A literary analysis of two poems by Donne namely The Flea and The Sun Rising - Essay Example

? 10 November A literary analysis of two poems: Known for his penetrating language, unorthodox style, and creative use of conceits, John Donne has gained profound recognition as one of the most prominent metaphysical poets whose contributions to the literary world can never be challenged. He goes all the way through to shrewdly scrutinize his feelings. General consensus is that he stands distinguished because instead of employing the notion of divided sensibility keeping thoughts and emotions separate, he produced momentous works which are emotional and intellectual at once. Different riveting approaches taken by him to contemplate love in different poems makes ground for very interesting analytical discussion. This leads to the purpose of this essay which is to present a literary analysis of two unusually famed poems written by Donne namely “The Flea” and “The Sun Rising.” Both are labeled as love poems, but interestingly both differ in the way love is expressed by elephantine proportions which is intriguing and worth investigating. Donne is acknowledged as a love poet, but this poem deals with love in an incongruous way given the fact that the speaker does not attach any importance to some preexisting relationship or chemistry with the woman he is attracted to. Instead he uses “the flea’s activity as an excuse for conjugal relations” (Brackett 179). He does not care to invest time in building a foundation before he approaches his love. All the romantic suspense in one’s exploration of the other person leading to bigger events is omitted and emphasis is laid on the speaker’s sexual desires. Donne’s take on love in this poem marked by complexity of thought and strange imagery leaves the readers amused and impressed even though it is playful and absurd. The speaker in the poem never considers the woman’s objections and simply reacts to them making her come across as a fool in denial. Then more dirt is splashed on the woman in the concluding lines of second stanza where he writes, “Let not to this, selfe murder added bee / And sacrilege, three sinnes in killing three” (17-18) and is seen equating killing the flea to sins like suicide, murder, and sacrilege. The approach to love, if there is any, is first quite imaginative given how the speaker uses a simple flea to lay out an entire framework. Then, this approach takes on a deep irrational hue. Finally, all passion is forgotten when Donne uses imagery of the flea’s blood and writes, “Cruel and sodaine, hast thou since / Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence” (19-20). Here, he is seen handling resentment stemming from thwarted desires. It is style like this which makes one appreciate how Donne, as chief of the metaphysical poets, is mesmerizingly capable of handling love in all its aspects even when dissatisfied desires leave behind deep wounds of bitterness as in case of the poem under consideration. The speaker’s argument is laden with sexual innuendos. Even the movement within the poem mirrors the act of lovemaking considering the argument which is contemplative in first stanza, then picks momentum reaching climax in second stanza, and finally culminates with the sudden unexpected death of the flea. In contrast to other poems like “The Sun Rising” in which the poet appears hopelessly in love, this poem is more concerned with lustful desires yearning to be fulfilled. According to the argument in this poem, the act of sex is nothing more than mingling of fluids and a history of romance is not necessary. But when the word “little” (2) is used by the poet, it is not meant that he does not consider the act of lovemaking important. Rather, it is only a way of convincing his love that engaging in sex would not really be a gigantic sin (Brackett 179). In the Renaissance period, the concept of sex was really confined to mixing of the blood which according to the poet has already happened when he writes, “And in this flea our two bloods mingled bee;” (4). This is used by the poet as a catalyst to further his argument that now that they have already become one, it would not be a sin, a shame, or loss of virginity on part of the woman if the man is let has his way. Throughout the poem, Donne uses many words and phrases like “mingled” (4), “cloysterd” (15), and “suckt from thee” (22) to imply thoughts of erotic intimacy and the desire to stop the woman from listening to her conscience. So, it is safe to assume that the approach taken to love in this poem is sexual in nature because the speaker is more concerned about using the woman to tame his roaring urges than committing himself to her in any way synonymous with devotion. “The Sun Rising” is another masterpiece of Donne which is marked by the speaker’s prodigious devotion to his love. Here, a