JOHN DONNE AND GEORGE HERBERT

It was the first lecture and we went on new era of english litrature tht is called Metaphysical, and we started learning some shortly knowledge about the term. It was different from Elizabethan era especially about love style. for example: love was unrequited in elizabethan era, although it was physical or we can say that ıt is mutual in methaphsical term, and the most known name is john done He is known the representative of the metaphysical poets. Although he began to write erotic and love poems, he changed his style writing about true religion. Another important theme was the idea of true religion in his poems. he had a reputation with interesting similes and metaphors.
Knowledge that was allured me most is his thoughts about marriage, on the contrary his idea , he had 12 children =))
this week we read The Flea. That ı tell the true , ı didnt know flea's meaning:also, ı have never expected that someone will write a poem as flea, so Donne was astonished me. when ı glanced Donne's life, ı had some ideas about metaphysical poets, and ı must confess ı firstly like to read a poem in English ,and ı will share it for my dear visitors =)

THE FLEA.

by John Donne

MARK but this flea, and mark in this,

How little that which thou deniest me is ;

It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee, 

And in this flea our two bloods mingled be.

Thou know'st that this cannot be said

A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead ;

Yet this enjoys before it woo,

And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two ;

And this, alas ! is more than we would do.

O stay, three lives in one flea spare,

Where we almost, yea, more than married are.

This flea is you and I, and this

Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is.

Though parents grudge, and you, we're met,

And cloister'd in these living walls of jet.

Though use make you apt to kill me,

Let not to that self-murder added be,

And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.

Cruel and sudden, hast thou since

Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence?

Wherein could this flea guilty be,

Except in that drop which it suck'd from thee?

Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou

Find'st not thyself nor me the weaker now.

'Tis true ; then learn how false fears be ;

Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me,

Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.

the other poems are still Jone Done's Holy Sonnet X and George Herbert's Eastern Wings. As far as ım learnt sonnet x is the most difficult poem to translate in turkish. some blogs have mentioned about it, and students who are studying department on Englih Literature said that the best poem is this among John donnes'. He challenge death in poem. he compares death with sleep, and he tries to explain death is not dreadful because it is like sleep, and sleep makes relax us, and death will make us relax like sleep,but we understand that he is so scared death because ıf someone scares something, s/he will try to explain its unimportance=) 

but his metaphors and similes so excellent that you need to read again and again to understand what he is trying to mean.

 The last one is George Herbert's Eastern Wings . you can check knowledge below. ı searched a few sites, but these are so simple that you can understand not to make an effort.

 '' - metaphysical school of poetry

- written in a form of pattern poetry known as carmen figuration/ shaped verse (words and lines are arranged on the page so that they create a visual image or illustration of the poem's subject)
- poet creates a visual image of wings
- as the poet progresses from the first stanza to the second, the nature of man also progresses from God's creation and the gifts provided to the fall of man and the required acceptance of Christ
- Easter  central Christian festival, commemorates Christ’s resurrection (resurrection as giving hope)
- a celebration of Christ resurrection  mean by which humankind overcomes sin and attains freedom
- poem is addressed directly to God (form of invocation) named “Lord”
- human was extraordinary complete when first created by God (“Wealth and Store”)
- with God help man can rise
- in closing the poem author asks for help from God so he can fly again and he hopes that his purposeful suffering will allow him to progress spiritually
- each line is important  capitalizing the first letter on each line
- in rhyme scheme, Herbert uses ababacdcdc in both stanzas, giving the poem a sense of order in the structure.
- the first stanza shows the fall of man and the second shows man's redemption through Christ
- the rhyme scheme suggests that even with the failure of man, God keeps balance and order within the universe
- in closing each stanza, Herbert uses alliteration to observe where man is in the process of redemption.
- by repairing our wings by grafting them to God's, such an “affliction” will allow man closer communion with the Lord
- imp  give new feathers to the bird in order to help it to fly  in poem rising from death into new life ''

Source: http://www.shvoong.com/books/1965685-easter-wings-george-herbert/#ixzz2vJFKwHGY