies and must go back into
and gaze into each other's eyes, but this is the extent of their
those bodies, so the union of lovers cannot be only in their
physical intimacy. They have not yet made love. Although their
souls; it must also be in their senses. As the speaker says, the
bodies stay as still as statues, their souls have left their bodies

mysteries of love may grow in their souls, but the body is the thoughts and realities? He notes that she has the ability to
"book," or expression, of that spiritual love. seemingly walk across the boundary from waking and
dreaming, since she woke him but did not break his dream. His
dreams become truths, fables become histories.
The Dream In the second stanza the speaker has a debate with himself
about whether his love could be an angel. She appears at first
like an angel with her bright eyes. However, she can't be an
Summary angel because she knows what he wants just by looking at him.
And what he wants is something angels don't understand. He
The speaker begins by addressing his beloved, saying he
argues that angels don't engage in or understand physical
would not have been willing to leave his happy dream had it not
affection the way humans do, so she can't be an angel. By the
been for her. In fact, his dream did not stop when he woke, but
end of the second stanza, the speaker has decided it is
continued. The speaker's lover is so true that even thoughts of
profane to say she's an angel because she is simply herself.
her cause dreams to become true and fables to become
The word profane is often used in religious contexts to denote
history. He invites her into his arms to act out his dream.
a level of wickedness that is devilish or blasphemous—against
God. Yet the speaker is also engaging issues of identity and
In the second stanza the speaker describes his beloved's eyes
essence as he searches for the right metaphor to describe her.
as the light of a candle or a bolt of lightning, and it was this
Ultimately the comparison between his love and an angel does
light that woke him. At first, he thought he was seeing an angel,
not satisfy him. She's herself, not an angel.
but then he could see that she knew far more of his thoughts
than an angel could. He claims she knew just when "excess of
In the third stanza, however, the speaker begins to doubt that
joy" would wake him up, and woke him then.
his lover is herself—or at least the self he's hoping she will be.
This hesitation leads him to doubt the power of love to conquer
In the third stanza the speaker begins to doubt his beloved.
fear. His dissatisfaction is with how brave and pure "spirit" is
When she comes and stays, she is true and perfect. But when
clouded by fear, shame, and honor. The poem ends in
she rises to leave, she is not. He worries their love is not strong
frustration that their love is complicated—more complicated
enough to withstand her fears. The spirit is pure and brave, but
than it seemed to be in the dream, perhaps.
becomes less pure when it is contaminated by thoughts of
shame and honor. He says he is like a torch that she lights and
then extinguishes according to her whim. His only hope is to
continue to dream of her. Death Be Not Proud
Analysis Summary
This poem is made up of three 10-line stanzas with rhyme This poem is addressed to a personified Death. The speaker
scheme ABBACCDDEE. In each stanza the first two lines are admonishes Death, saying, "Be not proud." Some people think
iambic tetrameter, followed by a short line of iambic dimeter, Death is powerful and to be feared, but in reality, it is neither of
and continuing with lines of iambic pentameter. As is typical those things. Furthermore, rest and sleep have the appearance
with Donne's poems, the meter is not terribly strict, but it is of death but are pleasurable. How much more pleasure, then,
regular enough to have a musical quality that moves the poem would come from Death? Great men go with Death and attain
forward. Like the speakers of "The Flea" and "The Ecstasy," rest and the deliverance of their souls.
the speaker in this poem wishes his beloved would have sex
with him. In fact, he was dreaming of sleeping with her when Death serves the interests of fate, bad luck, powerful rulers,
she woke him up, and now he wants to "act the rest" of what and "desperate men," and makes its home with war, poison,
he'd been dreaming. Yet in a poem so full of this tender and grave illness. The speaker questions why Death is so
longing, the speaker also explores the metaphysical question: proud when the sleep he causes is just a short sleep after
where is the boundary between dreaming and waking, between which someone wakes to eternal life? And when that happens,

Death itself will die and no longer exist. Resurrection has rendered death powerless. Therefore, death
should not be feared because it has no power.
Analysis This poem is structured like an argument. The claim is that

Death, believed to be powerful and to be dreaded, is actually
This poem is one of four Holy Sonnets in this collection. the opposite. The remainder of the poem lays out the
Donne's Holy Sonnets generally follow the Petrarchan, or reasoning and the evidence. People who die are not really
Italian, sonnet form, named after the Italian poet Petrarch dead, so Death does not have the power he is believed to have.
(1304–74). This form divides the sonnet's 14 lines into two In addition, rest and sleep are pleasurable, and Death is just
sections: an eight-line stanza, known as an octave, with the like sleep, so it is not fearful, but should be more pleasurable.
rhyme scheme ABBAABBA, and a six-line stanza, known as a Death is so powerless that he does the bidding of other forces,
sestet, which rhymes CDCDCD, CDEEDE, CDECDE, CDCCDC, such as war and poison. Finally, once a person passes into the
or CDEDCE. In a Petrarchan sonnet the transition between the afterlife, or immortality, Death "shall be no more." At that point,
octave and sestet is called the turn or volta, and it usually Death will be dead himself. The paradox that Death can die
articulates a turn of thought. Sonnets written in English that reinforces the final reality that the speaker is looking forward
follow this format are called Italian or Petrarchan sonnets even to: when people have passed into eternal life, Death no longer
if they don't follow the Petrarchan rhyme scheme exactly. In has the power to inspire fear. It will truly be dead.
English, the sonnet is typically written in iambic pentameter. In
This poem uses "enjambment" (lines that do not have ending
iambic pentameter, each line consists of five two-syllable
punctuation) and "caesura" (pauses within lines) to create
metrical "feet" called iambs in which the first syllable is
surprise and emphasis: "For, those, whom thou think'st, thou
unstressed and the second syllable is stressed.
dost overthrow / Die not, poor Death, nor yet can thou kill me."
Donne's sonnets are not written in a very strict sonnet form. The enjambment of "overthrow... Die not" followed by the
Their rhyme schemes vary from typical Petrarchan sonnet, caesura created by the comma after "not" forces the reader to
though Donne adheres to whatever rhyme scheme he invents read past the end of the line to see the conclusion of the
for the duration of the poem. In addition, their meter is not thought. This conclusion, that the people "die not," is further
always strict iambic pentameter. They are called Holy Sonnets emphasized by the pause.
because they are religious poems, often hymns or prayers
addressed directly to God. The sonnet form has long been
associated with perfection, and so provides a fitting form for Batter my Heart, Three-
sacred subjects.
person'd God
The religious content of the poem centers on the nature of
death and belief in eternal life and resurrection. In 1
Corinthians, Chapter 15, of the Christian Bible, the Apostle Paul
writes of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He asserts that the
Summary
resurrection defeated death itself: "The last enemy to be
In this sonnet the speaker entreats the Christian God to
destroyed is death." (Verse 26). Paul directly addresses death
"batter" his heart, rather than treat it gently. He says that, so
in verses 54–55:
far, God has sought other means to change him and make him
When this perishable body puts on imperishablilty, and this better. But, these means have been too gentle. For the speaker
mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written to become a new person, God needs to forcefully overthrow
will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." him, for he cannot seem to let God into his heart on his own no
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" matter how hard he tries. Even Reason, which God gave the
speaker, has been ineffective.
These words seem to be in the back of Donne's mind as he
wrote this sonnet. Like Paul, Donne asserts that death is not an The speaker claims he loves God dearly, but is betrothed to
everlasting state, but just a transition to eternal life. God's enemy. God must break this connection and capture the
speaker. God must imprison him, or he will never be free. God