soft and sensual approach is taken to love and emphasis is on suggesting how hopelessly in love the speaker is with the woman he fervently admires. He expresses his ardent love by revealing odd annoyance that he has taken to the sun and the beginning of a new day. “Must to thy motions lovers’ seasons run?” (4) is a rhetorical question poised in the poem which speaks of indignation. It demands why love is subjected to the motion of the sun and why lovers’ season has to end upon its arrival. In contrast to the wild approach to love taken by the poet in “The Flea” where he just wants to get over and done with sex, here he wants things to stay as they are and desperately longs after a sense of permanence and longevity. While there is no mention of love in the first poem and no doting compliments are paid to the woman admired by the speaker because there is no romance or chemistry between the two, the other poem concentrates on the sensual side of a relationship. Considerable importance is attached by the poet to an inseparable union with his love. But, the bedrock of his love is not made by sexual obsession and there are no explicit sexual references in the poem either. All the poet wishes for in this poem is pure love which is ageless and knows no boundaries as he writes, “Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime, / Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time” (9-10). He uses phrases like “Busy old fool” (1) to imply to the sun that it is just plain ignorant for not realizing that love cannot be affected by anything in the outside world. The speaker in this poem loathes the sun as he is so obsessed with the company of his love that anything holding the potential to create a rift, however temporary it may be, between him and his love comes across as a merciless devil. He wants the night to stretch into an abyss lasting forever. The level of devotion in this poem is exceptionally enthralling which makes it one of the most powerful love poems ever written. Also, the speaker’s fear of separation is of such staggering nature that it leaves the reader emotionally moved. The poem mirrors emotional exuberance and “banishes the ravages of time” (Bloom 29).The concept of unambiguous closeness fostered throughout the poem makes it absolutely different in the way love is handled here. The speaker’s idea of love is not self-centered, rather it speaks of sharing a relationship with the person he adores with no obstacles in the way. But like “The Flea”, there are some emotional expressions of anger and frustration in this poem too especially when the poet writes, “Why dost thou thus, / Through windows, and through curtains, call on us?” (2-3). Here, his frustration is made emphatic by the rising sun and he is seen blaming the sun for shining through the windows and curtains and announcing its presence which means an end to a brief night of amorous love. However, the context of his frustration here stands world apart from that in “the Flea” because here he is torn by the thought of splitting from his love and there he is frustrated over never having bonded with his love. As the pace within the poem gets faster, the poet’s desperation also picks momentum when he writes in the last stanza, “Thou, Sun, art half as happy as we / In that the world’s contracted thus;” (25-26). Here, he is seen getting more edgy by the minute like the argument is becoming more irrational as he finally resorts to convincing the sun to delay its arrival and let the union last a while longer. Concluding, the above analytical discussion of two love poems written by John Donne shows how this poet holds a unique potential to interpret love in a variety of ways. Strong imagery is used in both poems to illustrate the purpose of the arguments. However, the poet’s idea of love in “The Flea” is temporary and he wants to bond with his love briefly to satisfy his urges in contrast to “The Sun Rising” where he cherishes stability and wants the bond to last forever. Donne’s take on love in the second poem is much deeper and penetrates all barriers than the superficial take illustrated in the other poem which is mostly about emotional blackmail. Works cited: Bloom, Harold. John Donne. USA: Infobase Publishing, 2009. Print. Brackett, Virginia. The Facts on File Companion to British Poetry: 17th and 18th Centuries. USA: Infobase Publishing, 2008. Print. Donne, John. “THE FLEA.” The Love Poems of John Donne. Digireads.com Publishing, 2010. 36. Print. Donne, John. “THE SUN RISING.” The Love Poems of John Donne. Digireads.com Publishing, 2010. 