The Relic
by John Donne
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At a glance:
- Author: John Donne
- First Published: 1633
- Type of Poem: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Religion, Death or dying, Miracles, Afterlife, Tombs or graves, Cemeteries, Relics or sacred objects
The Poem
“The Relic” is a lyric poem consisting of three stanzas of eleven lines each. As with numerous other English Metaphysical lyrics, the stanza form and rhyme scheme are unusual and perhaps unique. The pattern of five rhymes in each stanza is aabbcddceee, while the meter of lines is complex and somewhat irregular but basically iambic and effectively supplements the poem’s thematic development. The four weighty iambic pentameter lines that conclude each stanza reinforce a change of tone from flippant or cynical to serious.
John Donne relies heavily on...
(The entire page is 1487 words.)
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