must also ravish him, or he will never be chaste. The final two lines make use of paradox, or seemingly opposite
or contradictory ideas, to express a deep mystery. The
speaker says that unless God takes him prisoner, he cannot be
Analysis free. This statement suggests there is a kind of imprisonment
that brings freedom. Then he returns to the idea of God as a
In the first four lines of this sonnet, the speaker directly lover, saying unless God ravishes him, or overwhelms him
addresses the "three-person'd" God—that is, the Holy Trinity of sexually, he cannot be chaste, or sexually pure. These are
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He asks the Triune God to do paradoxical ideas, but metaphysical poetry is known for
something drastic—forcefully "batter" his heart. The demand bringing paradoxical elements together to drill down into some
may seem surprising in light of how people often visualize subtle and complex truth. Here, the paradox leaves the
God's interactions with those who, like the speaker, are eager impression that there is a truth that is beyond human reason or
to do right. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, God's understanding.
work on humans is often depicted in other, less-violent ways. In
Revelation 3:20, for example, God knocks on the door: "Listen,
I am standing at the door, knocking; If you hear my voice and A Hymn to God the Father
open the door, I will come into you and eat with you, and you
with me." In 2 Corinthians 4:6, God shines in people's hearts:
"For it is God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who
has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
Summary
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
The speaker begins by asking God if He will forgive the
While asking God to batter his heart, the speaker emphasizes condition of original sin. He acknowledges that this sin was
his desire by employing onomatopoeia. The strings of one- done before he was born, but it is still his own. Then he asks if
syllable words with hard consonants—knock, breathe, shine God will forgive the sins that he has done in his life. He
and break, blow, burn—create the sound effect of battering, or acknowledges that he still commits these sins even though he
blows. The tone of the poem from beginning to end is one of deplores them. He tells God that when God has forgiven these
great longing, even desperation. The speaker feels he cannot sins, he won't be done forgiving yet because the speaker will
be close to God, no matter how hard he tries. Yet, he longs for certainly commit more in the future.
this closeness and begs God to achieve it by any means

In the second stanza the speaker asks if God will forgive the
necessary.
sins he has caused other people to commit. He asks if God will
In the second set of four lines, the imagery becomes even forgive the sins he was only able to avoid for a year or two but
more violent. Now, the speaker likens himself to a town that then persisted in for a long time. He again notes that when God
has been taken over by an enemy. The speaker wants to allow has forgiven these sins, he won't be done forgiving yet
the rightful ruler into the city, but cannot. The viceroy, or because the speaker will certainly commit more in the future.
representative of the rightful ruler who wields authority on

In the third stanza the speaker confesses that he is still afraid
behalf of that ruler, is either captive, weak, or untrue. In any
of death despite God's promise of forgiveness and everlasting
case this viceroy fails to do his job. The speaker says the
life. He asks God to promise that he will stand by his promise,
viceroy is Reason, suggesting that God gave humans the ability
through Jesus, that the speaker will be forgiven and enter the
to reason as a means to be more faithful and devout.
afterlife. The speaker ends by saying if God does this, he will
In the sestet, or last six lines, of the sonnet, the speaker takes not fear death.
a slightly different approach to explain his relationship with

God and what he wants God to do. Here, he likens himself to a
lover betrothed to God's enemy. Although this enemy is
Analysis
unnamed, the speaker implies it is Satan. To be married instead
This poem is a hymn of 18 lines in three six-line stanzas. It has
to God, God must first make the speaker divorce Satan,
a rhyme scheme of ABABAB, repeated in each stanza. It is
breaking the tie that binds them.
written in fairly consistent meter—iambic pentameter for lines