9. Print. [Student’s Name] [Instructor’s Name] [Course name and code] 10 November 2013. A literary analysis of two poems: Robert Browning is a Victorian poet who has amassed global recognition for intelligently exploring the issues of masculinity and womanhood in his poems. He employs a variety of convincing methods to urge the readers to scrutinize myriad dark societal aspects. In his remarkable poem “My Last Duchess”, he introduces an arrogant duke of Ferrara who ends up killing his wife because his head is filled with misleading ideas of infidelity and neglect about her. “Porphyria’s Lover” is another poem by Browning which stands in the same category as the other poem because it also illustrates how some men value control and power more than love, equality, and human life. Both poems illustrate the depth of male dominance which unfortunately costs the duchess and Prophyria their lives. In these dramatic monologues, I will explore the traditional masculine pathology which makes the speakers in both poems blinded with sexual jealousy because their lovers, who are eventually murdered by them, are not absolutely subservient to their wills. In “The Last Duchess”, it is seen that one major issue faced by the duke responsible for unleashing his fury against the duchess is based on the latter’s belief to value other regardless of their rank and respect human life. When the poet writes, “such stuff / Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough / For calling up that spot of joy” (19-21), it is illustrated how whenever the duchess is complimented or treated courteously, she blushes and responds with kindness which does not sit well with her husband because of his jealousy. He is afraid to lose control and is pathologically insecure deep inside. The poet uses expression like “The curtain I have drawn for you, but I” (10) to imply insightful thoughts of possessiveness and obsessive control from the narrator’s mind. He believes being personally oblivious to his jealousy that he is demonstrating his taste to the person he is hosting, but actually he is showing how at last he finally managed to possess the duchess’s smile by imprisoning her as a portrait. He keeps the portrait covered at all times because he sickeningly believes this way his late wife stays closest to being a submissive fool which he always wanted her to be. Browning digs with acute intelligence into the issues of competition and sexual jealousy in this poem and is seen making a particularly important point when he writes, “Sir, ‘t was not / Her husband’s presence only, called that spot / Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek:” (13-15). Here the speaker’s narration takes on a menacing note as he expresses his indignation over the duchess’s feisty interest in life and people. This act of the duchess of not reserving her blushes and smiles for her husband solely is equated to infidelity which foments the passion of jealousy in the duke. The lines, “She had / A heart---how shall I say?---too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed;” (21-23) demonstrate that the narrator of this poem is in fear of losing dominance. His anger is made emphatic by the soft heart of the duchess which melts on little expressions of kindness. Expected to behave as a subservient automaton, such behavior is not handled well by the authoritarian duke whose masculinity is already reinforced by an advanced social position. The narrator believes that his wife’s heart should have been impressed only by him and the famed family name that he gave her, not by meaningless acts of the scum of the society. It is things like this which nurtured dangerous thoughts of desertion and unfaithfulness inside the duke’s mind causing him to smell something suspicious whenever his wife blushed or smiled in the company of a stranger. Then he gets competitive out of jealousy and expresses, “as if she ranked / My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name / With anybody’s gift.” (32-34). The duke’s inflated sense of self-importance and egoism is clearly hurt here as he claims that out of his prestigious family name and any ordinary person’s gift, the duchess did not pick his name but appraised both things on equal basis. It is things like this which nurtured dangerous thoughts of desertion and unfaithfulness inside the duke’s mind causing him to smell something suspicious whenever his wife blushed or smiled in the company of a stranger. Visual imagery is also used throughout the poem to represent the argument it concerns as in case when the duke exhibits a bronze piece in the end showing Neptune “Taming a sea-horse” (55). This serves to summarize the poem because the bronze piece shows a god taking control of a horse just like the duke tames his wife by killing her (Gettel). It is impossible to remain unimpressed by Browning’s brilliant critique of masculinity in the Victorian age here. In “Porphyria’s Lover”, Browning explores masculinity and gender relation by taking the readers on a journey, this time into the life of an unnamed psychopath lover. He again uses the example of a man who values possession