The Power Of Personification In The Poetry Of John Donne And Mary Oliver

Abstract on John Donne’s life.

John Donne was born into a Catholic family at a time when Catholics suffered discrimination and persecution by the Anglican royal house. He was educated at the Oxford and Cambridge Universities but did not receive his degree because he would not swear the oath of supremacy, stating that the King or Queen of England was the only Church leaders in England. To support his growing family, Donne worked as a lawyer. In 1610 and 1611, he published two anti-Catholic works that helped him to be liked by King James I. In 1615, he hesitantly joined the Anglican Church and was appointed senior.

During this period, Donne's pieces were largely religious in their content. After his wife's death in 1617, Donne began writing deeply on the subject of death. His death obsession intensified as his health deteriorated and a few weeks before his death he wrote what he called his own eulogy. John Donne died in London on March 31, 1631. This poem was originated in the series 'Holy Sonnet,' a group of Donne's poems that deals primarily with issues of religious belief, mortality, and religious anxiety.

Holy Sonnets: Death, be not proud by John Donne

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Situation/ Plot

“Death be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so” (line1). The speaker in the poem personified death and speaks to it directly and mocks it. He tells it do not be proud and patronize me just because most people find you mighty and scary. In fact, he says it is not all that because the speaker is not dead after he meets death and emphasizes that even when he is dead, is stronger than death itself “or thou art not so; For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.'(lines 2,3,4 ).

Later, the speaker dispels the importance of death through the first claim that death is nothing more than a rest “One short sleep past, we wake eternally”(line 13), and secondly, he says that following that rest comes the afterlife, which contradicts the purpose of death to bring a final end to life. With death’s powerlessness it is proven at the end of the sonnet that the one who is going to die will not be the speaker, but death itself.

Structure

Sonnet is a fourteen-line poem with the same idea running throughout the poem. They were first written in Italian and were traditionally love songs. Although modifications can be made to it, the sonnet remained true to its original fourteen-line length and its iambic pentameter. Petrarch was the one who developed it, but it was not translated into English until the sixteenth century. From there, Shakespeare who mocked Petrarch's love songs changed it slightly and made the sonnet famous in England and many others followed.

Various forms

Two Quartets (square, 4-row stanza) = 8 lines, each part is called an octave.

Two terracines (triangles, 3-row stanza) = 6 rows, each part is called a set.

'Death, be not proud' by John Donne combined the Shakespearean and Petrarchan styles. The division within the sonnet shows the Shakespearean structure, while the rhyme used by the poet shows the Petrarchan sonnet structure.

Sounds

Rhyme Scheme

In the first and second quarters (A four-line stanza) the poem follows ABBA's rhyme scheme, and the third quarter continues with CDDC rhyme scheme. At the end known as the couplet (the last two lines in the Shakespearean structure that hold the 'punch'), it is AA. (Look at the poem above)

Meter

Most of this poem is written in iambic pentameter where the feet (two syllables) contains an unstressed syllable and followed by a stressed syllable for example “From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be” (line 5). However, in this poem, the meter changes as the poem progresses.

Assonance

The repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sentence or a line of poetry or prose. For example, in our poem, there is a repetition of the sound of the vowel ‘E’ “And soonest our best men with thee do go” (line 7)

Language / Figures of speech

Personification

The attribution of human nature or character to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure.

In this poem Donne uses personification throughout the poem and gives death human characteristic, like pride; “Death be not proud” (line1). The speaker addresses him directly as if he can talk to him and tells it not to be proud. Death has qualities and emotions just as human beings have.

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them (as in drowning in money).

There are a few uses of metaphors in Donne's poem. The first use is in the first line when the speaker addresses death and compares it to a proud man “Death, be not proud” (line 1). The second use is when the speaker tells death that he is a slave for fate, kings that kill and desperate men “Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men” (line 9). The last use of metaphor appears in the last lines where the speaker compares death to short sleep and to something that does not really exist. He tells it that he will simply go to sleep until judgment day comes and he will rise again “One short sleep past, we wake eternally And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” (line 13-14)

Irony

A contrast or discrepancy between what is said and what is meant or between what happens and what is expected to happen in life and literature. Irony sometimes expresses something other than their literal intent, often with humor, for example, the death of death “And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” (line 14). It is ironic that death dies at the end of the poem, but the speaker does not mean that death will die; he means that it will not exist anymore.

Theme/ message

There are several themes in this poem, each of which is basically a piece that completes the message of this poem. The first is the powerlessness of death, the speaker takes a strong stance against death. He addresses it and says “Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so” (line 1-2) he also pity death and says, 'Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.'(line 4). In addition, one of the comparisons was the comparison of death to sleep, which is fun and good activity that people love. People usually feel good after they sleep and rest, so according to the speaker's claim, they will probably feel better after death. With all that he is saying the speaker takes death's power. The second theme is immortality, to our speaker death is just a pathway to afterlife.

He says death is just rest to his bones; he makes a separation between the physical (bones) and the spiritual which is the soul that goes into the afterlife he says, “One short sleep past, we wake eternally.” (line 13). At the same time, we wonder if the speaker raises this argument just because he fears death might be the end of the life he knows. We ask ourselves, is this poem really brave or does the speaker try to overcome his fear of life after death while speaking directly to death? True courage and audacity are known to be one way to deal with death, which leads us to the third theme in the poem, courage. Throughout the poem, the speaker never drops his guard. Moreover, he gets even more confidence in the second half. But, is it courage or illusion? And can it be that courage has a different meaning and it simply means to accept that death is actually the end of this life we know, and all that comes after is a mystery?