1–4 of each stanza, followed by a line of iambic tetrameter and feeling good enough about his relationship with God to enjoy a
ending with a short line of just four syllables. The musical bit of wordplay.
qualities emphasized by the repeated rhymes and regular
meter are also enhanced by the use of repetition. The fifth and
sixth lines of stanzas 1 and 2 are exactly the same, and the This is my Play's Last Scene
final stanza contains a slight variation on them. The repetition
of "Wilt thou forgive" in stanzas 1 and 2 creates the impression
that the poem is a listing of the speaker's sins, building up to
Summary
the third stanza in which he confesses his sin of fear and doubt
before vowing to do better.
The speaker describes endings, such as reaching the final
scene of a play, walking the final mile of a pilgrimage, or
Thematically the poem focuses on God's forgiveness and the
running the last mile of a race. Now, he says, death will
speaker's fear that this forgiveness might not be available to
separate his body and his soul: "Instantly unjoined / My body,
him due to the extent of his sin. He needs reassurance that
and soul." The speaker's body will enter sleep for a time, while
God will forgive his sins, as he has promised to. To show how
his soul, still awake, will see the face of one whose presence
thoroughly he needs to be forgiven, the speaker catalogs his
inspires fear in him—God. His soul will go to heaven, leaving his
sins by type. He wants to make sure forgiveness will be
body and his sins in the earth, which gave birth to them. Thus,
provided for each category. He begins with original sin—the sin
separated from his sins, the speaker will leave the world, the
inherited from Adam and Eve, the first man and first woman.
flesh, and the devil behind. He asks God to attribute to him
The phrase "though it were done before" suggests that the
righteousness because he has been thus purged of evil.
speaker subtly questions the fairness of the doctrine. Even in
the midst of asking for forgiveness, he asks God whether it is
fair to hold him accountable for Adam's sin.
Analysis
Then, the speaker moves on to ask about a second category of
sins: those he has committed and even continues to commit, In this holy sonnet the speaker meditates upon his impending
admitting that he hates the fact that he commits these sins. death and his beliefs about the afterlife. In its opening lines, he
This inability to stop sinning is a sentiment found elsewhere in compares his life to a play, which has not yet reached its final
Donne, including "Batter my Heart, Three-person'd God." It scene. He compares his life to a pilgrimage, or religious
continues in the next lines, as the speaker admits with journey, and to a race, saying he is in the last mile of his life's
resignation that he will not be able to stop sinning. God will distance. The imagery then focuses on even smaller distances
have more forgiving to do. In these two stanzas the speaker and times: the last inch, the last second of the last minute.
has covered sins of the distant past, sins of the speaker's past,
Although this sonnet may seem to imply that the soul will live
sins of the present, and sins of the future. He has been
forever in heaven, free of the body, it is important to remember
thorough as if he doesn't want to omit any possibilities.
that this is not part of Christian doctrine. Donne did not believe
The final stanza seems to ask forgiveness for writing this poem that heaven was inhabited eternally by souls who had been
at all. The poem itself expresses doubt that God will forgive the freed of their bodies by death. On the contrary, Christian
speaker's sins. His sin of fear is the fear that he will perish doctrine teaches that in the future, there will be a bodily
rather than go on to the eternal life promised by God and resurrection. Donne's interpretation of what would occur at
accomplished through the work of Christ. Despite his death is elaborated in his 1626 Easter Day sermon. Interpreting
confessional tone, however, the speaker still seems to end on the Apostle Paul's words about the general resurrection in 1
a humorous note. He asks God to swear by himself—calling Corinthians 15, he says, "We shall have a sudden dissolution of
attention to the practice of swearing "by" God. Who else could body and soul ... and a sudden reunion of body and soul, which
God swear by? Then he creates a pun on the name "Donne," is a true resurrection." So although in this poem the speaker
which rhymes with "done:" "Having done that, thou hast contemplates the separation of the body and soul, it is
Donne." This more lighthearted tone suits the ending, in which important to remember he is not talking about a permanent
the speaker confidently asserts he will fear no more. He is state, but only an interim state before the day of resurrection.

At a later time, he anticipates his soul being reunited with his The poem is made up of 34 lines in 16 elegiac couplets,
resurrected and perfected body. However, the poem does not primarily in a rough iambic pentameter. It casts the speaker
describe this later time as it is mostly concerned with the time and his lover in the role of rebels or lawbreakers, and the
immediately after death and with the anticipated purging of his woman's husband in the role of king or religious leader. The
sins. speaker accepts from the outset that they are doing
something wrong. However, he doesn't seem to feel bad about
it. This is in contrast to Donne's Holy Sonnets in which the
Jealousy speaker often feels bad about his poor moral choices. This
speaker accepts that there are powers and domains in the
world, such as kings and popes. His argument seems to be that
Summary such leaders often have those that defy them, and with good
reason.
The speaker of this poem addresses a married woman with

The husband, though he is like the king of his castle or bishop
whom he is having an affair. He calls her "fond woman" and
of his diocese, is depicted as an odious man. The speaker
notes that she complains of her husband's jealous nature and
describes him with words such as swollen and pampered and
would be glad if he were to die of poison. This wish is foolish,
with deformity. These vivid and repulsive images make his
he suggests, because they should really be grateful that her
wife's decision to take another lover somewhat sympathetic.
husband is so jealous. His jealousy is what reminds them to be
They also give away the speaker's attitude toward the
diligent in keeping their affair secret. In fact, the speaker says
husband, which is one of disgust and scorn.
they should move their meetings to a location other than her
husband's home—his kingdom and castle. The speaker wants The final lines use two references to explain the attitude the
to meet somewhere where they won't have to deal with the couple will have toward the husband going forward. First, the
husband's rules, his attempts to discover their secret, and his speaker compares the couple to the residents of the "Thames
spies. Like rebels in exile who oppose their king from a right side," or South bank of the Thames. This area was the
distance, the lovers will go elsewhere to continue to defy the seedier part of London where gambling, brothels, and bear
husband. The final lines defiantly compare the couple to baiting was found. These people scorn the mayor of London.
rebellious folk, such as certain Germans and to those who live The couple is also like the Germans, who chose to follow
on "Thames right side." Martin Luther rather than the pope. German theologian Martin
Luther (1483–1546) was the driving force behind the
Protestant Reformation. In 1517 he released his Ninety-Five
Analysis Theses, a document highly critical of Catholic practices and
doctrines. As Luther's followers rejected the pope's authority,
This poem is one of four elegies included in this collection. so now the couple also scorn the husband's authority.
Many modern readers are familiar with an elegy as a poem of
grief or lamentation, often for someone who has died. Donne's
elegies do not conform to this modern definition. They arise The Perfume
instead from the tradition of Greek and Roman elegies. These
are poems written on any topic—often love—in elegiac
couplets. Traditionally elegiac couplets have been made up of
alternating lines of dactylic hexameter and dactylic
Summary
pentameter. A dactyl is a metrical foot made up of one
The speaker begins with a complaint: he was discovered with a
stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
woman and her parents overreacted. Her father has
However, elegiac couplets can be in any meter, and often have
threatened the couple with dire consequences if they are seen
an end rhyme. Donne employed rhyming couplets of iambic
together. Her mother stays in bed because of illness, but often
pentameter for most of his elegies, giving each couplet forward
stays awake at night watching to see if anyone comes or goes.
motion due to a strong meter and the satisfying end rhyme.
She pretends to lovingly take her daughter's hands and

