英国作家简介之John Donne
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John Donne
(1572-1631)
John Donne
• the leading figure of the metaphysical school
His Life
• John Donne was born to a
prosperous London in 1572. His father died when he was young, and he was raised by his mother, Elizabeth. • Donne's first literary work, satires was written during this period . This was followed by Songs and Sonnets.
Death be not proud
a b b a a b b a c d d c e e
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so; For those whom you 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’rt slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poision, 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. //
Conceit (奇喻)
• Or far-fetched comparisons. A comparison becomes a conceit when we are made to concede likeness while being strongly conscious of unlikeness. • The Elizabethan poets were fond of Petrarchan conceits, which were conventional comparisons, imitated from the love songs of Petrarch, in which the beloved was compared to a flower, a garden, or the like. • The metaphysical poets fashioned conceits that were witty, complex, intellectual, and often startling. • Samuel Johnson disapproved of such strained metaphors, declaring that in the conceit “the most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together.”
• Donne’s poems can be divided into two categories: the youthful love lyrics and the later sacred verses. The youthful love lyrics were published after his death as Songs and Sonnets in 1633. His early poems were love songs, elegies, and verse satires. • Donne’s later sacred verses, published in 1624 as Devotions upon Emergent Occasions which show the intense interest Donne took in the spectacle of morality under the shadow of death, a vision that haunted him perpetually, and inspired the highest flights of his eloquence.
First Quatrain
• Argue against the common belief in death: mighty and dreadful • The poet gives Death a human characteristic to scorn Death's false pride. He points out that, although most people are terrified of Death, there is no reason at all for this fear.
死神，你莫骄傲 死神，你莫骄傲，尽管有人说你 如何强大，如何可怕，你并不是这样； 你以为你把谁谁谁打倒了，其实， 可怜的死神，他们没死；你现Baidu Nhomakorabea也还杀不死我。 休息、睡眠，这些不过是你的写照， 既能给人享受，那你本人提供的一定更多； 我们最美好的人随你去得越早， 越能早日获得身体的休息，灵魂的解脱。 你是命运、机会、君主、亡命徒的奴隶， 你和毒药、战争、疾病同住在一起， 罂粟和咒符和你的打击相比，同样， 甚至更能催我入睡；那你何必趾高气扬呢？ 睡了一小觉之后，我们便永远觉醒了， 再也不会有死亡，你死神也将死去。
• Then in 1617 Anne Donne died in giving birth to the couple's 12th child. Her death affected Donne greatly, though he continued to write, notably Holy Sonnets (1618). In his final years Donne's poems reflect an obsession with his own death, which came on March 31, 1631. John Donne is remembered for the wit and poignancy of his poetry.
Third Quatrain
The poet compares Death to a slave. Death is a servant to fate, chance (accidental disasters), kings and desperate men. So Death has no option but to arrive and take that person into his arms. Death is also the slave to poison, war and sickness. All of these cause people to die without seeking Death's permission. And yet, drugs and magic also make people sleep, often in a more enriching way than that which Death promises.
Second Quatrain
Reason: Death is merely a picture of eternal rest and sleep. Just as rest and sleep bring much happiness, so Death will bring much more happiness because he brings eternal rest. Even the best people will eventually die, and then their bones will be at rest while their souls experience eternal happiness.
Features
• The diction is simple, and echoes the words and cadences of common speech. • The imagery is drawn from the actual life. • The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet’s beloved, with god, or with himself.
Metaphysical School
• Though there was no organized group of poets who imitated Donne, the influence of his poetic style was widely felt on George Herbert, Richard Crashow, Henry Vaughan, and A. Cowley. • They were named as the metaphysical school of poets by John Dryden and Dr. Johnson, not without a derogatory connotation. • Samuel Johnson coined the term "metaphysical poets" to describe Donne and his poetic descendants when he wrote of Abraham Cowley in the Lives of the English Poets that the metaphysical poets were men of learning, and to show learning was their whole endeavor.
Metaphysical Poetry
• The term applies to a group of 17thcentury English poets who used certain common techniques and employed a few common themes. • Revolt against Elizabethan love poetry and the tradition. • Psychological analysis of emotions of love and religion. • Penchant for novel and even shocking comparisons. • Metaphysical conceit --- extended metaphor. • Metaphysical wit --- comparison of apparently quite dissimilar objects of concepts and the discovery that they are after all similar. • Roughness of meter and irregular rhyme.