When Death Comes By Mary Oliver

When death comes

like the hungry bear in autumn;

when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;

when death comes

like the measle-pox

when death comes

like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:

what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

And therefore I look upon everything

as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,

and I look upon time as no more than an idea,

and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common

as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,

tending, as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something

precious to the earth.

When it's over, I want to say all my life

I was a bride married to amazement.

I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it's over, I don't want to wonder

if I have made of my life something particular, and real.

I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,

or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

Situation/ Plot

Our speaker imagines that death will come in several ways: as a bear “like the hungry bear in autumn”(line 2) as a man with a coin purse “When death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse” (line 3), as illness “like the measle-pox” (line 6) and as an iceberg “like an iceberg between the shoulder blade”(line 8). She says that when death comes, she wants to die full of curiosity and because of that; she sees everything as part of sisterhood and brotherhood 'And therefore I look upon everything as a brotherhood and a sisterhood' (line 12-13). She doubts the concept of time and says it's just an idea.

She compares each life to a flower but also recognizes their individuality. She says that every name is like music in her mouth and she sees every life as precious. When she dies, she wants to be able to say that she knew the world intimately. She embraces it with open arms like a groom embraces his bride 'I was the bridegroom taking the world into my arms'(line 23). She tells us that she doesn't want to feel regret; she does not want to be scared or angry. 'I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.' (line 28) the speaker really wants to live in this world and not to be here just as a guest.

Structure and Sound

Free verse

A literary device that can be defined as poetry that is free from the limitations of a regular meter or rhythm and does not rhyme with fixed forms. Such poems are without rhythm and rhyme schemes, do not follow regular rhyme scheme rules, yet still, provide artistic expression. In this way, the poet can give his own shape to a poem however he or she desires. However, it still allows poets to use alliteration, rhyme, cadences, and rhythms to get the effects that they consider are suitable for the piece

“When Death Comes” is a free-verse poem. This means that it does not follow a specific rhyme or meter structure. But it still has a certain structure the first part is: “When _____, I want to ____. Therefore I ____.” And then there is the second part of the poem that partially repeats this first form: “'When ___, I want to ___. When ____, I want to ____.”

Language

Simile

A simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different things. Unlike a metaphor, a simile draws resemblance with the help of the words “like” or “as.” Therefore, it is a direct comparison.

Oliver uses Simile several times, right at the beginning of the poem we see a comparison of death to a hungry bear. The speaker says, “like the hungry bear in autumn” (line 1). This use of simile to a bear which is an animal in nature that might be seen by a man once in his life makes the matter of death seem tangible, as something that happens and is not far from reality.

Later, she uses images like “measle-pox” and “iceberg” (lines 6, 8) in these lines death is seen in a negative light; she continues and says, 'what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?' (line 9. She wonders what it will be like stepping into that cottage of darkness. In this line, our speaker gives death a place playing with our ideas of death that it's an event or an end. As the poem progresses the speaker's attitude changes and we have her many different perspectives to death. We realize that for her death is just another step in life.

Personification

The attribution of human nature or character to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure.

Our speaker describes death in many ways, and how she would like to deal with it when it comes. She says, “when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse” (line 3). Death is personified as a person that comes to purchase her soul with coins. Oliver's use of personification in this line is to present a different image of death. She treats it like a man with bright coins, unlike the darkness which is what usually describes death.

Anaphora

In writing or speech, the deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect is known as Anaphora. in this poem. The line 'When death comes' is repeated at the beginning of each stanza with emphasis on when it arrives because it is inevitable and to combine all the various strange images and uses of death used by the poet(lines 1, 3, 5, 7).

Theme/ message

The theme of this poem is to live your life to the fullest. The speaker says she wants to experience life, in the last line, she says “I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.” (line 28). The speaker does not want to be a mere visitor to this world and when death comes, she wants to accept it with open arms and with knowing that she took every chance offered, and she appreciated this world around her. She wants to say that she has lived her life and that she now can die with no regrets and in peace.

The Connections Between the Texts

One of the great things about poetry is the ability to describe a particular theme in different ways. There are many discussions about death, whether it is between different cultures or perceptions of individual people. In their poems, Donne and Oliver have made great efforts to explore the different approaches to the role of death in their lives and in the world. Both poems represent different perceptions of death, but they have some similarities.

In Oliver as in Donne’s poem, death is the speaker's main concern and therefore he addresses death directly. Both poets use the literary term personification to show that death is not as scary as everyone thinks. Although there are many similarities there are also differences between the poems. One of them is that, according to Oliver, death means something that comes along with life. She sees death as a way to define our lives, as something that can be approached with the same sense of wonder and possibility that makes us appreciate our lives.

Donne's poem, on the other hand, criticizes death from a number of different perspectives. He says death is just a slave that has no control whatsoever. He goes on to say that death is like a sleep and just a transition to eternal life. Oliver’s embraces whatever will happen to her after death while the speaker in Donne's poem says his words because he is afraid of the unknown.