embrace her, but really wants to feel for gifts of jewelry or any begins the speaker's complaint against the worst villain among
sign of pregnancy. She confesses her own youthful "lustiness" all the villains of the poem: his own perfume. As the speaker
in order to get her daughter to similarly confess. thinks about how the perfume has ruined all their careful
sneaking, he begins to personify and address it directly: "Thou
The speaker also describes how his mistress's siblings accept bitter sweet." He also uses metaphor to compare the perfume
bribes to spy on her. He says the "grim eight-foot-high iron- to an unfaithful lover, who had "laid next" to him even as it
bound serving-man," who is like a demon from hell, is also "traitorously ... betrayed" him. He goes on to criticize the
supposed to prevent any secret trysts. perfume as if it is a courtier, saying that it is loved by those in
the prince's hall. By using references to courtly life and
Until now, the couple has evaded discovery. They have been
religious practice, the speaker's complaint encompasses all of
"close and secret." But unfortunately, this time when he visited
society. He is angry about the entire situation.
her secretly, he was wearing a "loud perfume" and her father
smelled it on the speaker as well as his daughter. Since they The speaker ends his rant against the perfume by saying he
were discovered, the speaker rails against the perfume that would give all his perfume to embalm "thy father's corpse," and
betrayed them. then asking, "Will he die?" Perhaps these ambiguous lines are
again addressed to the speaker's mistress as the speaker
wonders, or even hopes, that her father will die.
Analysis
The poem is made up of 72 lines in 36 elegiac couplets. Like
Donne's other elegies, they are roughly in iambic pentameter,
Elegy On His Mistress
but Donne plays fast and loose with meter, relying on the end
rhymes to produce the elegiac form.
Summary
The situation described in the poem is one in which two lovers
must meet in secret because the woman's parents have The speaker addresses his beloved. He begins by invoking
forbidden them to meet. The poem employs a humorous their first meeting, their love and desire, their hopes and
situation in which an illicit love affair is accepted while those regrets. Then, he recalls all the trials they have had. He asks
that are trying to defend sexual morality are depicted as her to stay at home in England while he travels to other
monstrous. The speaker presents himself as one treated countries. He wants her to remain safe, not follow him into
poorly by his lover's family and betrayed by a perfume. In fact, danger disguised as his page. He flatters her, saying she can't
he is in the wrong. The woman's parents are presented as successfully hide her feminine beauty and will easily be
behaving unreasonably, yet their suspicions are justified. recognized as a woman. The French, especially, will recognize
her as a woman right away. The Italians will pursue her lustfully,
The first part of the poem, which is addressed to the speaker's whether they think she is a boy or a woman. She should stay in
mistress, brings out his grievance against her family. He piles England until she dies. He ends by telling her to keep their love
on figurative language to describe the woman's parents as secret and to dream happy dreams of him, not fearful ones of
hideous beasts. Her father has a stare that would kill a his death.
cockatrice—a mythical monster with a serpent's body and a
rooster's head that can kill with a look. Her mother is compared
to an undead creature, who by day lies "buried in her bed" and Analysis
rises at night to watch suspiciously from her window. The
woman's siblings are like "fairy sprites" who sneak in and spy The poem is made up of 48 lines in 24 elegiac couplets and is
on the lovers. The hired guard resembles a creature from hell in the rough iambic pentameter typical of Donne's elegiac form.
and has a stride as wide as the Colossus at Rhodes, an In this poem the speaker describes a parting, not unlike the
enormous male statue that was one of the wonders of the partings in "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" or "A
ancient world. Valediction: Of Weeping." The speaker is going far away for an
unspecified but lengthy time. He will be in danger and may not
The second part of the poem turns from these grievances and

