The Analysis of the Profane and Sacred in John Donnes...

John Donne who is considered to be one of the wittiest poets of the seventeenth century writes the metaphysical poem The Flea and the religious poem Holy Sonnet 14. In both poems, Donne explores the two opposing themes of physical and sacred love; in his love poem The Flea, he depicts the speaker as an immoral human being who is solely concerned with pleasing himself, where as in his sacred poem Holy Sonnet 14 Donne portrays the speaker as a noble human being because he is anxious to please God. In the book The Divine Poems, writer Helen Gardner supports this fact as she argues, His Maker is more powerfully present to the imagination in his divine poems than any mistress is in his love poems (Pg-2). Overall, it seems that both†¦show more content†¦In the book The Disinterred Muse, writer David Novarr further discusses that GardnerÂ…makes it quite clear that she is aware of the sexuality in the poem, but at the same time she works heroically to free it from the charge o f libertinism (Pg-24). Even though the readers find the speakers highly aggressive and sexual nature to be offensive, David Novarr seems to defend the poem as he argues that: Â…[it] [seems] [the] [speaker] has somehow compromised the integrity of his...belief [in] loveÂ…[however] it is frequently the committed man who dares to explore and exploit alternatives that in no way [undercut] [his] integrity if he chooses to be witty about a subject that matters to him (The Disinterred Muse, Pg-24-25). As the poem progresses, the speaker continues to be pushy because he expresses his feelings with a lot of force and vigour. Helen Gardner argues that in his love poetryÂ…he is by nature arrogant, egotistical, and irreverent (The Divine Poems, Pg-2). However he does come across to be persuasive. This is clear while he continues to convince his mistress that Though use make you apt to kill me / Let not to that, self murder added be / And sacrilege, three sins in killing three (The Flea, L-16-18). Unfortunately in spite of the speakers petitions, his mistress ends up killing the flea, in order to crush hisShow MoreRelated The Analysis Of The Profane And Sacred In John Donnes Poems The Flea And Holy Sonnet 141801 Words   |  8 PagesJohn Donne who is considered to be one of the wittiest poets of the seventeenth century writes the metaphysical poem The Flea and the religious poem Holy Sonnet 14. In both poems, Donne explores the two opposing themes of physical and sacred love; in his love poem The Flea, he depicts the speaker as an immoral human being who is solely concerned with pleasing himself, where as in his sacred poem Holy Sonnet 14 Donne portrays the speaker as a noble human being because he is anxious to please