(1572-1631)
John Donne
• the leading figure of the metaphysical school
His Life
• John Donne was born to a
prosperous London in 1572. His father died when he was young, and he was raised by his mother, Elizabeth. • Donne's first literary work, satires was written during this period . This was followed by Songs and Sonnets.
Death be not proud
a b b a a b b a c d d c e e
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so; For those whom you 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’rt slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poision, 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. //
Conceit (奇喻)
• Or far-fetched comparisons. A comparison becomes a conceit when we are made to concede likeness while being strongly conscious of unlikeness. • The Elizabethan poets were fond of Petrarchan conceits, which were conventional comparisons, imitated from the love songs of Petrarch, in which the beloved was compared to a flower, a garden, or the like. • The metaphysical poets fashioned conceits that were witty, complex, intellectual, and often startling. • Samuel Johnson disapproved of such strained metaphors, declaring that in the conceit “the most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together.”
• Donne’s poems can be divided into two categories: the youthful love lyrics and the later sacred verses. The youthful love lyrics were published after his death as Songs and Sonnets in 1633. His early poems were love songs, elegies, and verse satires. • Donne’s later sacred verses, published in 1624 as Devotions upon Emergent Occasions which show the intense interest Donne took in the spectacle of morality under the shadow of death, a vision that haunted him perpetually, and inspired the highest flights of his eloquence.
First Quatrain
• Argue against the common belief in death: mighty and dreadful • The poet gives Death a human characteristic to scorn Death's false pride. He points out that, although most people are terrified of Death, there is no reason at all for this fear.
死神，你莫骄傲 死神，你莫骄傲，尽管有人说你 如何强大，如何可怕，你并不是这样； 你以为你把谁谁谁打倒了，其实， 可怜的死神，他们没死；你现Baidu Nhomakorabea也还杀不死我。 休息、睡眠，这些不过是你的写照， 既能给人享受，那你本人提供的一定更多； 我们最美好的人随你去得越早， 越能早日获得身体的休息，灵魂的解脱。 你是命运、机会、君主、亡命徒的奴隶， 你和毒药、战争、疾病同住在一起， 罂粟和咒符和你的打击相比，同样， 甚至更能催我入睡；那你何必趾高气扬呢？ 睡了一小觉之后，我们便永远觉醒了， 再也不会有死亡，你死神也将死去。
• Then in 1617 Anne Donne died in giving birth to the couple's 12th child. Her death affected Donne greatly, though he continued to write, notably Holy Sonnets (1618). In his final years Donne's poems reflect an obsession with his own death, which came on March 31, 1631. John Donne is remembered for the wit and poignancy of his poetry.
Third Quatrain
The poet compares Death to a slave. Death is a servant to fate, chance (accidental disasters), kings and desperate men. So Death has no option but to arrive and take that person into his arms. Death is also the slave to poison, war and sickness. All of these cause people to die without seeking Death's permission. And yet, drugs and magic also make people sleep, often in a more enriching way than that which Death promises.
Second Quatrain
Reason: Death is merely a picture of eternal rest and sleep. Just as rest and sleep bring much happiness, so Death will bring much more happiness because he brings eternal rest. Even the best people will eventually die, and then their bones will be at rest while their souls experience eternal happiness.
Features
• The diction is simple, and echoes the words and cadences of common speech. • The imagery is drawn from the actual life. • The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet’s beloved, with god, or with himself.
Metaphysical School
• Though there was no organized group of poets who imitated Donne, the influence of his poetic style was widely felt on George Herbert, Richard Crashow, Henry Vaughan, and A. Cowley. • They were named as the metaphysical school of poets by John Dryden and Dr. Johnson, not without a derogatory connotation. • Samuel Johnson coined the term "metaphysical poets" to describe Donne and his poetic descendants when he wrote of Abraham Cowley in the Lives of the English Poets that the metaphysical poets were men of learning, and to show learning was their whole endeavor.
Metaphysical Poetry
• The term applies to a group of 17thcentury English poets who used certain common techniques and employed a few common themes. • Revolt against Elizabethan love poetry and the tradition. • Psychological analysis of emotions of love and religion. • Penchant for novel and even shocking comparisons. • Metaphysical conceit --- extended metaphor. • Metaphysical wit --- comparison of apparently quite dissimilar objects of concepts and the discovery that they are after all similar. • Roughness of meter and irregular rhyme.