survive. In this poem, however, it is clear that his lover has saying to be in such bondage is to be free. Then he praises
hatched a scheme to go with him. She will dress as a boy and nakedness, claiming that since souls do not have bodies,
masquerade as his page, or young assistant. In describing the bodies should not have clothes if they want to experience joy.
dangers she may face if she accompanies him, the speaker He says women's clothing and other adornments resemble the
weaves in some insults about the French and the Italians. The cover of a book, which a fool might see and fall in love with. He
French are "changeable chameleons" filled with sexually wants to know the parts of her she would only show to a
transmitted diseases while the Italians are homosexuals. midwife. He notes that he has taken off his clothes and is now
naked in order to "teach" her how it is done. He ends with a
This poem has a noticeable musical quality and uses a number question: "What needst thou have more covering than a man?"
of sound effects to produce its dramatic tone. It begins with an
invocation in which the speaker conjures, swears, and begs his
lover not to follow him into danger. Beginning the first three Analysis
lines with "By" highlights the seriousness of the speaker's
intent. Assonance, or repeated vowel sounds, adds to the This famous sensual poem is made up of 48 lines in 24 elegiac
begging, pleading tone: "O if thou die before, / My soul from couplets and is in the rough iambic pentameter typical of
other lands to thee shall soar." Donne's elegiac form. The poem is densely packed with
images both sensual and sexual. The speaker begins by
The main thrust of the poem, though, is the contrast between
directly addressing his mistress, asking her to come to him. He
truth and appearance. The speaker enters this discussion with
uses metaphor to describe his situation of sexual anticipation,
the idea that his lover cannot go in disguise because she
saying he is like a soldier who has his foe in sight and is tired of
cannot be something other than what she is. He wants her to
standing instead of going to battle. This image conveys the
be his "true mistress," not his "feigned page." He does not want
speaker's sense of readiness and even frustration with waiting.
her to "dissemble," or mislead others. He'd rather have her be
It also contains double entendre: "standing" clearly refers to
her true self at home than accompany him as a disguised or
the speaker's erection. References to his mistress's body are
dishonest person. Her presence is not as important as being
abundant and communicated with this same mixture of
"true." Perhaps, as in "Go and Catch a Falling Star," the
eagerness and sexual playfulness. Her girdle encompasses a
speaker is concerned that his love will not be true, or faithful, to
"fairer world." Her busk, a piece of clothing that supports the
him.
corset, is personified: it is "happy" to be so near her naked
body, and the speaker envies it.
To His Mistress Going to Bed Donne then uses imagery associated with exploration and
conquest as he speaks of what he'd like to do with his
mistress. His hands are roving, like explorers. She is his
Summary kingdom, his mine filled with jewels, the empire over which he
reigns.
The speaker addresses his mistress. He invites her to come to
Among these images, Donne's tendency to use religious
bed where he waits to make love. He asks her to take off her
imagery to describe sex is also clearly illustrated. He calls the
girdle, which encloses a "far fairer world." He asks her to take
bed "love's hallowed temple" and says she is an angel. The
off her breastplate, revealing to him what "busy fools" are not
speaker also argues that there is something spiritual about
allowed to see. He tells her to unlace her clothing and take off
being naked. All joys can be attributed to "full nakedness" and
her busk, gown, hair accessories, hose, and shoes. He wants
these joys cannot be experienced if bodies are clothed. He
her to then come to "love's hallowed temple"—the bed. He says
suggests that naked bodies are like souls without
she is an angel and brings paradise with her.
bodies—better able to mingle and combine.
Next, the speaker asks his mistress to permit his hands to go
The final line is another double entendre. The speaker says he
roving "before, behind, between, above, below." He compares
has undressed to teach his mistress how to do the same, then
himself to an explorer, discovering new lands and becoming
asks why she needs to have more covering than a man. This is
their ruler. He compares himself to a prisoner in bondage,

taken two ways: Why do you need to have clothes on when a contrast that will become the source of humor in the poem as
man does not have his clothes on? and Why do you need to well as its resigned and aggrieved tone. Against his better
have anything covering you but my body? judgment, the speaker decides to go along, though he warns
his companion not to leave him alone as he chases after other,
more fashionable, passersby. This warning foreshadows what
Satire 1 will occur in the poem and introduces the criticism of London's
middle class, always trying to act like aristocrats and
constantly currying favor with the nobility.
Summary The criticism continues as the speaker describes the types of

people the humorist will try to flatter: wealthy captains,
The speaker doesn't want to leave his library full of books and
perfumed courtiers, judges in velvet robes, or other people the
go with the "fondling motley humorist" who has invited him to
humorist believes might help him gain status. The speaker
go for a walk. He warns the humorist he'd better not abandon
depicts the humorist as having selfish motives for each and
him in the middle of the street for some other more "spruce"
every interaction, always judging whether someone would be
companion. He describes how the humorist, upon meeting
an advantageous person to know. The values revealed by the
people on the street, quickly sizes up the costliness of their
humorist depict the London middle class as materialistic and
clothes and how much land and wealth they have. The
self-serving.
humorist's "inquiring eyes / Dost search, and like a needy
broker prize / The silk, and gold" that people wear. His own The humorist's physicality makes him pathetic and
clothing is crude in comparison with the men the humorist embarrassing. First he gets hemmed in by the speaker and
admires. But eventually, the speaker relents and decides to go can't easily "skip forth" to greet all the well-dressed people
for a walk through London with the humorist. Just as the along the way. Instead, he smiles, simpers, wiggles, and waves
speaker feared, however, the humorist acts ridiculously. He in a ridiculous way: "He them to him with amorous smiles
smiles and waves at "every fine silken painted fool we meet." allures, / And grins, smacks, shrugs, and such an itch endures."
He excitedly points out a youth whose dancing he admires, The movements of the humorist are jumpy and jittery. He
leaves the speaker's side to talk to a "many-colored peacock," "leaps upright" and "flings" himself. These descriptions reveal
then sees his lover at a window. The humorist impulsively goes the London middle class as impulsive and ultimately foolish.
to her, but quarrels and gets into a fight. When the fight doesn't
go his way, he comes back to the speaker, "hanging [his]
head," like a recalcitrant child. Satire 2
Analysis Summary
This poem is one of three satires included in this collection.
This satire is framed as a letter written by the speaker to an
Like the elegies, these poems are written in rhyming couplets
unnamed recipient. In it, the speaker critiques the state of
that are generally iambic pentameter. They tend to be longer
poetry and the state of justice in society. He first critiques the
than the elegies, however. Donne's satires are meant to make
weak old-fashioned love poetry that is "not worth hate." Then
fun of certain types of people or aspects of society. This satire
he criticizes those playwrights that write "labor'd," or tedious,
makes fun of the London middle class, embodied by the
scenes for bad actors. He then criticizes the poets who "would
ridiculous humorist. It relies on the contrast between the
move love by rhyme," those who write for rich lords to gain
speaker and his companion.
monetary rewards, and those who write because everyone
As the poem opens, the speaker has been invited to go out else is doing so. Worst of all are the poets who copy the work
walking with an acquaintance. He doesn't want to go because of others. However, the speaker admits that these bad poets
he enjoys the "constant company" of his books and considers don't do any real harm to him personally.
the humorist "wild" and uncertain. This reservation sets up the
Then, the speaker turns to the main object of his loathing:

