Imagery In John Donnes The Bro

564 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Representation of love in poetry

Imagery in “The Broken Heart';

John Donnes’ poem “The Broken Heart'; is full of imagery, used to portray his broken heart. Donne uses the imagery so we can get a visual picture of what love means to him. He uses the imagery because it’s necessary to see a picture of the pain he lives with. Donne uses several aspects of imagery, including death to show his grief and Donne also does uses despair to display his pain.
The image of death was used throughout the poem. “…Love so soon decays,'; meaning that love so quickly dies. If you cut a flower and do not put it in water it will quickly wither and die. Another image of death would be the plague. A plague is a widespread disease that causes thousands of people to die. The plague is also synonymous with suffering. Donne writes that he has “had the plague a year,'; by writing this Donne has been deathly ill for what he thinks is a year. Love, to Donne is something that you think about for a long time so, therefore, it seems that you have loved someone for that long but in reality it is only a short period of time. According to Donne, love is very powerful and causes the widespread destruction to thousands.
Donne also uses the image of despair and depression. In the second stanza, he says “Ah, what a trifle is a heart, if once into lo...

Show More
Related

  • The Importance Of Personal Truths

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    I whole-heartedly agree that following through with a promise is an important aspect of a person’s character. I also concur that you must think about the consequences, truth number 2, before making a commitment to through a promise. However, we are all human beings and there are times where we are unable to follow through with a promise due to unforeseen events, which is part of life.

    Read More

  • Holy Sonnet 10

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    Death is merely being controlled by things like fate, which is the only way he can act. He has no way to move on his own without these other forces. Like with war, death is the result, not the cause: death cannot physically make people fight. This comparison devalues death in its importance and therefore its necessity. John Donne’s use of metaphors and personifications in his poem emphasizes his belief that death is not as bad as people think it really is, but can actually be advantageous.

    Read More

  • Interpretation of A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    In arguing against mourning and emotional confusion, Donne uses a series of bold and unexpected comparisons for the love between himself and his lady. Donne makes his first surprising analogy in the first stanza when he compares the approaching separation of the lovers to death. "he speaker compares his parting from his lover to the parting of the soul from a virtuous man at death. According to the speaker, "virtuous men pass mildly away" (line 1) because the virtue in their lives has assured them of glory and happiness in the afterlife; therefore, they die in peace without fear and emotion. By this he suggests that the separation of the lovers is parrallel to the separation caused by death.

    Read More

  • Love In Shakespeare's 'A Valediction Forbidding Mourning'

    1433 Words  | 3 Pages

    Verbs like 'melt ' imply a gentle parting. He does this to add to the sympathy that the poem reflects, thus reassuring his lover that he will come back to her when he leaves. The regular iambic tetrameter and the ABAB rhyme scheme echo 's the emotional strength that Donne feels his love has. Differently, 'Sonnet 73 ' creates a morbid tone due to the constant reference to degeneration. The ABAB rhyme scheme creates the sense of certainty that after time fades so does beauty, and thus this therefore leads to

    Read More

  • Vulnerability in the Works of John Donne

    2695 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Poetic Techniques in John Donne's The Dream

    634 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first stanza shows a wide range of fantastical language with the intention of drawing the reader slowly and steadily into the hazy, dreamlike setting. Along with the words like ?fantasy?, ?fables? and ?dreams? come affectionate phrases that effectively show us that the poem is meant to be addressed to a lover, ?Dear love? being the most obvious example. Later on in the poem, the language shifts from drowsy and steady to more intense and complicated, yet less passionate and more doubtful. Donne?s choice in the last stanza to utilize fiery words like ?torches? and phrases ?light and put out? and ?thou cam?st to kindle? depict a sense of overwhelming passion, as uncontrollable as fire. Donne doubts that he can control his lover to continue loving him as fervently as in his dream, which is why his dream lover is ?an angel? while his lover in reality is compared to fire.

