Virginity: The key to seduction in John Donne

In John Donne’s “The Relique,” he uses a metaphysical conceit to explore the vastness of the spiritual love which the speaker shares with a woman, and in the final stanza employs a vast paradox to expand the theme of the poem into a seduction. The speaker first forecasts the future, when he and his lover are dead, and says that the two, when dug up, will be viewed as a phenomenal love, holy and everlasting. After exploring how their spiritual love, without sex, will be the greatest of all miracles, he says that their intercourse would surpass all miracles explainable in words. Donne, in the poem, is trying to get a woman to have sex with him though the theme that sex develops the best of a spiritual relationship into a physical form.

To start, the literal meaning of “The Relique” begins with the speaker talking about when his grave is reused for another to rest in. He takes this opportunity to make fun of how women often sleep with more than one other. Regardless, he says what might mean that the one digging his grave will find a strand of blonde hair and be intrigued by his belief that it was loving couple’s grave. He closes the first stan

Furthermore, the purpose of the majority of the poem, with respect to the exploration of the speaker’s grave being dug up, is to make a conceit glorifying how vast the spiritual love of the speaker is. Generally, grave digging is not something associated with love. Yet, the speaker says that when they are dug up, the digger will “thinke that there a loving couple lies.” This might mean that something will compel the person digging the grave to believe that they were a loving couple. The love in their relationship is so strong and obvious that it can even be seen when they are dead. Moreover, as re-dug, the two will be adored and people will see the miracle of their sacred love. Donne manages to make the grave digging seem like a glorious occasion as he compares it to love. Also, like the afterlife, their love becomes eternal.

Along with that, there is religious imagery and allusion associated with the speakers love as shown through the digging. An example of this is in the conclusion of the first stanza. By “busie day” Donne might be referring to judgment day; this communicates holy love as souls are staying together on the final day. Next, the speaker says that he and his lover will become reliques. They are in this case holy as evidenced by the mention of Mary Magdalen. In this case, the speaker is probably saying that people will view his relationship with his love as they do Jesus and Mary. Both pairs had an extreme spiritual connection, but never made love. This furthers the religious

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