Teaching High Schools DonneBy Rasha El-Haggan, English Major at University of Maryland Baltimore County (Copyrighted 1999) "Donne's Songs and Sonnets are among the three or four finest collections of love-lyrics in the English Language" (RedPath, xv). John Donne is quite brilliant in the way he incorporates the physical and mental aspect of love and integrates it with his poetry. As a person who desires to become a high school English teacher, I think it is imperative that high school students are exposed to John Donne’s Poetry. Each new generation born into this life believe they have reinvented the wheel. They find it hard to understand that their parents and grand parents know all there is to know about love. They find it hard to comprehend that they exist because the generations and generations before them "discovered" love. Furthermore, high school students as teenagers find English a rather dull subject. Most of them think it tedious and boring. Using John Donne’s poetry in our high school English curriculum would not only attract students to English as a subject but would also attract them to a higher level of literature appreciation. If teachers present John Donne in a light understandable to teenagers, they would gain a much needed audience. Studying Donne as a metaphysical poet would lend high school English students a higher level of incite into English literature. Not only that, but because Donne’s poetry is generally hard to understand, students with detailed instruction will find college level English literature much easier to conceive and appreciate. For that purpose, I will examine 2 of Donne’s most interesting Songs and Sonnets in relation to his obsessive interest in the ways in which the soul and the body are involved in romantic love. I will also explicate one of his Holy Sonnets in relation to his obsessive interest with death. These three sonnets serve only as a minute taste to Donne’s poetry John Donne (1572-1631) was born in London into an old Roman Catholic family at a time when anti-Catholic feeling in England was near its height and Catholics were subject to constant harassment by the Elizabethan secret police (Norton Anthology, 1080). At the age of 11 he entered the University of Oxford, where he studied for three years (Encarta). He spent the next three years at the University of Cambridge, but took no degree at either university (Encarta). In 1593, Donne's younger brother Henry died in prison after being arrested for harboring a priest (Classic Library). As a result, Donne relinquished his Roman Catholic faith and joined the Anglican Church. His first book of poems, Satires, written during this period of residence in London, is considered one of Donne's most important literary efforts. Although not immediately published, the volume had a fairly wide readership through private circulation of the manuscript. Same was the case with his love poems, Songs and Sonnets, written at about the same time as the Satires (Encarta). In 1596, Donne joined the naval expedition that Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, led against Cádiz, Spain. On his return to England, in 1598 (Encarta), Donne was appointed private secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton, Keeper of the Great Seal. His prospects for worldly advancement seemed good. He sat in Queen Elizabeth's last Parliament; he cultivated those who wielded power and had patronage to dispense. But in 1601, he secretly married Lady Egerton's niece, seventeen-year-old Anne Moore, without the consent of her father, Sir George Moore, thereby ruining his own worldly hopes. When he first lay eyes on Anne Moore, he was so moved that he found himself deeply in love with her. I believe it was during this time that Donne’s love poetry highlights with passion. Sir George Moore had Donne imprisoned and dismissed from his post, and for the next dozen years the poet had to struggle at a series of makeshift employments to support his growing family (Norton Anthology, 1801). The poet, in a characteristic pun, later summed up the experience: "John Donne, Anne Donne, Undone" (Grolier Multimedia). Anne's cousin offered the couple refuge in Pyrford, Surrey. During the next few years Donne made a meager living as a lawyer, serving chiefly as counsel for Thomas Morton, an anti-Roman Catholic pamphleteer. Donne may have collaborated with Morton in writing pamphlets that appeared under Morton's name from 1604 to 1607. Donne's principal literary accomplishments during this period were Divine Poems (1607) and the prose work Biathanatos (posthumously published 1644). In the latter he argued that suicide is not intrinsically sinful. In 1608 reconciliation was effected between Donne and his father-in-law, and his wife received a much-needed dowry (Encarta). Though Donne had flatly refused in 1607 to take Anglican orders, King James declared that Donne could have no preferment or employment from him except in the church. Finally, in 1615, Donne overcame his scruples, not the least of which was the fear of seeming ambitious, and entered the ministry (Norton Anthology, 1801). He was appointed Royal Chaplain later that year (Encarta). In due course, he was appointed Reader in Divinity at Lincoln's Inn. Donne's metaphorical style, bold learnedness, and dramatic wit at once established him as a great preacher in an age of great preachers. 