Renaissance

572 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Metaphysical features in john donne's poetry

Renaissance

The Renaissance has been described as consisting of "a rebirth of the human spirit, a realization of the human potential for development." This quote, as well as the word, "Renaissance" imply a massive change in society and tradition. Contributing to this change was 17th century poet, John Donne. His style, combined with intellectual thoughts and ideas, set the foundation for what would become known as metaphysical poetry. Donne's style of writing was not only a significant factor in the Renaissance, but also the transition into "The Age of Reason". In Sonnet 10, from Holy Sonnets, he is able to contribute to the Renaissance ideal described in the preceding quote.

"A rebirth of the human spirit...," describes a change in emotion that stems from a religious belief. Before the Renaissance, life and death were thought to be predetermined. Towards the end of the Renaissance, poets began to question parts of this belief, and as a result, the value of life came into question. In Sonnet 10, John Donne questions how powerful death is. He first challenges "Death" as he says "Death, be not proud, though some have called/thee/Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;" in lines one and two. Yet, in lines seven and eight, Donne declares the power of "Death" by saying "And soonest our best men with thee do go, /Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery." These two quotes contradict each other, however, the question is clear: What is the power of death?

Donne answers this question in the last line: "And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die." However, the reader at that time had his/her own answer to find. Donne had introduced a new thought. He spoke of "death" as a noun, yet spoke to "Death" as a being, without relating it to God. To dissociate God and Death, and then treat Death as an entity was indeed a new idea. "A rebirth of the human spirit" may have been the realization of the value of life, as a result of the questioning of the set belief.

"...A realization of the human potential for development," is an accurate description of the Renaissance. People were beginning to accept change in social institutions as well as in many traditional beliefs. Poets, such as John Donne, were questioning ideas that seemed to be set in stone. They were also changing the structure and style of poetry.

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Dr Greer

    1194 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most people discover a profound passion for something following their education or experience with that subject. Dr. Greer, however, found her passion for journalism long before taking any journalism-related classes. “I, along with a friend, produced a magazine for the neighborhood when I was 8 years old,” says Greer as a brief expression of nostalgia flickers across her face. Greer remembers, “I always watched the show about Lou Grant’s newspaper, and I thought the news room looked like fun.” Dr. Greer says that the appearance of the day-to-day, chaotic, exciting newspaper business inspired her to create, by hand, a newsletter of her own which she delivered to the neighborhood families. By the time Dr. Greer had entered middle school, her writing skills were superior to others her age. “In the fifth grade, I wrote an essay about why I wanted to be a journalist,” Dr. Greer explains. “My teacher commented on how good I could write and encouraged me to follow my drea...

    Read More

  • Lawyer/Paralegal Ratio: Case Study

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    Also how clients see client services such as communication, greeting, making them comfortable, accurate case status’, and the resolution of situations. Actual public opinion is low (Werner, 2005).

    Read More

  • Holy Sonnet Essay

    1787 Words  | 4 Pages

    Every writer leaves his mark, his imprint, in his writing; a thumb print left behind the ink if you know how to look for it, and Donne is no exception. The problem is extracting Donne’s imprint, and essence, from the poem, and understanding what that tells us about him. In one poem in particular this stands out, his Holy Sonnet IX, where Donne’s imprint lingers, giving another story behind the text, of his belief in God, but also his inner questioning, and confliction and doubt which come out as contradictions. Behind the text, Holy Sonnet IX, as Donne speaks through his speaker and poem, we come to understand that he is a religious man, though conflicted, which leads to doubt and contradictions, as he resents God in a way, while also just craving for his absolution and for him to forget and forgive his sins and wash them away, sins which weigh on him heavily and he believes taint him.

    Read More

  • The Renaissance During The Middle Ages

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Renaissance was a cultural and intellectual movement that had its peak during the 15th and 16th centuries. During these times there was a heightened interest with the classical learning that was brought about in the middle ages. The renaissance first started in Italy and then eventually spread to Western Europe. During this period there was a high interest in the aesthetics of the classical world like architecture. The renaissance focused on the 17th century philosophy which came from the Greeks.

    Read More

  • Understanding the Stakeholders’ Expectations

    495 Words  | 1 Pages

    This disorganized project management soon contributed to frustrations on both the client side and within the Consulting Group team, straining our day-to-day interactions. Midway through the engagemen...