    Read More

  • Compare the ways in which Donne presents the experience of love in ‘The Sun Rising’ and ‘The Good Morrow’

    1602 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...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’.

    Read More

  • Imagery In Richard Cory

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    In order to create a vivid picture of the townspeople’s impression of Richard Cory, the author implements the usage of imagery and a metaphor throughout the poem. The usage of these literary devices shows that the people within Richard’s town thought highly of him and regarded him in the same manner as a person of royal status. Imagery is the primary literary element throughout the poem used to paint Richard as a man of exquisite taste that is envied by the townspeople. The author’s use of a metaphor within the poem reinforces the notion of Richard being a regal gentleman who is envied by the townspeople.

    Read More

  • Death, Be Not Proud by John Donne

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    Donne’s second quatrain uses figurative language to elaborate on his concept of victory over death. He contrasts death to “rest and sleep” by saying that they are mirrors of death (Donne 1100). Sleep and death are allied and one is the image of the oth...

    Read More

  • John Donne Vs. The Elizabethan Lyric

    1572 Words  | 4 Pages

    John Donne lived in an era when the lyric was at its pinnacle. Poets were writing well-rounded, almost musical poetry on subjects that ranged from all kinds of love to enchantment with nature. Donne could not help but revolt against this excess of fluency and melody. John Donne's style stands in such sharp contrast to the accepted Elizabethan lyrical style that it becomes difficult to accept the fact that his works date from the same era. To highlight this statement, one has to compare a typical Elizabethan lyric to one of Donne's works.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Physical Love In John Donne's The Flea

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    Donne develops this idea through the symbolism of the flea and the twisted imagery of the Trinity. He uses slant rhyme to depict the man’s slanted argument and stretched logic, which highlight the man’s crooked idea of what physical love is. Donne’s use of slant rhyme and hyperbole mock other poems that praise women with flowery language in an attempt to charm them into bed. In contrast, the speaker here uses crude arguments meant to woo this woman to sex with him.Renaissance carpe diem poems speak about enjoying physical love within one’s short-lived youth. “The Flea” touches on fleeting love too; the body with the blood of life and love may soon be squished. However, there are consequences which always entail physical love. These consequences might be the real

    Read More

  • Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God Tone

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Donne's use of deep religious themes, unique poetic devices, and vivid imagery create a stunning and convicting poem. Donne's talents are on full display as he moves through each line with such beauty and simplicity. One can easily imagine his sorrow and pain as he penned the words of this poem and poured his heart into it. Donne's work reminds readers of the sorrow of sin, the necessity of forgiveness, and the hope of restoration. Although he focuses on anguish and sorrow, his message is truly one of joy and hope. All who take his words to heart find internal peace and rejoice in the mercy of their

    Read More

  • Metaphysical Poetry in The Seventeenth Century

    885 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the first stanza of the poem, Donne tries to convince his lover to have sexual intercourse with him. At first one would not realize that this is his intention because he uses a flea to describe sex which is a very far-fetched description of the act hence this poem being metaphysical. Using a conceit he belittles the impact of sex and the power it has over him even though it may be untrue. Knowing that she has thought about it before, he assures her that by withholding sex from him is something so small that it does not give her power in the relationship.

    Read More

  • A Restoration of Power: Metaphor, Simile, and Imagery in Donne's "Batter My Heart"

    663 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • John Donne's The Sun Rising

    451 Words  | 1 Pages

    The speaker then boastfully asserts his power over the sun's rays, stating that "he could eclipse and cloud them with a wink, but that he would not lose her sight so long." This obviously undermines his argument because if it were not for those same beams of light, he would not see his love. Donne surely was aware of the ridiculous nature of this assertion; he appears to be attempting to accentuate the flaws in his argument against the sun, perhaps to emphasize the foolishness of a person in love. He continues this emphasis with his claim that all the riches and nobility the sun has seen "all here in one bed lie."

    Read More

More about Imagery In John Donnes The Bro

Open Document