 ‘The Canonization’ belongs to Donne’s collection of love poems ‘Songs and Sonnets”.

In “The Canonization”, the poet talks of love like a mystical full of contempt and rebuff for those who argue
against love. The word ‘Canon’ means the list of sayings officially published by the Catholic Church. So,
Canonization is the long-drawn complex process by which the person is declared as saint. For example, mother
Teresa of Calcutta has been canonized; she is now known as St. Teresa of Calcutta.
The impression that the title of the poem gives is that it is a very religious Poem but when we read the poem, in
fact when we read the first line of the poem, our expectations are shattered as we realize that it's a very secular
love poem. We realize that it deals with unholy matters thus using the title the point raises certain expectations
and then dashes them to the ground of contradiction. The contradiction between the title of the poem and the
first line of the poem itself is one of the great strengths of the poet.
In the beginning stanza, Donne uses metaphors to laugh at the patriarchal style of making love. The poet says
that nobody is harmed by his type of love-making. His tears have not caused any flood. The poet’s making of
love does not affect or disturb even the flow of social life. Thus the poet deals with secrets of love which raises
it from physical level to the spiritual plane.
Throughout the poem, he gives a series of metaphors to express his mystical experience of love. Poet mentions
the myth of ‘phoenix’ and claims that his love gives more meaning to the ‘riddle of phoenix’. It is believed that
there is not more than one phoenix in existence at a time and so is there love. The poet says that although they
are different physically but their soul has become one after they have made love to each other. This suggests
that their love is self-absorbing.
The poet sums up the poem saying that people from the coming generations will address them as glorified souls
who redefined the meaning of love for everyone. They, who saw reflections of each other’s world in their eyes
and performed the mystical action of contracting the world, will be epitomized for love. And then everyone
would long for love similar of their kind.
‘The Sunne Rising’ is another love poem written by Donne and published in 1633. In this poem, the poet is
being very straightforward while he is addressing the sun. Although the Sun is taken as the supreme power in
myths and addressed to as a god, Donne never fails to demean the power of the supreme entity. Donne as a love
poet is known for his being vocal about the feelings which he had for his beloved. For him, love is the prime
power and whatever comes in between the love of the partners is trivial. This is evident in the first stanza of the
poem where he is chiding the sun for shining over him and his lover. He calls the sun “old fool” and “unruly”.
This gives the impression of rebellious nature of lovers.
Donne treats the theme of love just as divine love. He justifies his selfish love as holy and divine. The body and
soul becomes one by the act of love making as happens in a religious mystery. Physical love is regarded as
spiritual combination in Donne’s poetry. In his poem “The Sunne Rising”, lovers are rejecting the material
world and in ‘The Canonization’, they are canonized for making the divine act of loving. Thus, the themes in
his poems moved around the representation of Divine love.