John Donne is one of the most important English poets of his time. He was the best of the metaphysical poets and is remembered for his skill with conceits. His poetry evolved greatly as he grew older, and more contemplative religious works replaced the erotic poems of his youth. His works include the Holy Sonnets, Juvenilia: or Certain Paradoxes and Problems, and Letters to severall persons of honour.
John Donne’s ‘The Sun Rising’ poignantly explores love’s timelessness, challenging the sun’s authority and highlighting love’s precedence over worldly concerns and duties.
Busy old fool, unruly sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains call on us?
Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run?
‘The Funeral’ portrays a speaker’s detailed funeral wishes, particularly leaving a hair bracelet untouched, symbolizing enduring love and eventual entrapment.
Whoever comes to shroud me, do not harm
Nor question much
That subtle wreath of hair, which crowns my arm;
The mystery, the sign, you must not touch,
‘A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’ by John Donne is a metaphysical poem exploring the nature of enduring love.
As virtuous men pass mildly away,
And whisper to their souls to go,
Whilst some of their sad friends do say
The breath goes now, and some say, No:
Holy Sonnet 7, ‘At the round earth’s imagin’d corners, blow,’ describes Judgment Day and the speaker’s appeal to God to forgive his sins.
At the round earth's imagined corners, blow
Your trumpets, angels, and arise, arise
From death, you numberless infinities
Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go,
‘A Valediction: of Weeping’ delves into separation and the emotive force of tears, using metaphysical wit to explore deep questions of love and loss.
Let me pour forth
My tears before thy face, whilst I stay here,
For thy face coins them, and thy stamp they bear,
And by this mintage they are something worth,
Donne’s poem captures lovers on a spring riverbank, evolving from soulful dialogue to physical communication.
Where, like a pillow on a bed
A pregnant bank swell'd up to rest
The violet's reclining head,
Sat we two, one another's best.
‘Batter my heart, three-person’d God’ responds to religious doubt with a passionate surrender to god’s aggressive but ecstatic will.
Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
‘Hymn to God, My God, in My Sickness’ by John Donne is written from the perspective of a dying man hoping to gain access to heaven.
Since I am coming to that holy room,
Where, with thy choir of saints for evermore,
I shall be made thy music; as I come
I tune the instrument here at the door,
Donne’s ‘Death, be not proud,’ rooted in the Christian idea of the afterlife, challenges the personified death, exposing its illusory power.
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
‘Elegy VII’ by John Donne, also known as ‘Nature’s lay idiot, I taught thee to love,’ is a typical piece about unrequited love.
Nature’s lay idiot, I taught thee to love,
And in that sophistry, oh, thou dost prove
Too subtle: Fool, thou didst not understand
The mystic language of the eye nor hand:
‘The Flea’ by John Donne is the poet’s most famous poem. In it, he uses one of his brilliant conceits to convince his love to sleep with him.
Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is;
It sucked me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;
‘The Canonization’ by John Donne describes a transcendent love that eventually evolves into the idealized baseline for all other aspiring lovers.
For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love,
Or chide my palsy, or my gout,
My five gray hairs, or ruined fortune flout,
With wealth your state, your mind with arts improve,
‘A Nocturnal upon St. Lucy’s Day’ by John Donne is one of the poet’s best poems about love and loss. It depicts the speaker’s grief after the death of someone he loved.
'Tis the year's midnight, and it is the day's,
Lucy's, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks;
The sun is spent, and now his flasks
Send forth light squibs, no constant rays;
‘The Expiration’ by John Donne captures an incredibly emotional moment between two lovers and the consequences of it.
So, so breake off this last lamenting kisse,
Which sucks two soules, and vapours Both away,
Turne thou ghost that way, and let mee turne this,
And let our selves benight our happiest day,
‘Holy Sonnet XIII’ by John Donne is a religious poem that discusses the poet’s mortality and change of opinion when it comes to beauty and the state of his soul.
What if this present were the world's last night ?
Mark in my heart, O soul, where thou dost dwell,
The picture of Christ crucified, and tell
Whether His countenance can thee affright.
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