I cannot believe I never talked about this poem. When I was asking for poem suggestions, Karyn said John Donne because his stuff is sexy. And you can’t really argue with this so I was on board. I’ve previously (not too eloquently) discussed “Song” and it’s connection to Howl’s Moving Castle. And I spend so much time thinking about this poem that I was sure it must also have been featured previously. But no!
Remember earlier this month when I talked about patronage poems and my seventeenth century lit class? We also read this poem during that class. My professor told us a story about a guy in one of her own college classes who decided the poem was probably about fish (you know, batter . . . yeah) and it’s still one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard.
I’m not religious but I’ve always really enjoyed Donne’s poems. They are intrinsically tied to the concept of faith and religion–as many things in the 17th century were–but like Karyn says, they’re still so sexy.
“Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,”–can you beat this imagery? Not really. There is something very powerful and very compelling in a poem that talks about god/faith as if it were a lover. I mean, who does that? Is it any wonder we are still reading and discussing John Donne’s poetry so many years after his death?
Miss Print 