Explore the themes of love and/or religion in the poetry of John Donne

...The Canonization reflects a contrasting sentiment to The Calme, but its subject matter can be expanded in a similar way to reveal a wider discourse on religion, divine love and the constrictions of society. Tom Gain writes that “Politics was…inseparable from religion…For Donne, God as king and father presided over a patriarchal structure which was by definition hierarchic.” This acceptance of a hierarchy, with God at the head of it, is explored here by examining the notion of love and its lack of place within the political structures of the day. This seems to suggest that incorporating oneself into the body of the world (or society) is not necessarily the fault of the citizen, but the structures in place which govern him - and that a solace can be found in the divine realm (the latter part of this statement is a sharp contrast with how religion is presented in The Calme). Donne uses titles incredibly effectively; as with The Calme, we receive an incredibly different poem to the one implied by the title The Canonization. Canonization itself refers to the process of the Catholic Church by which sainthood was attributed to deceased individuals; therefore the opening remark is certainly alarming, and has an almost blasphemous effect; “For God’s sake hold your tongue.” Indeed, many critics have pointed out how the tone of the stanzas create a tension within the overall structure of the poem, and how this points towards a larger picture. In John A. Clair’s discourse, he references Cleanth Brooks’ analysis of the poem, stating that “[Brooks] sees Donne’s poem as less than an organic unit: he feels that the last three stanzas are too heavy a burden for the two introductory stanzas which merely establish “a vein of irony” for the heavily weighted remainder of the poem.” Indeed, the sentiment of the opening stanzas varies greatly from the sentiment of the final ones. For example, the frequent use of imperatives and implied direct address situate the subject matter of the poem in a local context - as though the speaker is retaliating to some other party. The perspective broadens from an emphasis on himself, and his own faults (“Or chide my palsy, or my gout…”) to the monarchy and the faults that may be inherent there (“Observe his Honour, or his Grace, / Or the King’s real…”); here he shows a distinct lack of faith in political structures, elevating his love above the hierarchy which governs all. This contrasts with the explosive imagery within the final stanzas, culminating with the final phrase “Countries, towns, courts: beg from above / A pattern of your love!” This implies that the love that the speaker has resonates more within the divine realm, where it is able to accommodate itself. In fact, Clair writes “The entire poem throughout the five stanzas may be said to be controlled by the Canonization metaphor as it proceeds from proof of personal sanctity, to proof of heroic virtue, proof of miracles, examination of the burial place and the saint’s writings, and finally to the declaration of sainthood and the veneration of the Saint” Furthermore, perhaps we may read the Canonization as referring, not to sainthood, but in terms of a divine acceptance of the speaker’s love. There is no place for such a love in society. // Perhaps one of the most notable differences between The Calme and The Canonization is the form taken by each. The latter is placed into what seems to be a more formal structure; however, as with the title, this is quickly subverted. The number of feet in each line fluctuates between 5 and 4, before ending in trimeter. The consistency as the stanza develops is entirely abandoned; this seems to hint at a step towards rhythmic freedom which is echoed in the subject matter of the poem, as the speaker escapes the constraints of society to reach a diviner realm where his love can be celebrated. Furthermore, the rhyme structure of the first four lines (ABBA) implies a Petrarchan sonnet; however, this rhyme scheme is subsequently abandoned, with the final 5 lines following a pattern of CCCDD. This subversion of the Petrarchan style can be found elsewhere in the poem, where the parody of Petrarchan love-tropes; “What merchant’s ships have my sighs drowned? / Who says my tears have overflowed his ground?” This constant subversion or mockery of societal standards seems to imply the Donne is calling for a new mode of thinking where love is concerned; transposing it into the divine realm, where it has a place, rather than in the physical, earthly realm where it seems hyperbolic and unnatural.