... in ours. Poetry is not produced in a social and historical vacuum, poetic language and forms bear the traces of the specific circumstances that have shaped them, and the interpretation of them by different audiences at different times is similarly determined historically. CRITIC: John Dryden (Late 1600s) -He affects the metaphysics, not only in his satire but in his amorous verses, where Nature only should reign; and ... as one considers that although Donne conjures these violent acts of "against the speaker, the speaker in fact calls and begs for them, thus a twisted paradox. Donne ope...

• Word Count: 7662
• Approx Pages: 31
• Grade Level: High School

... " (Cathcart 1). In other word, John Donne's poetry is unfamiliar to the average reader. many people may understand the work of Shakespeare, for instance, only because it is frequently performed and studied. The study of Donne is different in terms of the ambiguity encountered in his work. many of his poems will logically support a vast number of interpretations. "Batter my heart," a holy sonnet by John Donne, uses sexual imagery to ... describe the speaker's acceptance of God ... ...

• Word Count: 2802
• Approx Pages: 11

... thou deniest me is; It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be. (1-4) (This and all other references made to John Donne's "The Flea", Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time, and Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" are taken from Perrine's Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry Tenth Edition, copyright ... little warmth they may still possess. The warmth of the blood also serves as an allusion to the heat filled passion found in youthful embraces. Appeals made by the speaker become more intense the further he gets into his rh...

• Word Count: 2776
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School