Donne Essay Research Paper Donne is more

Donne Essay, Research Paper

Donne is more concerned with wit and conceit than with meaning and sincerity

That Donne is concerned with wit is scarcely deniable. The imagery used in The Legacie is incredibly complicated, and he seems to be demonstrating his intelligence. In the opening two lines, “When I dyed last, and, Deare, I dye/ As often as from thee I goe,” the narrator both implies that leaving his lover is immensely painful, and uses “dye” in a sexual sense. This might imply that they practice the withdrawal method of contraception, and that their relationship is therefore neither long-term nor particularly significant to either of them. Donne thus uses two lines to express what would usually take much longer, proclaiming his intellect to the reader, although he avoids being ostentatious. Later in the poem, it takes ages to work out whether the narrator is referring to himself (alive or dead) or his mistress, whenever he uses first person pronouns: “I heard mee say, Tell her anon,/ That my selfe, (that is you, not I,)/ Did kill me”. This forces the reader to experience the confusion and anguish of the persona, instead of simply reading about them. In this case, Donne uses his intelligence to improve the reader’s perception of the emotions described in the poem.

He continues, using the complex idea of the narrator’s spirit searching for his heart inside the body of his former self, thus demonstrating his wit. That he is able to think in such a way shows just how clever he is. Throughout this poem, although at times he seems conceited, I think that he is merely using his insight to make a valid and meaningful point. He describes the persona’s emotions in a way “As good as could be made by art”, thus accepting that the sentiments expressed in the poem are never going to be conveyed perfectly. In spite of this, he succeeds in communicating them quite effectively to the reader. This is surely a sign of his intellect. The persona’s feelings towards his lover seem to be genuine, and driven by passion for her. He cleverly explains how much he wants her to pledge her heart to him, although he suggests that it is flawed: “colours it and corners had”.

Donne accepts that his poem is imperfect, since a logical medium like words will never be able to express such an illogical feeling as love. He thus acknowledges that the persona’s desire for his mistress is wholly unjustifiable. However, as we have no idea as to the identity of the persona, there is no way of telling whether Donne is being conceited. If the Donne is persona, one can assume that he is writing about his own emotions, and thus being sincere. Unfortunately, as there is no guarantee of this, it is impossible to know if he is writing about genuine feelings.

Similarly, in The Flea, Donne manages to make an intricate and complex argument from an ordinary occurrence. He succeeds in glorifying the importance of a flea, saying “This flea is you and I, and this/ Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is”. He continues, comparing it to God (”three lives in one”, referring to the trinity,) and calling it “these living walls of Jet.” Here he is certainly demonstrating his wit by making his argument seem valid, although it clearly is not. The significance that attributes to the flea is undeserved. The reasons given why his mistress should not kill the flea are based on its religious importance: “three lives in one flea spare,” and “w’are…cloysterd in these living walls”. However, the flea only has this significance because of his argument, so it is invalid. Although he says that the flea represents God, it is not necessarily the case.

Clever argument seems to recur in this poem. At the end of the poem, the persona manages to turn his mistress’s reasoning on its head. He appears to have conceded that he has lost the debate (”Yet thou triumph’st, and saist that thou/ Finds not thy selfe, nor me the weaker now;”) but uses her own proposition to make his point. He says that “Just so much honor, when thou yeeld’st to mee,/ Will wast, as this flea’s death took life from thee.” However, although he seems to be cleverly refuting her argument, he ignores the fact that his logic is again invalid. He says that she would not be any weaker if she were to submit to him, simply because she did not feel any pain when she killed the flea. Although this is clearly invalid, Donne’s triumph is that he manages to make it seem like clever reasoning.

During this poem, it seems clear that Donne is not being genuine. Assuming that he appreciates the flaws in his argument, he does not seriously believe that his mistress should “yeeld… to [him]” simply because the flea has bitten both of them. The persona in the poem is trying to persuade her to sleep with him, and is using his wit to do this. As previously, the reader has no way of being aware of the persona’s identity. It is therefore difficult to know whether he is being sincere, or simply being witty for the sake of showing how he can comprehend complex reasoning. This case, however, is more clearly defined than The Legacie, since in that poem it is plausible that the persona was being sincere in what he said. This is much less likely in The Flea, because the flaws in the argument are more obvious, and the persona is trying to get his mistress to submit to his wishes. This suggests that he neither respects her opinion nor genuinely cares about her, wherea