He draws on the new.
(in the late 16th century) learning of the English renaissance and on topical.
discoveries and exploration. We find references to exploration, sea-voyages,.
mythology, religion, kingship and rule, subjectivism ("nothing else is"), alchemy.
(especially the mystical beliefs associated with elixir and quintessence), astronomy.
cosmology, both ancient and modern (references to spheres, geocentric universe),.
law, war and military affairs, medicine, the human body, eating and drinking, time,.
marriage and divorce, politics and learning.
Imagery in s poetry is not something -tacked on to make it more -poetic and.
difficult, but it is a focus for seeing experiences in a particular light, and therefore.
controlling our way of feeling about them.
Features of s style:.
- elevated diction.
- first personഊ- dramatisation of abstracts eg. death, through personification.
- imperative mood.
- exclamation.
- complex syntax eg. use of inversion.
- language of argument eg. for, yet, but.
- imagery.
- rhythms of natural speech.
- adherence to the sonnet rhyme pattern.
s poetry was not written for publication, but intended for the private.
delectation of a group of people whose interests were congenial to s. They.
rhythms are carefully adjusted to the flow of the thought, with its many.
qualifications, and the thoughts are those why must certainly have appealed to the.
very sophisticated circle of which Donne was a part.
There is an extensive theological content in his sexual poetry and strong sexual.
undertow in his divine poetry, reflecting the vicissitudes of his life. Generally, Donne.
wrote about women in his youth, and God in his maturity, his passion is transformed.
Love Songs and Sonnets:.
In fact Donne is unusual, if not unique, for his era in that courtly love hardly appears.
in his poetry at all. Courtly love seems to depend on the lover being unsuccessful,.
whereas Donne rejoices in success at every level. He challenges stale, conventional.