Coscus. Coscus is a former poet and a lawyer, and he is bad at

both, according to the speaker. He is a liar, he exploits his Satire 3
clients for money, and he leaves important words out of legal
contracts and documents on purpose.
Summary
Analysis The speaker expresses a variety of emotions—pity, scorn, and
sadness—about the state of religion. He isn't sure his railing
This poem is one of three satires included in this collection. against the maladies he sees in religious devotion will do any
Like the elegies, these poems are written in rhyming couplets good. So instead, he presents an argument. He says that the
that are generally iambic pentameter. Unlike Satire 1, this poem philosophers who came before Jesus Christ will be able to
does not have a humorous tone and comical imagery. Rather, it achieve heaven's joys by virtue of their "strict life," that is, the
is filled with harsh words for its targets. disciplined way they lived. He says that living a virtuous life
takes great courage, but the payoff is worth it. He notes that
This satire is a critique of two seemingly unrelated things: bad people are courageous in their pursuit of wealth, so why not
poets and bad lawyers. The connection is Coscus, who is both courageously pursue heaven? He exhorts the reader to stop
a bad poet and a bad lawyer. In some ways, Donne's focus on pursuing worldly wealth because this world will pass away. He
bad poets provides a contrast to the focus on Coscus because also exhorts the reader to "seek true religion." This seeking
while bad poets irritate Donne, they don't do any real harm. takes time and should be done before a person gets too old.
This is true even of the poet who presents the work of others He warns the reader not to trust in human law and power, but
as his own, whom the speaker compares to an animal who in God's power.
"doth chew / Others' wits' fruits, and in his ravenous maw /
Rankly digested, doth those things out spew." These are harsh
words, and the speaker is full of contempt for such a poet, but Analysis
the speaker has a more odious person in his sights, someone
even worse than a bad poet: a bad lawyer. This poem is one of three satires included in this collection.
Like the elegies, these poems are written in rhyming couplets
The speaker's tone is serious and condemning as he launches
that are generally iambic pentameter. Though it is titled
his critique against bad lawyers. A bad lawyer has tangible
"Satire," it does not really present a critique of the foibles of
negative effects on people and society. His clients do not get
society or a group of people. It is more of an exhortation.
justice because he is frivolous in his approach to litigation. He
doesn't care about furthering justice, but only for his own gain: It is important to remember that Donne was born and raised a
"Men which choose / Law practice for mere gain." These self- Catholic, but converted to the Church of England at some
serving lawyers are worse, in the speaker's opinion, than point between his university years and his ordination as a
prostitutes. He uses figurative language to describe how a bad priest. For him, the search for "true" religion was a personal
lawyer is like a disease spreading across the land: "Shortly (as one. Donne did not take the search lightly and clearly thought
the sea) he will compass all our land; / From Scots, to Wight; many of his fellow men were failing to give this search the
from Mount, to Dover strand." proper attention. So as the poem opens, it expresses
frustration with those who say they are Christian but who don't
The speaker ends with the cynical observation that "Good
take it seriously. He says that even the philosophers who didn't
works as good, but out of fashion now, / Like old rich
know Christ because they lived before him will "surpass / Us in
wardrobes." He feels his words will not change the "vast reach
the end" because of their devotion to virtue. In contrast, people
of the huge statute laws." This suggests that Donne felt as
of Donne's day are caught up in the desire for material things.
though his satires, despite their cleverness and validity, would
To get material wealth, they will take all kinds of risks.
make no real change in the people and the institutions he
Meanwhile, the speaker says, they neglect their spiritual well-
criticized.
being, or "leave the appointed field."
As the speaker exhorts the reader to "seek true religion," he

Selected Poetry of John Donne Study Guide Quotes 26
lists some of the options people have chosen. "Rome," or fixed, or central leg of the compass. The soul of the speaker is
Roman Catholicism, has the advantage of time and tradition: the other—the one that must leave for a distant place. This
"She [Rome] was there a thousand years ago." Others reject comparison highlights the connection between the two souls.
Catholicism and become Puritans: "Plain, simple, sullen." Some They are two parts of one whole. It also shows how each soul
join the Church of England: "She / Which dwells with us." Some responds to the other's position. When the outer soul moves
decide not to join any religious movement because they see far away, the central soul responds by leaning toward it. The
the flaws in one: "As one / Knowing some women whores, drawing compass image also emphasizes the way the central
dares marry none." leg makes it possible for the outer one to draw a perfect circle,
eventually bringing it home again.
Amidst all the choices, the speaker advises the reader to
"doubt wisely," or continue to inquire and question in order to
find the true way. He says this kind of doubt is not the bad
"Shine here to us, and thou art
type: "To stand inquiring right, is not to stray."
everywhere."
Ultimately, the speaker admits this search for truth is a
struggle, but believes it is right and necessary. He ends with a
— Speaker of "The Sun Rising", The Sun Rising
warning about trusting in the "unjust" power of men rather than
trusting in "God himself."
"The Sun Rising" develops the idea that two lovers are like an
entire world. The speaker tells the sun that by shining on the
g Quotes lovers, he shines everywhere. This line builds on the previous

one, in which the speaker tells the sun that by warming the two
lovers, he fulfills his duty to warm the entire world.
"My face in thine eye, thine in mine
appears." "Nowhere / Lives a woman true,
— Speaker of "The Good-Morrow", The Good-Morrow and fair."
— Speaker of "Go and Catch a Falling Star", Go and Catch a

