Simile and Metaphor in John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”
Valediction: a farewell address forbidding his wife to mourn, strikes me as an extraordi¬ nary title for this poem. Donne’s title has an implied meaning that contradicts how this poem leads the reader to believe it’s a love poem he writes to his wife before leaving on a journey to
France. A love so strong, so pure, that the bond could never possibly be broken, even after death. Two souls who will always be together physically and spiritually. Donne’s use of simile and metaphor enhances the reader’s perspective to see one thing, but come to conclusions of something else.
In the first stanza, Donne writes “virtuous men who pass mildly away,” he speaks of the death of great men. Putting himself into that personification of the relationship between him and his wife, he could possibly be speaking in the text, as if he is some kind of God over her. He is obviously on a journey to France and has to leave her behind, but doesn’t allow her to mourn be¬ cause he perceives himself as some kind of gentleman of eminence. Her mourning could taint him in front of their friends, or possibly show some kind of weakness.
On the other hand, Donne’s tone changes in the poem to show sincerity and love for his wife. The relationship between him and his wife is a metaphor to gold (a pure element which cannot be separated by any means). ...
The atomic bomb was one of the most powerful weapons to be built during this time. Truman may not have been aware of the aftermath causes and effects it would have but he knew just how powerful this weapon was. If I was in Trumans place I would not have dropped the bomb. Many military leaders urged the President against dropping the bomb as they believed it was not a military necessity. Several of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan project quit or resigned in protest over Truman’s decision to drop the bomb. Einstein, the mastermind behind the idea, was not fully supportive with Truman decision. If I was in Truman’s place, I think I would have listened to the scientists and military leaders who were more knowledgeable than me in this area. The majority of expertise are against my decision so that should tell that what I’m doing is wrong. After dropping the first bomb, Truman saw the automatic impact that it had on the people. He could have just dropped the first bomb and realized what he had was a mistake. The fatalities and causalities lost by one bomb should have been enough to convince Truman that the second bomb was not necessary. Justifying the second bomb is harder because you have the results and proof of what occurred from the first bombs. If Truman was unaware of the ramifications of the act from before then by the end of the first bomb he had a clear idea of what the atomic bomb was capable
As a leader candidate, I can understand the challenges and multiplicity of complications that administrators must face each day. However, I will not accept any remote possibility that the students must be affected by some flaws of the school organization. We all as leaders, must be strategic with people, time, and money to guide our students towards an academic success.
John Donne uses poetry to explore his own identity, express his feelings, and most of all, he uses it to deal with the personal experiences occurring in his life. Donne's poetry is a confrontation or struggle to find a place in this world, or rather, a role to play in a society from which he often finds himself detached or withdrawn. This essay will discuss Donne's states of mind, his views on love, women, religion, his relationship with God; and finally how the use of poetic form plays a part in his exploration for an identity and salvation.
“With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces”- President Truman. In the 1945, President Truman was faced with an atomic dilemma in the most destructive war that mankind has seen so far. His choices were to either bomb Japan or let more American soldiers die. He chose to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He chose the most likeable choice in America at the time. If I was able to tell President Truman one thing, it would be, drop the atomic bombs on Japan and end the four year war for America. Japan started the war on America with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, America repaid the debt back to Japan many fold(top secret).
In the 1900s novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the protagonist often encounters women at landmarks of his life. Charlie Marlow is a sailor and imperialist who sets out along the Congo River to “civilize” the “savages.” The novella begins with a crew on the Thames waiting for the tides to change. During their wait, a character named Marlow tells of his exploits on the African continent. In his recounted travels, Marlow meets other imperialists such as Mr. Kurtz, a man who is obsessed with the pursuit of ivory and riches. Like Mr. Kurtz, Marlow embarks across the African continent in hopes of earning both money and respect. One early critic of the novel, Edward Garnett, wrote in his review that “[Heart of Darkness] is simply a piece of art…the artist is intent on presenting his sensations in that sequence and arrangements whereby the meaning or meaninglessness of the white man in uncivilized Africa can be felt in its really significant aspects,” (Garnett). What Garnett fails to observe is that Heart of Darkness is not only an observation of “the white man,” but the white woman as well.
