Introduction

John Donne was born in London in 1572, the son of prosperous city tradesman who died not long
afterward. Throughout his childhood due to his being a oman !atholic he was sub"ected to
atrocities of #ary Tudor$s reign, as against %li&abeth$s 'ct of (niformity. )is early education as well
as his education at *+ford and !ambridge was also not free from religious pre"udices. )e then
"oined Tha,ies and Lincoln$s -nn, where he remained at least until 15./. -t was at the -nns he had
an intense e+istence, a student not only of law but of theology 0his oman !atholic beliefs were
being progressi,ely undermined by an uneasy cynicism1, languages, literature, drama, people,
lo,e2 in short, of life3 4' great writer of conceited ,erses, was what his contemporaries 5nown him
by. )is 6rst two of the satyres, ma"ority of the %legies, the Epithalamion made at Lincolns Inne and
an inde6nite number of the songs and sonnets were composed when he was studying at the -nns.
-n the year 15.7, or in 15.7, ha,ing ser,ed on two na,el e+peditions which too5 him in !adi&
and the '&ores respecti,ely and between which he wrote the fourth of the satyres 0the date of the
third of the satyres is uncertain, though 15.8 seems most li5ely1. )e was appointed pri,ate
secretary to Lord %gerton3 fell in lo,e with the latter$s niece 'nne #ore and eloped with her. -t is
surprising to note that the wor5 that he composed during this time was not a song of youthful
romance but was The Progresse of the Soule3 study of transmigration. ' tragic e,ent too5 place in
the year 1817 with the death of his wife. 'fter her death Donne ga,e himself wholly to the ser,ice
of the church and in the year 1821 he was elected and installed as Dear of 9t.:auls.
)a,ing discussed about Donne$s life in brief, we shall now see that though his songs and
sonnets and )oly sonnets may ha,e been written during di;erent stages of his life yet they are
similar in many respects.
The songs and sonnets are supposed to ha,e been written during the early stage of his life. -t is
a collection of 6fty26,e lyrics in ,arious meters. <or the 6rst time it was published posthumously in
18==. The numbers of succeeding editions of the ,olume 018=5, 18=., 18/., 185>, 185/, and
188.1 are a measure of its popularity in the forty years after Donne$s death, but the ma"ority of
early references to the poetry imply that this was largely due to the satyre and the letters to
se,eral personages. ?ut it has to be noted that the collection includes such 6ne lyrics as The
%+tasie, The eli@ue, ' ,alediction. <orbidding mourning, The Aood2morrow etc to name a few.
's compared to songs and sonnets, )oly sonnets were composed between the periods
e+tending from 18>. to 1817. Though it cannot be denied that the problem as to when the ,arious
sonnets were written is a comple+, largely theological one, but it seems li5ely that many of them
belong to that period of doubt and intense thin5ing about his religion which preceded Donne$s
entry into the church. -n fact his holy sonnets ma5e him one of the greatest of %nglish religious
poets and the poets of the 17
th
century on whom his inBuence was most deep and lasting were all
religious poets. 's John Bennett tells us this is so because his temperament was essentially
religious. ' man of religious temperament is constantly aware, constantly percei,ing the
underlying unity, the fundamental oneness of all phenomena, and the perception of such a
relationship, such an inherent principle of unity is relea,ed e,en by the imagery of the earliest
poetry of Donne. Co doubt Donne$s religious poetry belongs to the later part of his career, to the
period after his ordination, and the gloom, despair and frustration which resulted from the death of
his wife 0'nne #ore1, po,erty and ill2health. The earliest of his religious poems are the sonnet
se@uence called La Corona and The Litanie3 the best of his religious poetry is contained in the holy
sonnets, the di,ine poems and The Three )ymns. The best of Donne$s religious poetry was written
only during the last phase of his career, but the nature of his imagery, e,en the early one, clearly
indicated that his genius was religious and was bound to ta5e to religious poetry sooner or later.
'ccording to Dalton, his di,ine sonnets were written by the poet during the later part of his life to
beguile many sad hours.