In "The Good-Morrow" lovers are described as looking deeply
Falling Star
into each other's eyes so that each lover is reflected in the
other lover's eyes. This act creates a situation in which the
locked gaze of the lovers is their entire world—no other sights In "Go and Catch a Falling Star" the speaker asserts that
are within their vision. The lovers are a world unto finding a woman who is both beautiful and true, or faithful, is as
themselves—an idea that percolates throughout Donne's love impossible as catching a falling star.
poetry.
"Our souls, (which to advance their

"If they be two, they are two so /
state, / Were gone out,) hung
As stiff twin compasses are two."
'twixt her, and me."
— Speaker of "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning", A
— Speaker of "The Ecstasy", The Ecstasy
Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
In "The Ecstasy" the souls of two lovers are described as

In "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" the lovers are
leaving their bodies and hanging in the space between them.
compared to a drawing compass. The soul of the woman is the

Selected Poetry of John Donne Study Guide Quotes 27
There they "advance their state" like two armies in negotiation. In "This is my Play's Last Scene," the speaker compares life to
This description is an expression of Donne's belief that the a play, to a pilgrimage, and to a race. In each comparison, the
soul and body are linked but separate. It also shows his ability speaker is in the last part—the last scene of the play, the last
to create interesting metaphors, such as souls meeting like mile of the race. These metaphors all describe the speaker's
negotiating parties. sense of being at the end of his life. As death nears, he
meditates on what death and the afterlife will be, anticipating
being freed from his sin and being with God in heaven.
"Death be not proud, though some
have called thee / Mighty and "License my roving hands, and let
dreadful, for, thou art not so." them go / Before, behind,
— Speaker of "Death Be Not Proud", Death Be Not Proud between, above, below."
— Speaker of "To His Mistress Going to Bed", To His Mistress

The opening lines of "Death Be Not Proud" scolds Death,
Going to Bed
personified as an arrogant yet ultimately powerless person.
The main claim of the poem is that some may call Death
powerful and fearful, but in reality, Death is nothing of the kind. In the famously sensual poem "To His Mistress Going to Bed,"
The rest of the poem lays out the reasoning that supports this the speaker waits in bed for his mistress to undress and join
claim. him. These lines express his desire to caress her body, and the
thoroughness of his desire comes through in the listed areas of
her body he wants to touch.
"Take me to you, imprison me, for I
/ Except you'enthrall me, never "On a huge hill, / Cragged, and
shall be free." steep, Truth stands, and he that
— Narrator, Batter my Heart, Three-person'd God will / Reach her, about must, and
about must go."
In "Batter my Heart, Three person'd God" the speaker uses
paradox to express a meaning that is beyond logic or words. — Speaker of "Satire 3", Satire 3
These lines say that unless God takes the speaker prisoner, he
will never be free. Freedom and captivity cannot logically
In "Satire 3," the speaker tells the reader or listener to seek
coexist. Expressing this paradox gets at a subtler idea the
true religion. However, he warns that this is not an easy task.
speaker believes is true: he is not free because he is captive to
The image of Truth standing at the top of a steep hill, which the
his own sin. But God has the power to overcome his sinfulness
seeker must struggle to reach, conveys the difficulty that truth-
and free him.
seeking entails. The repeated "about must" suggests this
continual struggle, in which a seeker must try and try again.
"This is my play's last scene ... /

My pilgrimage's last mile."
— Narrator, This is my Play's Last Scene

Selected Poetry of John Donne Study Guide Symbols 28
l Symbols Drawing Compass
Gold In "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," the speaker uses the

idea of the lovers as two legs of a drawing compass to explore
the supernatural connection between them. This idea is one of
the most well-known conceits, or inventive extended
Gold is a precious metal prized for its beauty and purity. metaphors, in Donne's work. The compass, a device used for
Historically, it was pounded thin and used to decorate drawing circles made up of two straight legs connected at a
churches, artwork, and book illustrations (illuminations). It is hinge, symbolizes the two lovers and the connection between
often associated with divinity and virtue, and with wealth. In them. The outer leg moves further away from the central one,
addition, creating gold was the goal of alchemy, a science that as the speaker must move physically away from his lover.
sought to find a way to turn base metals into precious gold. Meanwhile the central leg, the lover, leans toward the outer
Alchemy provided a rich metaphorical basis for metaphysical leg—in attitude, not physically—and the spiritual connection is
poets to draw on, because it showed the role of art or craft in maintained. Although there are other symbols of the unity of
improving nature. It also appealed to Christian writers seeking two lovers as one, this one is memorable because of the way
a metaphor for sanctification or resurrection, because alchemy the legs change in response to one another. When the outer
transforms something common into something perfect. In "A one moves away, the inner leg leans toward it. When the outer
Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," the speaker compares the one returns home, the inner leg becomes straight and alert.
lovers' souls to gold that has been flattened into a broad, thin The lovers' responsiveness is not decreased, but increased, by
sheet. The symbolism of gold emphasizes the purity and distance.
beauty of their love. In another poem, "The Sun Rising," the
speaker references alchemy. He says that compared to their
love, all wealth is alchemy. That is, the riches of their love are
already perfect and do not need improvement. m Themes
Angel Love and Sex
Donne often compares the women in his poems to angels, It is easy to see even from a cursory glance at John Donne's
heavenly messengers from God. In "To His Mistress Going to poetry that many of his poems are sensual poems. They are
Bed" the speaker says his lover is an angel who brings with her filled with couples in various stages of physical intimacy.
paradise. Although the angel imagery and references to Sometimes, these young couples are in love and have not yet
paradise hint at the spiritual realm, the poem's context is engaged in sex. In "The Flea," "The Ecstasy," and "The Dream,"
decidedly sexual. Similarly, in "The Dream" the speaker wakes for example, the speaker is a man longing to have sex with his
up from a dream of lovemaking and sees his beloved, whom he beloved, who as yet feels unwilling. At other times, these lovers
initially views as an angel. The angel imagery reveals Donne's meet secretly for an illicit affair. In "The Perfume," the speaker
tendency to frame sex in religious terms, and symbolizes the and his lover carry on a sexual affair despite her parents'
connection between the physical body and the spiritual realm. objections. In "Jealousy" the speaker has been sleeping with
This symbolism reveals both Donne's religious inclinations and the wife of a jealous man.
his interest in metaphysical ideas, which explored the
relationship between what is physical and what is spiritual or Donne uses these various couples to approach the topic of
unseen. love and sex from different perspectives. In "The Flea" and "the
Ecstasy," he takes on the role of a young man cajoling his

