The Morphing Metaphysical Man
Every literary work has an idea or reason for its existence. Authors try to incorporate what is going on in their life or the world when they write. One particular author from the sixteenth century is a superb example of this method. A man named John Donne passed through three distinct phases in his life, each one illustrated in his many poems. Donne developed the genre of metaphysical poetry, which expresses ideas in highly abstract and difficult ways. Through thorough analysis, one can define what stage of life he was in while reading his poems. With respect to Donne being a bachelor, married man, and clergyman, he wrote “Song,” “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” and “Sonnet 14.” People’s opinions shape their lifestyles, and Donne’s thoughts on women force him to be a bachelor. A person will not live a lifestyle without reasons supporting it. John Donne provides us with his insight as to why being a bachelor is the correct choice. Stereotypical and negative portrayals of women are numerous in the poem entitled “Song.” All women are illustrated as being the same way, leading to Donne proclaiming, “Nowhere lives . . .
Thoughts change like the wind, just as Donne’s poems do as his life evolves. a woman true, and fair” (Song, 17-18). Due to his negative perception of women, it is easily recognizable that he is writing as a bachelor. With the discovery of truth comes change, and John Donne reflects this change when writing as a married man. The author who proves this statement is John Donne. He wants readers to visualize this change in his life through the symbolic language now common in his works. He uses an elaborate conceit symbolizing the metamorphosis his life has undergone after marrying, “As stiff twin compasses are two/ To move, but doth, if th’ other do” (A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, 26,28). Motives drive the will of words, and an author’s life defines their subject matter. An author with no explanation for his work is dull, and of this, John Donne is not guilty. Since Earthly love cannot last indefinitely, the death of his wife brings forth his love of God. In comparison to ordinary lovers, he writes how his affection is greater than all else, “But we by a love so much refined” (A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, 17). Intent on showing personal change, Donne gives us pictures of his three distinct lifestyles as a bachelor, husband, and follower of God. The clergyman is dedicated to God and only God, writing solely for Him. This profound statement is written to define his current existence as a willful puppet of God, displaying the change from being married. He states that even though one’s chances of finding a true, fair woman is very rare, it is possible.
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