Canonization by John Donne
Introduction:
Canonization was first in 1633 in his posthumous Collection 'songs and Sonnets'. Poem is divided into Five stanzas of nine lines each. 'love' word appears in the first and the last line of each Stanza. Donne Composed 'the Canonization' after his marriage to Anne More.
Here the word “Canonization” means the act or process of changing an ordinary religious person into a saint in Catholic Christian religion. The title suggests that the poet and his beloved will become ‘saints of love’ in the future: and they will be regarded as saints of true love in the whole world in the future. In the poem, the poet demands the complainer to stop hindering their lives and leave them alone so that they can continue loving each other without any hindrance.
About the Poet: John Donne was born during the Elizabethan age in the year 1572 and lived through 17th century till the year 1631. he was a roman catholic and he suffered because of that.at the end of his life he became Anglican priest, at this time he also gave sermons which also became popular. he wrote satires, elegies, holy sonnets. he developed a style which came to be known as 'Metaphysical Style'. Metaphysical style means- 'A vigorous, forceful style with conversational elements, often with shocking beginnings.' Donne applied the 'Carpe Diem' concept and syllogism. His well known poems are 'The canonization' 'The relic', 'The sun Rising'. his holy sonnets include 'Death be not |Proud', 'Better my heart'.
Critical Analysis of the poem Canonization:
"For God’s sake hold your tongue, and let me love,
Or chide my palsy, or my gout,
My five gray hairs, or ruined fortune flout,
With wealth your state, your mind with arts improve,
Take you a course, get you a place,
Observe his honor, or his grace, Or the king’s real, or his stampèd face..."
The second stanza contains the elaborate metaphysical aspects of the poem.
What merchant’s ships have my sighs drowned?
Who says my tears have overflowed his ground?
When did my colds a forward spring remove?
When did the heats which my veins fill
Add one more to the plaguy bill?..".
in the next stanza of poem speaker is posing a rhetoric questions. The lovers are not making any war or spreading diseases in society. They respect others’ property. The poet wants to say that his love injures nobody. It’s harmless. The lover is tactful, full of emotion and witty. He says, his sighs are not responsible for the flood or floating off the ground. Spring won’t go away due to his coldness. Nature has its natural course and the lovers are not harming it. The heat in his vanish has not increased the number of people who die of plague. His love is harmless. The lover says that the soldiers are doing their duty by going to war and the lawyers by fighting cases in court. But what the lover wants is to love his partner.
We’re tapers too, and at our own cost die,
And we in us find the eagle and the dove.
The phœnix riddle hath more wit
By us; we two being one, are it.
So, to one neutral thing both sexes fit.
We die and rise the same,.."
The lover is making comparison in third stanza using devices such as Simile and metaphors. Poet does not care if he is called by any name because love has made them so. He says that they are like flies. They have a very short existence. He presumes the life to be short, just like the candle. He compares himself to an Eagle and his lover to a Dove, they are complementary to each other. They love each other from the bottom of their heart. According to the lover, the riddle of Phoenix is their existence. They have two bodies, but they are one. Like the Phoenix, they die and they rise from their ashes.
"We can die by it, if not live by love,
We can die by it, if not live by love,
And if unfit for tombs and hearse
Our legend be, it will be fit for verseThe poet begins with the thought that, if they cannot live by love, they can die by it. He further says that if their love is not for tombs and hearses, they will find their place in poetry. So basically, they will find their place in the love sonnets. He says that he and his lover will be canonized by his love.He believes love doesn’t die on death. If it is a platonic or desirable love, then it tends to exist even after death. Both their ashes will be amalgamated or merged if kept together.
".....Countries, towns, courts: beg from above
A pattern of your love!”
In the final stanza of ‘The Canonization', John Donner wants to reflect their ideal pattern of love. He says that they will be declared saints and will rewarded sainthood of Love. The lover also says that all the lovers will beg their pattern of love. People from various countries, towns and courts will be praising their love pattern and will ideally follow it.
ConclusionThus now we can say that “The Canonization” by John Donne describes a transcendent love that eventually evolves into the idealized base life for all other aspiring
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