Selected Poetry of John Donne Study Guide Symbols 29
sweetheart to make love. He argues that since love already but they are revealed in the body, which is the "book," or
unites them, there is nothing that stops them from engaging in expression, of the soul. A similar idea is present in "A
sex. These poems suggest that unity of one kind paves the Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" in which the speaker says he
way for unity of another kind. The blood of two people mixed and his lover have two souls that are one soul. Furthermore,
inside a flea that has bitten them both is treated as if it this unified soul is one that can expand to fill up the physical
corresponds to sacred marriage vows. The souls of two people space between them. This poem also contains the image of the
become as one, so consummating that union physically seems two lovers' souls as the legs of one compass—another way of
the logical next step. Sometimes, sexual longing in these describing two parts of one unified soul. To Donne, the union
poems verges on frustration. In the famous "To His Mistress of the souls of lovers and the union of their bodies in sex were
Going to Bed" the speaker still longs for sex with his mistress two sides of the same coin. This concept is also reflected by
but does not feel the frustration expressed by the speaker in Donne's use of religious language to talk about sexual
the "The Flea." Rather, he eagerly awaits his mistress, and his intimacy. For example, in "To His Mistress Going to Bed" the
longing for her is with a joyful anticipation of sexual pleasure. speaker refers to his lover as an angel and calls their bed
The speaker of "Go and Catch a Falling Star" takes the "love's hallowed temple."
opposite point of view. He asserts that nowhere in the world
can a woman both true and beautiful be found. He has clearly The other approach Donne takes to discuss the way bodies
been disappointed in love. From the eager, to the frustrated, to and souls interact is through his references to death and dying.
the cynical, Donne's poems reveal the many experiences of In the second line of "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," for
sexual relationships. example, the speaker describes men dying, saying they
"whisper to their souls to go." This suggests that Donne
Yet, Donne writes about other expressions of love as well. In "A believed that at death, soul and body were parted for a time,
Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," he focuses on the emotional until the body would be resurrected by God for the final
and metaphysical connection of two lovers. He describes them judgment.
as the two legs of a drawing compass, able to be connected
over long distances. He frequently likens lovers to a whole
world—a microcosm of the world. The conceit, or extended
metaphor, of the lovers as a whole world is found in several Death and Original Sin
poems. For example, in "The Sun Rising," the speaker tells the
sun that if he warms the couple, he warms the entire world. In
these images, whether of sexual love, the connection of souls, Donne's Christian beliefs predominantly influence his views on
or lovers as two parts of a whole, the emphasis is on death. That is, he believed that death was a consequence of
unity—two people becoming one. This exploration of love sin because it entered the world through the original sin of
moves beyond the physical. Love is not only personal or Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Through the death and
physical; it is a force that, in every expression, binds two resurrection of Jesus Christ, however, death could be
people into one being. overcome, and humans could receive eternal life. This is the
main theme in the poem "Death Be Not Proud" in which the
speaker scolds Death for being proud and argues that Death is
actually temporary, powerless, and destined for destruction. In
Body and Soul this poem Donne also acknowledges that to many people,
likely including himself, Death is a fearful prospect. Other Holy
Sonnets take up this theme. In "A Hymn to God the Father" the
In Donne's poems the body and the soul are separate aspects speaker admits he still fears death because he doubts God's
of a human being, but they are also intertwined. Souls can promise to give him eternal life. In "This is my Play's Last
leave the body, as they do in "The Ecstasy," mingling with each Scene" he depicts death as the sudden separation of body and
other and becoming unified. Yet in this poem the speaker also soul and as a temporary sleep of the body during which the
notes that souls reside in the body and even if they leave it, soul is with God in heaven.
they must return. Within the soul, the mysteries of love grow,

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Selected Poetry

of Donne's work, titled Poems, by J.D. With Elegies on the

Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth (1533–1603), ascended the throne

England Protestants in positions of power and forbade the Catholic

In another attack on Catholicism, German theologian Martin

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Priest and Poet Speaker of "The Flea"

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Full Character List In "Satire 2" Coscus is disliked by

In "Death Be Not Proud" the

The speaker of "The Good-

The speaker of "The

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The Sun Rising

In this poem, also known as "Song," the speaker argues that

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money and whose dishonest ways do real harm.

To His Mistress Going to Bed

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The Flea poet, as it allows for several contrasting interpretations. Its

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symbols of circles and gold found in the poem. Plato and

In the seventh through ninth stanzas the speaker compares

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The speaker bids farewell to his beloved as he prepares to sail

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Analysis the reader to do several fantastical and impossible things.

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mandrakes and mermaids. This mythical imagery and

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Analysis This poem is structured like an argument. The claim is that

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this closeness and begs God to achieve it by any means

representative of the rightful ruler who wields authority on

a slightly different approach to explain his relationship with

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The speaker of this poem addresses a married woman with

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Summary The criticism continues as the speaker describes the types of

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Coscus. Coscus is a former poet and a lawyer, and he is bad at

As the speaker exhorts the reader to "seek true religion," he

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g Quotes lovers, he shines everywhere. This line builds on the previous

— Speaker of "Go and Catch a Falling Star", Go and Catch a

"Our souls, (which to advance their

In "The Ecstasy" the souls of two lovers are described as

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— Speaker of "To His Mistress Going to Bed", To His Mistress