The Canonization (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Donne
- First Published: 1633
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Love or romance, Sex or sexuality, Death or dying, Martyrs or martyrdom, Birds, Insects, Moths
The Poem
The forty-five lines of John Donne’s “The Canonization” are divided into five nine-line stanzas, a form that suggests a five-act play. The title reflects the speaker’s conviction that in opposing the claims of the world (business, courtly ambitions), he and his beloved have become love’s martyrs, and therefore saints.
The first-person speaker appears to be addressing an outsider who is unsympathetic to his romantic involvement and who has said as much prior to the first line. The poem, then, is a type of dramatic monologue, in which the speaker defends...
[The entire page is 1191 words long]
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