"I am a little world" John Donne tells us in one of his sonnets, and by that point in the Norton Anthology he's made a convincing case for just that. In his poems, Donne uses his grasp of the English language to bend the very universe to his will.
In "The Flea," for example, Donne uses his quick wit for the purposes of convincing his chaste lover to have sex with him. (When you get right down to it, a lot of these poems are just Donne using gorgeous prose to tell girls to get naked. "Full nakedness! All joys are due to thee" sounds like something an eloquent seventeen year old might proclaim on prom night.) His argument is that, if their "two bloods mingled be" inside a flea, then why not inside their bed? Here, Donne is using metaphor (or, as the Norton Anthology puts it, "conceit") to get this woman to do what he wants. It's a recurring theme in these poems: Donne (and, occasionally, his lover) are their own solar systems, capable of absolutely anything.
In "The Sun Rising," he uses language to put himself in a position of power over the sun. The sun is a "busy old fool," the sun is a "saucy pedantic wretch," and the sun should just leave Donne and his lover alone, because in his bed (and subsequently, in Donne's charmingly solipsistic worldview, the universe) they are all of the kings and continents of the universe. Once again, Donne uses language to bend the world to his will, except this time he does it literally: "This bed, thy center is" Donne tells the sun. He literally makes the sun revolve around him!
The Norton Anthology notes that in Expostulation 19, Donne imagines God as "a conceit-maker like himself." Which one would have to think would be the height of sacrilegiousness in 17th century England: he's comparing himself to God! Yet Donne somehow never comes off as less than humble; in "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," he shows that he has an understanding of mortality. He's just trying to live life as fully as he can, to learn as much as possible (these poems are littered with references to science, law, and classical texts). No, the only thing Donne perceives as sacrilegious is not having sex with him. In "The Flea," he tells his lover that murdering the flea that mingled their bloods would be "sacrilege"--in that it would kill the animal, their respective bloods, and the product of that blood-mingling. Even the tiniest things and moments have endless significance to Donne; it's why he can weave them all so skillfully in to his all-encompassing universe.
I read that during the seventeenth century it was believed that women became pregnant when the blood of the man (present in his semen) mixed with her blood during sexual intercourse. http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/English_Literature/17th_c/17c_poetry.htm
ReplyDeleteThat could very well be reason enough for the women to abstain from sex.
It is interesting the way Donne is able to treat himself and his lover as the center of the universe in many of his secular poems and be so self deprecating in many of his holy poems. I know the Norton Anthology says there is confusion regarding the order in which Donne's poems were written, but it would be fascinating to watch Donne's progression. Did his poetry become more humble or was there no pattern?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I like that you brought up Donne's idea of God as a conceit-maker. This does seem to imply Donne himself was a little bit of a God. A lot of 18th century Romantic poets made that same kind of comparison of poets to Gods, but they did it even more explicitly.
After reading your post and looking back at the poems, it's easy to trace Donne's ego, as he tends to view himself as being above these commonalities that plague most people. The comparison you make between God and Donne is a good one, as it is clear that Donne envisions himself on a higher level than most. Donne argues for his view of love and is incredibly defensive of anything that comes to threaten it, especially any aspect that constitutes his love, especially sex.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Donne does not come off as being anything but humble even though he is claiming he is above God, the Sun, or any higher being. I think this is because he words his poems in a way that suggests that it's not necessarily him that is above these things, but the strength of his love. It's almost like he is saying that the power of love or his connection (or sex) with his lover is so beyond life on Earth or beyond of the universe. Readers can relate to the feeling of being wrapped up in love or in someone else and how emotional someone can get in this situation and therefore don't see his self centered approach as egotistical.
ReplyDeleteI think it is really interesting that you were able to see this point of view in Donne's poems. Now, after rereading the ones that you mentioned in this post, I can understand your point of view. I also agree with Jennie, I do not think that Donne thinks that he is better than God, or nature, I think that it is the over bearing feeling of love that has taken over him, or whoever he speaks of in these poems. Yes, he might be trying to woo women into sleeping with him, as it does seem in "The Flea", but I do not think that is the case in every poem. I think that at a certain point he may have developed actual feelings, and now it is the power of love speaking, not his ego.
ReplyDeleteI don't see Donne as very egotistical at all. He speaks of love as an all-encompassing thing, not just his own selfish lust.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think Donne could un-sacrilegiously consider himself a "god" as a poet because, as a creature made in God's image, he is imbued with the desire and ability to create and author "conceits" of his own.
firstly, i really enjoyed reading your rumination. I think it did an excellent job defending your argument of Donne's egotism. I found it particularly interesting after reading the Holy Sonnets and about Donne's role as a preacher towards the end of his life. It seems to me that Donne does see the role of the poet as one of design, in that he shapes his reality through his words. This does establish him as a kind of creator or god, and i think that it is from this understanding of his art form that makes some of his work seem self-centered.
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