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The Canonization

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43 views16 pages

The Canonization

Uploaded by

bareerab26
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Canonization

by John Donne
Compiled by Javeria khaliq
BS English Sem-5
Roll.no 203
Introduction
 ‘The Canonization’ by John Donne was first
published in 1633 in Donne’s posthumous
collection Songs and Sonnets. It is a five stanza
poem that is separated into sets of nine lines.
 It is a metaphysical poem in which the speaker
defends his love against critics. He insists that
the his love should not be criticized, as it harms
no one. Throughout the poem, he contrasts the
worldly concerns of society ---- such as wealth,
statue, politics with the spiritual and eternal
nature of love
Significance of title
 The word 'Canonization' means the act or
process of changing an ordinary religious
person into a saint in Catholic Christian
religion. This 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.
 The title emphasize the theme of love as
powerful force that can rise above worldly
criticism and endure throughout the time
Stanza one
 Metaphysical , irony , repitition , allusion, imagery ,
hyperbola, anaphora , alliteration , apostrophe.

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
Contemplate; what you will, approve,
So you will let me love.
Stanza 2
 Rhetorical question , metaphor , hyperbola , irony , contrast , imagery

Alas, alas, who’s injured by my love?


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?
Soldiers find wars, and lawyers find out still
Litigious men, which quarrels move
Though she and I do love?
Stanza three
 Metaphor , paradox , symbolism , allusion ,
imagery , repetition

Call us what you will, we are made such by love;


Call her one, me another fly,
We're tapers too, and at our own cost die,
And we in us find the eagle and the dove.
The phoenix 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, and prove
Mysterious by this love.
Stanza 4
Metaphor , symbolism , irony , imagery ,
parallelism , personification
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 verse;
And if no piece of chronicle we prove,
We’ll build in sonnets pretty rooms;
As well a well-wrought urn becomes
The greatest ashes, as half-acre tombs,
And by these hymns, all shall approve
Us canonized for Love.
Stanza 5
 metaphor , hyperbola , imagery , personification , allusion , repitition

And thus invoke us: “You, whom reverend love


Made one another’s hermitage;
You, to whom love was peace, that now is rage;
Who did the whole world's soul contract, and drove
Into the glasses of your eye
(So made such mirrors, and such spies, That they did all to you
epitomize)
Countries, towns, courts: beg from above
A pattern of your love!”
Form
The five stanzas of “The Canonization” are
metered in iambic lines ranging from
trimeter to pentameter; in each of the nine-
line stanzas, the first, third, fourth, and
seventh lines are in pentameter, the
second, fifth, sixth, and eighth in
tetrameter, and the ninth in trimeter. The
rhyme scheme in each stanza is
ABBACCCDD.
Tone
 Speaker adopts the defensive tone against
those who criticized his love
 The speaker uses mockery to dismiss the

norms of society such as politics wealth or


status
 Tone of deep passion – the speakers love is

presented as powerful and all consuming


 As the poem progresses the tone shifts to

one of reverence. Speaker elevates his love


to the level of sainthood
 The speaker expressing great confidence.
Tone reflects speakers belief of superiority
of love over material things
 There is a playful tone in the use of

paradoxes metaphors – mean speaker is


enjoying this.
Central idea
 The main idea of "The Canonization" by John
Donne is that love is a powerful and sacred
experience. The speaker argues that true
love makes people special, almost like saints.
He rejects outside judgments and social
norms, insisting that love should be honored
and celebrated. Through clever language and
images, Donne shows that love can create its
own lasting meaning, rising above everyday
concerns. In the end, the poem highlights
love's ability to go beyond time and death.
Themes
 The power of love
 Love vs society
 Social norms
 Transcendence of love
 Love as a form of devotion
 Unity of love and soul

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