more than human life to demonstrate his contempt for common masculine pathology of his day. It is interesting how in the opening lines of the poem, the poet uses melodramatic imagery to set the tone of the narration and expresses how “the sullen wind” (2) which mirrors the narrator’s inner chaos and sexual jealousy “tore the elm-tops down for spite” (3). The ruthless wind only wrecks the elm-tops, but Porphyria’s lover goes all the way through by murdering her. The emotionally unstable man in the poem acknowledges the existence of wildness in both nature and himself as both can tame or destroy what they possess. It is clear that he is fully aware of his control over his love because the poet writes, “Happy and proud; at last I knew / Porphyria worshiped me;” (32-33). Though the theme of class is much less prominent in this poem compared to “The Last Duchess”, Porphyria is apparently richer than the narrator who lives in a cottage. So, it is believed by the latter that despite worshipping him, Porphyria will eventually succumb to the societal pressures and leave him. Here, jealousy is spurred by the idea of desertion and the lover attempts to eternalize the moment by taking the woman’s life. The poem portrays male dominance through a possessive lover and “While I debated what to do” (35) illustrates how the male is already contemplating different ways to be dominant and make his love obedient to his will forever. The poet deliberately uses an unreasonable lover to portray the position of women in his day and to emphasize that they were not treated like independent humans, rather viewed as trophies confined to their showcases. It is clear that for both the duke and Porphyria’s lover, jealousy is unrivaled by any other emotion. Both are clinically insecure, obsessed with possession, and miserably adamant on taking control of the female subjects. Female sexuality was a taboo subject in Victorian times and Porphyria’s act of coming “through wind and rain” (30) is portrayed as a sinful behavior to suggest the risks she willingly takes to be with her lover. It is suggested that the male is familiar with the bold step taken by his love because the phrases used by the poet like “Happy and proud;” (32) and “Made my heart swell,” (34) imply thoughts of happiness and gratitude. Oddly enough, this happiness acts as a catalyst for the male to strangle his love to death by twisting her hair in one long string around her “little throat” (40) which illustrates the delicacy and vulnerability of the female subject in contrast to the dominant male. The lover’s brief happiness in this poem acts as a catalyst for murdering Porphyria because he believes killing to be the only way to preserve his happiness as otherwise, his love will probably leave him some time to get her life back. Also, knowing he is worshiped by the woman instantly lends him control and he decides to proceed with killing soon after to maintain that control forever. The narrator’s desire to establish dominance in this poem is so abominably uncontrollable that he does not let go of Porphyria even after her death (WJEC Poetry: The treatment of women) and shamelessly opens her eyes to look into them. The final line, “And yet God has not said a word!” (60) characterizes the absence of an ethical system and the unchallenged control gained by the narrator. This line summarizes the whole argument of the poem which is to demonstrate how little recognition was ascribed to women’s rights during that period because male control overshadowed every violation. Concluding, the above discussion attempts to reinforce the thought illustrated earlier that Browning as a sensitive poet is seen criticizing the popular male pathology of his day in both poems analyzed in this essay. Men of every class in the Victorian era like the duke and Porphyria’s lover seemed to think it was their prerogative to command women and crushed their natural rights on routine basis. Women were viewed as mute objects to be possessed and controlled as desired by men who did anything to stay in power. Simple harmless joys of women were frowned upon by men if they interfered with their dominance. Both poems narrate disturbing events, but are really good attempts of the poet at voicing concerns about masculinity and gender issues during his period. Works cited: Browning, Robert. “My Last Duchess.” My Last Duchess and Other Poems. USA: Courier Dover Publications, 2012. 1-2. Print. Browning, Robert. “Porphyria’s Lover.” Works of Robert Browning. MobileReference, 2010. Print. Gettel, S.V. “Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” and “Porphyria’s Lover”.” Voices.yahoo.com. 07 Dec. 2010. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. WJEC Poetry: The treatment of women. “Robert Browning: Porphyria’s Lover.” BBC. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. Read More