John Donne Essay, Research Paper

In John Donne s poetry he uses allot of images to relate to biblical themes. He uses similar views the Jesus had in the new testament. In some parables that are in the new testament that relate to some of Donne s poetry. Some of the images that both Donne and the parables had are very similar to each other. Especially the similarities between life and death situations dealing with everyday life.

John Donne has a series of poems called the Holy Sonnets . In these poems Donne speaks of various topics ranging from the tragedies of death and its impacts on the people it has. To the images and comparisons to God and how we should live are lives. In, Holy Sonnet 14 , Donne uses the image of Death to be welcomed when in a dieing situation. Or in that case, he tries to explain Death in a more manageable way for people to deal with. He does this to lighten the mood of a person in a dieing situation. This is related to Jesus when he said not to fear the next world in the New Testament.

The same goes for the comparison of Jesus to Donne. Jesus, in his time of death welcomed it and accepted it. He welcomed his own death similar to Donne s Holy Sonnet 14.

Donne being a holy man probably used the bible as a teaching reference to get his point across to his follow man back in his time. He also could have used the parable teachings as a guide lined system to base his Holy Sonnet series on. The series does have the title of Holy . Dealing with the catholic religion. In Holy Sonnet 10, Donne uses the symbol of death and how it is dark and represents evil. He also explains how Death can be a positive point in his poetry and how to deal with it. Which is the same thing Jesus had done with the story about the devil coming to the Earth and tenting people as an evil deed. Were these two differ is some of there comparisons of there teachings and who there audiences are. Donne uses symbols such as working things in society such as an iron maker in Holy Sonnet 10. He also compares God to a suppose or a married other who you have to live with and be compatible with. Jesus compared God to nature in his teachings. Like tress or seeds that needed to development inside of yourself. Jesus also dealt with everyday situations which is similar to what Donne did in most of his works. But they still compare with things that people can relate to and better understand. They probably did this so people would feel more comfortable with dealing in these certain situations. They also did this so people would understand there own faith better. That’s what comes to my mind when reading both there works.

Humans have always been slaves to Death, fearing it, running from it, and trying to prevent it. In line nine, the speaker goes against that to say that Death is a slave to fate, chance and us. When Death becomes a slave it is because it will benefit from who will die, but doesn t have the power to kill. Without fate nothing could be determined, therefore, our fate is truthfully what controls our lives and deaths. It decides when our time has been completed on this earth, and then comes Death to take us away. Chance plays a huge part in ones destiny as well, because at any time, anything could happen that will also require Death to come. Next, in line 10 he says And dost with poison, war and sickness dwell; Therefore, not only is Death a slave, but it is also dependent on people in order to survive. Death is shown a sense of insecurity in line three when the speaker says, For those whom thou think st thou dost overthrow, die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. Donne is telling Death that all those who it think it killed it really didn t, and that it cant kill him, again proving that Death is not what takes lives but what delivers them.

In a statement from Donne s works he said that he wanted people to understand his point of view of his own faith and what he thought and believed in. This is a similar point of view to what Jesus wanted to do. Jesus wanted to spread the word of his own faith to his many followers. Donne spread the word of his faith in almost the same manner that Jesus tried to do. He probably didn t have this in mind at the time but he felt he was making the right decision. On the other hand he probably had some motivation from Jesus parables. Maybe his faith inspired him to write his Holy Sonnet series for the likes of his peers. But at the same time Donne probably put a twist on his writings to fit for his time. It is the nature of a poet to be unique and to make new material. In this case Donne wanted to have a good topic to tell people about his faith. A topic that he felt strong enough about to write a series about. People apparently liked his work because they are still talking about his poetry today.

Donne s works are mainly said about his everyday life. So he probably wrote this poetry when he thought his life was coming to an end. Or he felt he needed to get this out to the public in a different manner then coming right out and telling them. A poetry critic who disagrees with Donne s poetry said that he wrote his Sonnet poems to get forgiveness from God. And that he was preparing for his own death. Or even he wrote it to be at peace with God. My theoey about this is that the critic disliked Donne s work and wanted to make him out as being bad. He wrote this poetry to express and to get his point of his faith out in the real world so that others would understand his belief of his faith better. In Holy Sonnet X John Donne explains his faith. Death, commonly viewed as an all-powerful force against life, is otherwise described in John Donne s Holy Sonnet 10. Donne just mainly wanted to get his point across about his faith and liked people to know about himself.

My opinion is that Donne wanted to expand his faith to other people the same way Jesus wanted to do when he started preaching at his local temples and wanted to spread his faith. They just used different styles to get there points across to people. Both of them came up at different times in the world. So they had to present there material in a different manner so that it could be accepted better. but like all new ideas it took a while till it could finally be accepted in Society. There works were put down at first but later considered to be great. Jesus were accepted allot more then Donne’s were. That’s probably why he has a religion and Donne doesn t. But Jesus had the original idea of it.

Where people loved Jesus there were those who hated him too. That’s why he was put to death. That could have been the same for Donne with his writings. Just not as extreme as Jesus situation. When Donne explains about death he often writes about his experciences with it. Throughout existence, there have been many theories regarding exactly what role Death plays in the lives of those who experience it. Some think Death is the ultimate controller of all living things, while others believe it is nothing more than the act of dying once your time has come. Donne, on the other hand, has his own philosophy. The entire Sonnet, Donne speaks directly to Death. He personifies what to man has always been a spirit and has never been touched, seen or furthermore killed He gives Death life, and therefore makes it mortal, exposing it to pain, torment and eventually, defeat. In lines one and two Donne says Death, be not proud, though some have called thee, Mighty and dreadful thou art not so. By referring to Death as a person, he makes it easier for the reader to bring Death down to a level of a weakness and venerability, allowing us to examine it to see what Death really is.