Women have gained equality with men over the many centuries of the evolution of the modern western civilization. Hence, it cannot be overlooked that there still exist many literary examples of social disregard for woman potential. Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" exemplifies the Western patriarchal gender roles in which women are given the inferior status. Not only are women portrayed as being inferior to men, but Marlow's (the protagonist's) seldom mentioning of them in his Congo adventure narrative symbolizes his view of their insignificance. There is a total of five women presented in Marlow's narrative but only three of them are significant minor characters: Marlow's aunt, Kurtz's African mistress, and Kurtz's "Intended." The following essay will examine how the presentation of each of these three women in Marlow's narrative contributes to connecting events in the story.
In “Too Beautiful Altogether” Smith points out that even though Heart of Darkness is an especially masculine account, femininity and gender play a deeper role in the story. Smith writes “Marlow’s narrative aims to “colonize” and “pacify” both savage darkness and women” (Smith 189). Furthermore Smith states, “By silencing the native laundress and symbolizing the equally silent savage woman and the company women, Marlow reconstructs his experience of the darkness they stand for. The story’s two speaking European women, Marlow’s aunt and Kurtz’s Intended, perform a similar function. By restricting unsatisfactory feminine versions of imperialist ideology to them, Marlow is able to create his own masculine version to keep the darkness at bay” (Smith 190). For Marlow his story is never meant for a female to read or hear. Marlow feels that his story is far too masculine for and women and because of that the story would be over their head.
So in these two Donne poems, "Elegy 19" and "The Sun Rising", various poetic structures are used to create a split atmosphere of both romantic love and sexual love, which coexist within the fabric of the poetry. Donne skillfully uses such forms as direct address, indirect address, both stanzaic forms conventional and unconventional, and adept language manipulation to convey two messages simultaneously, and in doing so he paints an accurate portrait of the reality of love: that there is always a mix of romantic and sexual sentiments in the relationships between lovers.
Donne uses the simple round images to symbolize a deeper meaning coupled with metaphor and paradox to create a complex love poem.
One of Donne's famous poetic devices is diction. Again in line one and ten appear "Mark" and "Oh stay." These words are denotations of strong causative voice in order to obtain mistress' attention. In addition to diction, another outstanding part is his rhetoric skill. For example, "Me it sucked first, and now sucks thee," (line 3). His using different ...
as Donne dares to think Death to be weak and feeble. The poet is so
The general pattern in the work of Joseph Conrad’s novels is a male-dominated world. In the colonial journeys, dangerous activities, astonishing discoveries and many other events and experiences that generally construct the plots of his novels were the worries of men, but not female in the Victorian Era. Women in the Victorian Era were joyful with their domestic-social life and were not involved in any dangerous activities, because it was a long period of peace in Great Britain. Thus, in most Conrad’s works, there was less involvement of women characters by creating less character than men and not letting them play a primary role that control or shape the plot of the story.
...ne exclusively on himself and his lover. By doing so he says the sun will be shining on the entire world. It is apparent in both poems the tone and language is dramatic, as this is typical of Donne’s writing style. His use of imagery and symbolism effectively present his experience of love. However it is the structure that builds up the emotion throughout the poems as Donne starts in each poem to refer to a seductive love, then in conclusion realises the importance of true love. ‘The Good Morrow’ clearly shows evidence of this when at the beginning Donne states he ‘suck’d on country pleasures childishly’ and in the end understands that a ‘Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die’.
Granted that Donne's personification of God reduces the deity from an almighty force to a human archetype, divinity is not undermined. The metaphoric figures of inventor, ruler, and lover, each retain specific skills and purpose, but can not compare to the Christian suggestion of God's role and strength. However, the presentation of striking, violent imagery charges the poem with a sense of power and complete domination, and allows the image of God to transcend his designated human forms. Through the projection of life's frailty, powerlessness in captivity, and sexual
A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning by John Donne was written to express his feelings for his lover. The poem talks about the feelings of love being so intense that nothing will ever dull the bond between the two souls. A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning is uplifting because Donne talks of a “love so refined that ourselves know not what it is,” in other words a love so perfect it cannot be explained. This is what makes the poem because Donne has said the love cannot be explained but then he goes on to explain what the two people are feeling and it is done in a way that can never be reproduced or attempted by other poets. This poem is as perfect as the love it describes. Donne explains how the love that is shared by the two is a love that is not affected by sensory things. “care lesse eyes, lips and hands to misse,” or don’t think that being apart dulls this love, because the love is so strong that even the non-existence of one or both partners cannot bring an end to the intense love felt by both.