160 of his full sermons survive (Norton Anthology, 1802). Anne Donne died in 1617, aged thirty-three, after giving birth to their twelfth child. Donne was deeply affected by Anne’s death, affecting his full view at life in his later years. In 1618 Donne went as chaplain to the Earl of Doncaster in his embassy to the German princes. His Hymn to Christ at the Author's Last Going into Germany, written before the journey, is full of the apprehension of death (Classic Library). Donne continued to write poetry, notably his Holy Sonnets (1618). In 1621 James I appointed him dean of Saint Paul's Cathedral; he held that post until his death (Encarta). Donne's private devotions, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, written while he was convalescing from a serious illness, were published in 1624. It is almost certain that Donne would have become a bishop in 1630 but for his poor health (Encarta). Obsessed with the idea of death, Donne preached what was called his own funeral sermon, Death's Duel, just a few weeks before he died in London on March 31, 1631. Donne’s love poetry and death poetry found within the pages of this essay reflect his life’s passions. Reading the lines of his love and holy sonnets, one reads the details of Donne’s life. The next 3 poems show this connection. The first poem The Anniversary is a celebration of 2 people’s love for one another. Donne describes a yearlong love between a man and a woman, equally mutual and untouched by time. He starts out in the first 2 lines with a list of things that, at his time, were common enough to be heard on a regular basis:
The first seven lines refer to the passing of time on such earthly things such as kings, honors, and beauties as the earth completes its yearlong rotation around the sun. As time passes on these objects, they naturally decay and grow older. In contrast, the love between this man and this woman "hath no decay." He emphasizes in these lines love as an everlasting soul which, instead of decaying with time, grows and matures as the days, even years, pass by. One can safely deduce that to Donne true love shared between two people is far from being an "earthly" matter. In line 11, he retracts to the realities of this earth admitting that death is inevitable, "two graves must hide thine and my corpse." But even then, even if they are buried at the same time, separated by their graves, death could not part them. "If one might, death were no divorce," meaning that if one had to die, death could not sever their souls apart. In the next lines, 13 through 20, Donne gives the body a small, though important, role: Alas, as well as other prince, we
Donne refers to their young love as a prince, meaning that with only the passage of one year, their love has not yet matured to the status of "king." In addition, his love for her is reflected in her love for him, "Who prince enough in one another be." Despite the growth of their love, he again mentions that they will inevitably die, but only in body, "Must leave at last in death, these eyes and ears." Furthermore, while their souls in death will be filled with only love, "where nothing dwells but love" their souls on earth will be mixtures of both love and temporary things, "All other thoughts being inmates". He stresses that after death their souls, free of worldly bindings "then shall prove" or discover "a love increased there above" in heaven. He sums this ideal in the last line of the stanza, "When bodies to their graves, souls from their graves remove," meaning that when we die and our bodies are put into graves, our souls are removed from these graves, free to love in heaven. The last section of the sonnet adds a bit of a twist to these love filled words. In line 21, Donne slowly descends with the reader to a point of soft ecstasy as opposed to his previous passionate verses. "And then we shall be throughly blest." He assures us that after they die, they will find true happiness in the glory of heaven above. They shall truly and thoroughly be blessed. He also assures us that anyone who, in life, loved their mate’s soul as these two people did, those people shall also be blessed, "But we no more than all the rest." It is at this point where Donne crashes reality upon us. In lines 23 through 27, we witness Donne’s bitterness towards life and love, evident from his life’s later history. After hypnotizing us with previous parts of the poem, Donne brings us back to reality:
In these lines, Donne again uses the king/prince image that he uses earlier in the poem. Here, however, it has a slightly different interpretation with a clear sarcastic tone. He says, speaking for the lovers, here we are kings [even though their love is actually only a yearlong], we conceive ourselves as the only ones who can love so strongly. No love is at our love’s level and certainly no love can ever come close to our love’s attainment. Moreover, he goes on to ask, Who in this world could ever be safer then we? No one can ever hurt us, "Who is safe as we/Where none can do/Treason to us…" One should notice that the feelings described with in these words are the same feelings one would find in any young relationship. Unfortunately, we all know these feelings almost never last. Although not explicitly mentioned in the sonnet, Donne knew this fact very well. He, therefore, plays on his reader’s wisdom. For those readers with no love experience, these words will serve as a foreshadowing to love’s common, though unwanted, cruelty. Lines 25 through 26 reflect upon this idea, "Where none can do\Treason to us, except one of us two. Donne accepts and acknowledges that at this level of romance, only one of the two people involved can hurt the relationship by fearing to love too much, "True and false fears let us refrain." Donne then urges the lovers into avowing never to hold back any aspect of their love, to "love nobly, and live" nobly. He urges letting the relationship grow, to "add again/years and years unto years…" till they "attain…the second of our reign." It is interesting to note that although Donne hopes for their love to last till their bodies are put in graves, he only looks forward to the second anniversary of the couples love not daring to hope for more, "this is the second of our reign." Donne’s style of elevating his readers to higher levels of passion and later crashing reality upon them is quite an eminent pattern in his works. It is this same aspect of teasing our so-called wisdom and then crashing reality upon us that will attract students to Donne. At high school age, teenagers are wise to the truths of love and Donne touches upon that, there by attracting the younger generation. Thus, Donne’s realistic love poems, although touching on the eccentric, can attract English high school students to their otherwise "dull" subject. The second and most important of the Songs and Sonnets is A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. The importance of this poem lies within its power of imagery and symbolism. John Donne was at his metaphysical epitome while writing this poem. Izaak Walton in his book Life of Donne mentions that this poem was a gift from John Donne to his wife before he left to France. The "Valediction" celebrates natural reserve, restraint, and the courteous withholding of emotion (Sanders, 83). It describes a noble love between a man and a woman to the degree where they need not show any emotion. This aspect relates to the "soul" side of romantic love. He starts out the poem describing how virtuous men await death with calmness instead of desperation:
They are so calm when accepting death to the point where those around the body know not when this virtuous man died (Louthan, 48). The next stanza draws an analogy between these virtuous men and the love between a man and a woman. "So let us melt and make no noise." So let us be like these virtuous men when we separate from one another and make no noise. Let not the temptation of tear floods and sigh tempests move us emotionally like those of the laity for it would profane the sanctity of our love. The word "melt" indicates a fusing of souls. Bodies can’t fuse together only "Our two souls therefore, which are one" can fuse together. One can see the noble love between man and wife is so high as to belittle ordinary human love. Not just that, but it also elevates their love to the degree where the body becomes secondary, indicating that physical separation means nothing to them because their love holds their souls together always. In lines 13 through 20, Donne contrasts the love between him and his wife described in previous stanzas with the love of "sublunary lovers":
"Sublunary lovers" are analogized with the moon, which is always changing. Line 13 describes the type of lovers characterized as "sublunary lovers." Since the moon is variant throughout the month, these ‘sublunary lovers" are "inconstant or even lunatic" (Louthan, 49). While Donne and his wife’s love is based on their souls, indicating a pure type of love, these sublunary lovers’ love is based on the physical aspect alone. "Absence" of the physical love’s elements such as the "eyes, lips and hands" (line 20) can destroy their superficial love. Therefore, when comparing the separation of the sublunary lovers to Donne’s separation from his wife during travel, the sublunary lover’s separation is filled with "noise," "tear floods," and "sigh-tempests." On the other hand, the love that Donne has for his wife is "so much refined" (line 17) that these same physical (bodily) elements which matter so much to the dull lovers do not hold as much importance to the noble love between Donne and his wife. In lines 24 and 25, Donne draws on a distinction between a man and a woman’s love and the expansion of gold. It is a fact that an ounce of gold when beaten to the thickness of a gold leaf would cover 250 square feet. The same is true with their "refined" love which extends to their souls. Both souls, made one by love, can expand infinitely like a thin gold foil. It is obvious that Donne places a great deal of importance on the fact that the souls of the two lovers are one. In line 25, however, he states "they are two." Their souls are still two because their bodies are two. He likens their duality to the legs of a compass. This complex image of a compass is quite interesting. I believe a paraphrase of the last three stanzas would be beneficial in describing the relation between body, soul, and romantic love:
In Line 35, "Thy firmness makes my circle just," Donne who is famous for his metaphysical poetry draws on his geometric skills. It is common knowledge that the center of the circle is equidistant from any point on that circle’s circumference. In fact, when drawing a circle using a geometric compass, the firm and stable leg must be put in the middle. The other leg is put at a distance away from the firm leg and a circle is drawn from the starting point. If the firm leg moves, the moving leg never reaches the starting point. This is analogous to the last stanza. If the woman, the firm leg, is not situated in place at all times, the man will never come back to where he begun. This draws the distinction again with the soul and body. The body might move from one place to the other, but his soul is forever linked (as the two compass legs are linked) to his beloved. Doniphan Louthan, author of The Poetry of John Donne, puts it best when he explains the purpose of this poem in relation to the soul and body, "The basic theme of this valediction is that the parting is merely illusory: The death-of-absence never occurs, and weeping would be superfluous here." This specific sonnet might be of particular interest to students but not for it’s reference to love, although that definitely attracts students. This sonnet is interesting because of its complex imagery. Students will feel themselves connecting with this poem. The image of the compass will be an especially likable image because students in high school deal with geometry at all levels of mathematics. Experiencing English in terms of Mathematics might be very amusing to them. Also, although not mentioned in this explication of A Valediction, forbidding mourning, this poem has strong sexual innuendoes, primarily with the image of the compass. One can also see sexual innuendoes in lines 31-32. Although I find it unwise to teach students anymore than what they already know regarding physical love, it would be interesting to them to know that during the 16th and 17th centuries, people had interest in such subjects. This idea, although naïve to us as educators, goes along with the idea of each generation reinventing sex." Finally, I examine Donne’s obsession with death, evident after his wife’s passing away, through his Holy Sonnet Death Be Not Proud. In this Sonnet, Death is personified and addressed directly as a person. Donne serves both as writer and speaker. As speaker he has a strong angry voice evident through his tones towards death. It is a matter of fact that Death is not a likable character. The speaker addresses and instructs Death to let go of his pride. Despite the fact that Death is viewed as "mighty and dreadful," the speaker challenges this notion. He continues to say that Death thinks it frightens people and [overthrows] them, however, it isn’t true because they don’t die. At this point, it is better to stop and ponder this statement. What does it mean that the people do not die? Perhaps, this means that even though everyone dies, each person will again rise on the Day of Judgement to face God. This concept is repeated at the end of the poem as well. So, as powerful as Death may think it is, its powers are actually quite limited. Further the speaker says that [thou canst kill me], which probably means that death is not really final and that it is just a break from life. The next idea centers on mocking Death by referring to it as a "pleasure" rather than a nightmare. It seems that the speaker suggests that Death is a peaceful and welcomed sleep or time of rest. Of course, one cannot be disturbed by anything in this sleep. A person enjoying this sleep is far away from the worries and hardships of the world. Basically, the speaker antagonizes Death by claiming that the sleep of death is good and could even be desired. Further, the speaker does acknowledge that Death does take good people with it along with "their bones, and soul’s delivery." Every part of a person, body and soul, goes with Death, however this victory is short-lived as implied by the next few lines. The next few lines point out the flaws that Death has. In essence, Death is reminded that its power is somewhat limited. In other words, random events in life can rob Death of its purpose such as "fate, chance, kings, and desperate men." The phrase "desperate men" indicates to me someone who kills another or perhaps, kills