Love, loss and geographical imagination in the poetry of John Donne.<\/p>\n
John Donne\u2019s poetry is characterized by vast attitudes and emotions; it manifests love, loss and geographical imagination. All his poems are a reflection of complex experiences that can be discussed as love, loss and geographical imagination.<\/p>\n
Donne\u2019s poem \u2018To his Mistris Going to Bed\u2019 addresses love. It portrays Donne as a lover of women. In a series of metaphors, he refers to a woman as a continent (America). This shows that Donne lauds sensual pleasure (Donne, 1990).<\/p>\n
In \u2018The Extasie\u2019, Donne tells us that love is the coming together of two souls. He, however, contradicts this view in \u2018Twicknam Garden\u2019 where he sounds disillusioned. Here, he describes love as \u2018spider love\u2019 which \u2018can convert manna into gall\u2019 (Gardner, 1985).<\/p>\n
Spatial imagination is evident in Donne\u2019s \u2018Songs and Sonnets\u2019. He makes references to world continents, the globe and round balls, seas, hemispheres, towns and maps among others. For example: \u2018Let us possess one world, each hath one and is one\u2019 (Donne & Redpath, 1956).<\/p>\n
His spatial imagination is believed to have been attached to the past, his way of imagining space was cosmographic as opposed to the modern day cartographic way of imagining space. He uses many symbols and defined his ideas in geographic terms. For instance, when explaining the link between social ranks, he makes reference to concentric circles. Mapping social structure onto circles that are concentric enables us to picture geographic arrangement as well as the movement of people (Donne, 1990).<\/p>\n
Donne encountered deep loss when she lost his wife. In his poem \u2018A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning\u2019 he writes about love that is deep, subtle and profane. When he lost his wife, he writes the \u2018Holy Sonnet 17\u2019 where he regrets his wife\u2019s death. He describes her death as paying back a debt to nature. He further illustrates his loss when he says \u2018lest the world, flesh, yea, devil put thee out\u2019 (Donne & Redpath, 1956).ReferencesTop of FormBottom of ForTop of Form<\/p>\n
Bottom of Form<\/p>\n
Top of Form<\/p>\n
Donne, J. (1990).\u00a0Devotions upon emergent occasions: Together with Death’s duel. Grand Rapids, Mich: Christian Classics Ethereal Library.<\/p>\n
Donne, J., & In Redpath, T. (1956).\u00a0Songs and sonnets. London: Methuen.<\/p>\n
Gardner, H. (1985).\u00a0The metaphysical poets. Harmondsworth: Penguin.<\/p>\n
Bottom of Form<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Love, loss and geographical imagination in the poetry of John Donne. John Donne\u2019s poetry is characterized by vast attitudes and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n