JOHN DONNE SHORT ANSWERS

SHORT ANSWERS - JOHN DONNE

Answer the following questions.

(i) What is John Donne considered to be?

Ans. John Donne (1572 - 1631) was an English poet and a cleric in the Church of England. He is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets. He is often considered the greatest love poet in the English language. He is also noted for his religious verse.

(ii) Define metaphysical poetry?

Ans. Metaphysical poetry is highly intellectualized poetry marked by bold and ingenious conceits, incongruous imagery, complexity and subtlety of though, frequent use of paradox, and often by deliberate harshness or rigidity of expression. John Donne, Henry Vaughan and Andrew Marvell are famous metaphysical poets.

(iii) What is a theme?

Ans. Theme is the main, fundamental and universal idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work that may be stated directly or indirectly. It unifies and controls the entire literary work. For example, the main theme in the play "Romeo and Juliet" is love with smaller themes of sacrifice, tragedy, struggle, hardship, devotion and so on.

(iv) What are some common themes in the poems of John Donne?

Ans. Love as both physical and spiritual, religion, death and the hereafter, paradoxes, belittling cosmic forces, interconnectedness of humanity, and fidelity are the common themes in the poem of John Donne.

(v) What is the difference between Donne's love poems and divine poems?

Ans. The theme of love poems and divine poems is different. Love poems describe three kinds of love; cynical, conjugal and Platonic. Divine poems describe two notes; the Catholic and the Anglican. However, the thought and spirit behind the two categories of poems is same.

(vi) What are the three moods of love in Donne's poems?

Ans. The first mood of love is cynical. It celebrates the physical appetite, notably presented in the "Elegies". The second mood of love is conjugal. It is a mutually enjoyed love between man and woman as found in "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning". Thirdly, there is the Platonic love, as in "The Canonization", where love is regarded as a holy emotion like the worship of a devotee of God.

(vii) How does Donne distinguish between physical and spiritual love?

Ans. "Physical love" is the love that is primarily based upon the sensation or the presence of the beloved or that emphasizes sexuality whereas "spiritual love" is based on higher and more refined feelings than sensation. As a Metaphysical poet, Donne uses physical loved to evoke spiritual love.

(viii) What is a cynical love?

Ans. Cynicism is an attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others. So cynical love is anti-woman and hostile to the fair sex. It indicates the frailty of man -- a matter of advantage for lovers who like casual and extra-marital relations with ladies.

(ix) How is Donne's life reflected in his poetry?

Ans. Several major events in Donne's life -- his marriage, his conversion to Anglicanism, his wife's early death, illness, and his elevation to the Deanship of St. Paul's -- can be seen in his poetry.

(x) How is death treated in Donne's poetry?

Ans. Death is treated both as a reality of life and as an abstract concept. For Donne death is not necessarily somber but provides a transition moment -- often a climax -- denoting a change of state. "Death Be Not Proud", personifies Death as a powerless being who cannot survive past the Resurrection; ultimately, all people will reach their metaphysical states.

(xi) What is an allusion?

Ans. An allusion is a casual reference to a person, place, event, or another passage of literature, often without explicit identification. Allusions can originate in mythology, biblical references, historical events, legends, geography, or earlier literary works. For example, "Don't act like a Romeo in front of her." - "Romeo" is a reference to Shakespeare's Romeo, a passionate lover of Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet".

(xii) What is a conceit?

Ans. Conceit is a figure of speech in which two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of similes, metaphors, imagery, hyperbole and oxymora. One of the most famous conceits is John Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning", a poem in which Donne compares two souls in love to the points on a geometer's compass.

(xiii) What is hyperbole?

Ans. Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It is used to create emphasis on a situation. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not to meant to be taken literally. For example, "I had to wait in the station for ten days - an eternity". (The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad)

(xiv) Why do you mean by elegy?

Ans. An elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem in the form of elegiac couplets. It is usually a funeral song or a lament for the dead. "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" by Walt Whitman are the most popular examples of elegy.

(xv) How many elegies did Donne write?

Ans. Donne wrote 20 elegies. These include: Jealosie, The Anagram, Change, The Perfume, His Picture, Oh, Let Me Not Serve, Natures Lay Ideot, The Comparison, The Autumnall, The Dreame, The Bracelet, His Parting From Her, Julia, A Tale of a Citizen and His Wife, The Expostulation, On His Mistris, Variety, Loves Progress, To His Mistris Going to Bed and Love Warr.