-t is to the credit of Jon Donne that his lo,e2poetry runs parallel with his holyEdi,ine poetry in
many respects yet they e+hibit many things in common. )is di,ine poems are the product of
conBict between his will and his temperament. -n his lo,e2poetry, he is not concerned with what he
ought or ought not to feel. )e at times can ta5e his belo,eds na5ed body to be his 4'merica$ 0 To
his Mistris Going to bed1 and sometimes he tal5s altogetherly di;erent idea of lo,e 0Extasie for
e+ample1. :assion is the only "usti6cation and so is disgust 0song for e+ample1, or hatred or grief.
-n his di,ine poetry feeling and thought are "udged by the standard of what a !hristian should feel
or thin5. 's a lo,e poet, he seems to owe nothing to what any other man in lo,e had e,er felt or
said before him3 his language is all his own, 's a di,ine poet, he cannot escape using the language
of the and of ?ible 0'nd death shall be no more3 Death thou shalt die1 and of hymns or prayers or
remembering the words of !hristian writers. -t is of prime importance to be aware that 4the truths
of Donne$s lo,e2poetry are truths of the imaginations, which freely transmutes personal
e+perience. They are his own disco,eries. The truths of re,elation are the accepted basis of his
religious poetry and imagination has here another tas5.
Songs and Sonnets and Holy Sonnets; A comparison.
Donne$s lo,e poems co,er a wide range of feeling from e+treme physical passion to spiritual
lo,e and e+press ,aried moods ranging from a mood of cynicism and contempt to one of faith and
acceptance. Donne$s greatness as a lo,e poet arises from the fact that his poetry co,ers a wider
range of emotions than that of any pre,ious poet, and that it is not boo5ish but is rooted in his
personal e+periences. )ere comes an important point that no matter in what stage of his life songs
and sonnets and )oly 9onnets were composed, no matter what di;erences in thematic reach it
had3 one thing is e,ident that both are similar, for they are 4personal$. Hmn to God! m God in m
sic"ness is as personal as # $alediction% &orbidding mourning3
9econdly, his songs and sonnets and )oly 9onnets are similar in one important aspect, i.e. the
metaphysical aspect. John Donne is infact the earliest member of the metaphysical school of
poetry 0the term metaphysical was coined by Dryden1. Dith age and time Donne progressed from
satyres to %legies to songs and sonnets and then to di,ineEholy sonnets, yet the metaphysical
element in him as a poet subsumes his entire poetic career. )ence, if emotional aspect 0being
personal1 is one of the similarities between songs and sonnets and )oly sonnets, the technical
aspect 0i.e. style2being metaphysical1 the ne+t thing in common.
De see his metaphysical conceit in 4# $alediction% &orbidding mourning$ Fi.e. lo,ers being
compared to a 4sti;e twin compass$3 we also see metaphysical aspect in all his religious poems
e+amples 'eath (e )ot Proud.
De 6nd in Donne$s religious poetry, a remar5able e+pression of his own speculation,
s5epticism and melancholy. -t is only in the holy sonnets 0last hymns1 his chief power as a religious
poet is shown. G*nly in the Hmn to God the &ather do we 6nd an assured faith3 elsewhere there is
always an element of conBict or doubt or fear. This becomes e@ually true to his 9ongs and
9onnets. #a"ority of the poems carry a cynical o,ertone with an element of doubt and disgust, we
see Donne caught up between the dilemma of physicalE sensual lo,e or spiritual lo,e. -t is in 4#
*indication% &orbidding mourning we see an assured faith that lo,e has to be felt3 not forced. -n
the 4Song+ Goe and Catche a &alling Star, it is "ust his assumptions that2
And Sweare
No where
Lives a women true and aire!
-t is said that 4Donne perple+es the minds of the fail se+ with nice speculations of philosophy, when
he should engage their hearts and entertain them with the softness of lo,e.

)ence from the discussion presented abo,e it becomes clear that, Donne did appear di;erent
in his )oly 9onnets in terms of, perhaps, the philosophical reach, yet they are similar to 9ongs
and 9onnets. ?oth areH
:ersonal
#etaphysical
' remar5able e+pression of his own speculation, s5epticism and melancholy.

BIBLI"#$A%H&
Aardner )elen' The Argument about Ecstasy, 1959s
Lo,eloc5 JulianH Donne: Songs and Sonnets

("N)*N)S
1. -ntroduction
2. 9ongs and 9onnets and )oly 9onnets3 a comparison
=. !onclusion
/. ?ibliography