    Read More

  • The Media and Negative Body Image

    2067 Words  | 5 Pages

    What you are about to encounter and learn may one day save a family member‘s life, a friend‘s life, or perhaps even your own. Hopefully you will never come across what is called an eating disorder. Present are many eating disorders. Some of which include: anorexia nervosa, bulimia, binge eating, and purging. Eating disorders can be very dangerous. On occasion they can even lead to death. There are ten million females and one million males that fight a life or death battle with an eating disorder. (National Eating Disorders Association 9) Exactly twenty-five million more struggle with Binge Eating without realizing. (National Eating Disorders Association 9) researchers attacking this puzzling illness are scattered across the country. With only few medical articles and conferences on these disorders there are not many opportunities to pursue the cures. (Cauwels 18) Further more, only a vast amount of research has been done on the subject of eating disorders. However, for some reason to believe, experts suspect that problems with the hypothalamus gland or other parts of the body’s hormone system may increase a person’s chances of having an eating disorder. (Eranger 29) Eating patterns can be triggered by anxiety and/or stress. (Maloney 29) Emotional problems are the main concerns. Many eating disorders have been proven to emerge during adolescence and often serve to more serious problems.

    Read More

  • The Renaissance Reinvention

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    The renaissance is one of the most culturally, religiously, and artistically inventive periods in the history of mankind. From giant sculptures carved to perfection to literary works of art that induced deep thinking, the renaissance demonstrated that man’s view of itself was expeditiously becoming refined. Many of the most influential people in history, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael, and Dante lived during the time of the great reinvention of Italian society. The renaissance altered the way education, art, and innovation were perceived and forever changed the thinking of the common man.

    Read More

  • John Donne Holy Sonnets

    569 Words  | 2 Pages

    Death is a very complicated subject that people view very differently in different situations. In John Donne’s Holy Sonnets, he writes about death in Meditations X and XVII. Both meditations use many similar rhetorical devices and appeals, but the tones of the meditations are very disparate. Donne’s different messages in Meditations X and XVII convey tones of defiance and acquiescence towards death, respectively. His apparent change of attitude towards death could be accounted for by his differing life situations while he was writing the meditations: mid-life, and near-death.

    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

  • Interpretations of Death in Poetry: Donne, Whitman, and Oliver

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    Death is not a formidable force because the soul cannot die. Death is not powerful and in the end of time, it will fade out because humans have eternal life. Furthermore, death is a slave. It has no real power to choose who is going to die. By depreciating death, Donne is reaffirming that death is nothing to be apprehensive about. He considers Death a long slumber and when the dead wake, Death will be no more. Whitman argues that although death claims our bodies, it cannot claim our souls. When we die, our bodies become part of nature. The old and the young are all going to be a part of the earth eventually. Their bodies provide life to other creatures and their souls live forever. The soul cannot be claimed by death. According to Oliver, the way to accept death is to lead a meaningful life. Everyone dies, but death is not frightening because it cannot affect the human

    Read More

  • Human Adaptation

    887 Words  | 2 Pages

    The next type of adaptation is also genetic, but does not involve the changing of the genes themselves, but rather how they are expressed. Because humans possess a remarkable amount of ‘genetic plasticity’, developmental adjustments can occur by turning particular genes on or off to adapt to the current environmental conditions at birth and through adolescence.

    Read More

  • The Renaissance: The Period Of The Renaissance

    1086 Words  | 3 Pages

    The “Renaissance” refers to the period in European history when social and political changes were brought about as an interest for classical literature, art and learning spawned in the Italian city states during the 14th century. Revived from the values and intellectual traditions of the ancient Greece and Rome, this era led literary scholars and great thinkers to strive for self-perfection and to replace the predominant Christian church doctrines of the middle ages with the humanistic sentiments of the new age.

    Read More

  • Management Consulting and Decision Making

    2332 Words  | 5 Pages

    Management consulting includes a wide range of activities which can be described in different ways. One way is to focus on area of expertise which includes corporate strategy, service quality, human resource management or operations management. Another way is to view the process as a sequence of phases which include initiation, contracting, diagnosis, data collection, feedback, recommendation and implementation (Edvardsson 1989).

    Read More

  • Human Evolution And Human Adaptation And The Theory Of Evolution

    1187 Words  | 3 Pages

    Evolution is the process through which the genetic makeup of a population changes over generations and is the key focus of paleoanthropologists who specialize in the study of human evolution. Random forces surrounding a particular population have been known to contribute substantially to evolutionary change, not to undermine the impact that adaptation, “a series of beneficial adjustments of organisms to their environment”, has on evolutionary processes. Adaptation is deeply tied to the theory of evolution through a process called natural selection, first theorized by Charles Darwin during his observation of various ecosystems around the world between 1831 and 1836. Natural selection is “the principle or mechanism by which individuals having biological characteristics best suited to a particular environment survive and reproduce with greater frequency than individuals without those characteristics”. Humans are unique in their ability to adapt to changes in their environment both biologically and culturally. As humans developed and continued to expand their territories of inhabitation, an increased

    Read More

  • Renaisance Education: Values and Purposes

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Renaissance was a time of change. It began in Italy during the 14th century, and spread throughout the North. People all over Europe were affected, for the better and for the worse. Some people finally had a chance to control their own fate. Others, like upper class women, lost their social status. The values and purposes of Renaissance education were to improve the society, increase the economy, and restore the religious beliefs.

    Read More

More about Renaissance

Open Document