‘In Donne’s poetry, his attitude to love is often deemed as melodramatic’.
In light of this view, examine Donne’s presentation of love as an emotion.
Throughout Donne’s poetry, love remains a central theme. A characteristic of Donne’s
literary style that is seen throughout his poetry is writing with a sense of heightened,
yet genuine emotion. Therefore, it is not surprising that Donne has a melodramatic
and bold approach to the questions that arise from his relationships.
The debate as to whether Donne oversteps the fine line between passion and
melodrama has been debated amongst critics however, it is evident that whenever
Donne does push the boundaries, – which is often – he does this consciously, and does
not hesitate to put forward revolutionary attitudes towards love. For instance, Donne
uses the metaphor of two ‘hemispheres’ in ‘The Good Morrow’, suggesting that
himself and his lover must balance each other in order for their relationship to last in
the afterlife. Although Donne’s theory is not melodramatic itself, it is the historical
context of which Donne wrote this poem in that causes it to appear hyperbolic.
Despite the fact that England had been consecutively ruled consecutively by two
female monarchs in the mid-16th and early 17th centuries, a contemporary reader of
Donne’s time would have been shocked by this view as women were not considered to
be equal to men. It can be argued however, that Donne’s purpose was not to shock the
reader – as his poems were never intended to be read –, but to simply put forward the
view that true and everlasting love can only be achieved by an equal unity of mature
lovers.
The motif of the rejected lover is commonplace in Donne’s poetry, which tends to
evoke a melodramatic attitude towards love in poems such as ‘The Apparition’ and
‘The Funeral’. Feminist critics may argue that Donne’s arrogance clouds his approach
to love, and therefore when he is rejected by a woman, his perception of love becomes
misogynistic. In both poems, Donne has a metaphysical yearning to be in contact with
his lover beyond the living body. However, this is presented more misogynistically in
‘The Apparition’ as Donne vows to haunt his lover after his death whereas in ‘The
Funeral’, he wishes to become a martyr for love and bury a piece of her with him
when he dies.
C.S. Lewis argues that, ‘Donne’s real limitation is not what he writes about, but that
he writes in, a chaos of violent and transitory passions.’ Contradicting emotions
towards love are most distinctly seen in poems written during chaotic, and
‘transitionary’ periods of Donne’s life, such as during his marriage to Anne Moore,
which is questioned in ‘Twickenham Garden’. In this poem, Donne meditates on his
marriage to Anne Moore, and whether it was worth the sacrifices that he made. To
reflect on his past, he ‘seek(s) the spring’. The pun on the noun ‘spring’ is
melodramatic as Donne may be referring either to the season, connoting new life and
prosperity, or a spring of water, which would add to the semantic field of water seen
in this poem, for example his multiple references to ‘tears’, a ‘fountain’ or ‘love’s
wine’. The sibilance of ‘seek the spring’ accentuates the first view, as it ironically
In light of this view, examine Donne’s presentation of love as an emotion.
Throughout Donne’s poetry, love remains a central theme. A characteristic of Donne’s
literary style that is seen throughout his poetry is writing with a sense of heightened,
yet genuine emotion. Therefore, it is not surprising that Donne has a melodramatic
and bold approach to the questions that arise from his relationships.
The debate as to whether Donne oversteps the fine line between passion and
melodrama has been debated amongst critics however, it is evident that whenever
Donne does push the boundaries, – which is often – he does this consciously, and does
not hesitate to put forward revolutionary attitudes towards love. For instance, Donne
uses the metaphor of two ‘hemispheres’ in ‘The Good Morrow’, suggesting that
himself and his lover must balance each other in order for their relationship to last in
the afterlife. Although Donne’s theory is not melodramatic itself, it is the historical
context of which Donne wrote this poem in that causes it to appear hyperbolic.
Despite the fact that England had been consecutively ruled consecutively by two
female monarchs in the mid-16th and early 17th centuries, a contemporary reader of
Donne’s time would have been shocked by this view as women were not considered to
be equal to men. It can be argued however, that Donne’s purpose was not to shock the
reader – as his poems were never intended to be read –, but to simply put forward the
view that true and everlasting love can only be achieved by an equal unity of mature
lovers.
The motif of the rejected lover is commonplace in Donne’s poetry, which tends to
evoke a melodramatic attitude towards love in poems such as ‘The Apparition’ and
‘The Funeral’. Feminist critics may argue that Donne’s arrogance clouds his approach
to love, and therefore when he is rejected by a woman, his perception of love becomes
misogynistic. In both poems, Donne has a metaphysical yearning to be in contact with
his lover beyond the living body. However, this is presented more misogynistically in
‘The Apparition’ as Donne vows to haunt his lover after his death whereas in ‘The
Funeral’, he wishes to become a martyr for love and bury a piece of her with him
when he dies.
C.S. Lewis argues that, ‘Donne’s real limitation is not what he writes about, but that
he writes in, a chaos of violent and transitory passions.’ Contradicting emotions
towards love are most distinctly seen in poems written during chaotic, and
‘transitionary’ periods of Donne’s life, such as during his marriage to Anne Moore,
which is questioned in ‘Twickenham Garden’. In this poem, Donne meditates on his
marriage to Anne Moore, and whether it was worth the sacrifices that he made. To
reflect on his past, he ‘seek(s) the spring’. The pun on the noun ‘spring’ is
melodramatic as Donne may be referring either to the season, connoting new life and
prosperity, or a spring of water, which would add to the semantic field of water seen
in this poem, for example his multiple references to ‘tears’, a ‘fountain’ or ‘love’s
wine’. The sibilance of ‘seek the spring’ accentuates the first view, as it ironically