himself. Consequently, some people take away from Death’s spontaneity by making a conscious decision to kill themselves. So, Death does not fully enjoy its reign of terror because these people welcome and invite death willingly. Further, the mention of "poison" may imply that a purposeful act may cut short one’s life. As far as war is concerned, people who fight in battles are not afraid to die and when they do, they die a glorious death. Again, Death can feel powerless because these men are not concerned with death itself, but with the concept of serving a specific purpose in life. Sickness also lessens the impact of death because an individual has time to prepare for the inevitable. Most people, near the very end of their lives, do accept death gracefully or without regret. Again, an acceptance of death is peaceful and therefore, not dreaded or feared. And if death is accepted than Death has nothing to gloat about. Finally, "poppy or charms" are also said to have powers to put one to sleep. For such an induced sleep, the credit would go to the "poppy" or "charm," not Death. The speaker sums up at the end of his speech by saying that these other factors which bring about death often do a better job than just Death itself with its "stroke." Further, the fact that these factors do take away from Death’s glory make the speaker question why Death is so "full of itself," "why swell’st thou then?" The final couplet serves as the ultimate "stinger" to Death. The speaker correctly points out that death is a short sleep, which ends when the people will rise to face God. On this Day of Judgement, the decision is made for each person’s eternity, heaven or hell. After this point, Death will become extinct. The fear, the dread and the significance of it will be gone forever. In its foolish pride, Death unknowingly does the work of God. By bringing death upon people, Death brings them closer to God who, in turn, decides where they will spend eternity. If applied to religion, there is a link between the concept of death and the religious leaders of the world. According to Christian belief, Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for the good of his people; he faced Death and really defeated it. Not only was he unafraid of Death, but he also will be coming back to this world towards the end of time. In the end, Death itself will die because there will be no use for it. So, the job that Death had done for such an enormously long period of time will prove to be its ultimate defeat. Due to Donne’s strong religious background, it is not surprising that he uses religion as a "weapon" against his enemy, in this case, Death. Since Death these days finds itself closer and closer to the young than the old, this poem will serve as an automatic magnet to English high school students. Most of them, at one point in time, experienced the loss of a family member, friend, or even peer to death. Also, each day, their parents, administrators, and even teachers preach to them about their chances of death if they are not "careful." With the rise of alcoholism and drug abuse with in this age level, it is imperative that these students understand death well. The image most of them have is that of "Death the monster." This sonnet serves to less their fear of Death while strengthening their resolve to fight it. Although this might be a bit of a stretch, who knows, maybe after Donne is introduced as part of the English curriculum, elevating numbers of death within teenage years might decrease. In conclusion, John Donne throughout his love poetry, but especially his Songs and Sonnets draws an important distinction between the body, the soul, and romantic love. He stresses that the soul is the most important part of romantic love, yet through his poetic puns and lines, we can deduce that the body is just as important. We also examine a Donne’s obsession with death. These same love poems and even his religious poems find him thoroughly examining death. Through a detailed presentation of John Donne, high school students can be taught to appreciate a man with whom they share a magnitude of feelings and experiences. They will be taught to look at the English language as a complement to their lives instead of an impediment. They might even enjoy doing their Donne homework. As a high school student, I was in a unique upper level class where we thoroughly studied William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies. I learned crucial techniques such as reading between the lines and searching for hidden meanings within the obvious that other students who were not in the class did not learn. These qualities are significant to a college education. It not only teaches one to be efficiently critical, but it also helps to heighten one’s level of the aesthetics. Afterall, it was John F. Kennedy who said, "We will never be a civilized country until we expend more money on books than we do for chewing gum."
Works Cited
I have to thank Lisa McGown for making the wonderful flowers
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