John Donne – Holy Sonnets

1

Donne questions death because he’s afraid of his previous sins carrying him to hell. The decay in the poem could be, not just death, but also sin itself, and questioning why God made him to sin and suffer. The poem turns though, and while he’s tempted to continue sinning, by looking up to heaven in prayer he’s lifted up to heaven.

2

He’s resigned himself to God because his sins have been paid for by Christ. His previous sins are seen as a betrayal of God because he fouled his temple (his body). He questions why the devil made him do what he did and whether or not God has actually chosen him.

3

Here, Donn talks about his continual mourning, which I read as a type of melancholy, because he’s mourned in vain. He starts the poem by talking about sighs and tears, a reflection on his previous Petrarchan style poetry, and that those tears were wasted. He suffered then, which was his sin, and now he has to repent for it and cry real tears for his salvation.

4

Donne writes that his soul is on a pilgrimage, and while on that pilgrimage committed treason against God. He feels cornered and trapped like a prisoner who both wishes for death, but also wants a stay of execution out of fear.

5

Here, the body and soul are seen as a little world of elements and spirit, but that sin has removed all light from the world. The sun (son) has become invisible, and now the world must die. He asks God, who has found new worlds and lands, to put “seas” in his eyes so he can weep or to drown, and then also for the fire of zeal to light him up rather than the fire of sinful passion.

6

Donne uses a theatrical metaphor to talk about his soul’s last scene, and that all of life is also a pilgrimage. The body has to dwell in the earth so the soul can fly to heaven, but he’s afraid that his sins won’t fall away and he’ll be pressed to hell. As if, the body under the earth will be trapped by those sins and kept weighted down.

7

A poem about Judgment Day and Revelations, which he asks to come even though he’s not ready for it. He then asks God to wait before he calls everyone, because he needs to mourn more to clear his soul from his sins and learn how to repent.

8

If the soul is judged by the end result then he’ll be ok, but if they are only looked at in one moment of time, Donne is afraid that his sins will be all that are seen. Even though he’s afraid, he knows he’s not a dissembler and he knows that God knows too because God is the one that made him have these emotions and feelings.

9

Donne questions why all of the bad things cannot be damned the way humans are damned. Even the tree of knowledge escapes judgment. He asks why intent or reason in him make sins worse and why if God is merciful that he threatens man.

10

Death is personified in this poem so Donne can overcome him. Rest and sleep are pictures of death and sleep gives us dreams, so therefore, death must give us heaven. Nothing to fear in death because death is only a brief moment between sleep and heaven.

11

The poem starts with Christ telling the Jews to crucify him, and the rest of the poem is guilt from Donne over his sins and Christ’s death for them, saying he crucified Christ daily with his previous sins.

12

The body and soul division control this poem, and Donne wants to know why all of the earth was made for man and that all creatures and elements are for him. And, even though its all for man, why do all things die.

13

If today was the last day on earth, has Donne repented enough to get to heaven. He’s tormented by the idea that he has not. He also talks about his previous experiences with women and why he could talk so easily about their beauty and finds it so difficult to repent.

14

Donne wants to be remade in the forge of God’s light. He asks for God to beat him into submission so that he can get over his past sins and be a new person. He also wants God to rape him.

15

In this poem he wants God to digest his soul so that he can get to heaven easier than having to the work. He also talks about how God begat Christ, and that he’s still begetting people, maybe other humans that aren’t Christ because man is made in god’s image?

16

This poem is about the division between Catholicism and Anglicanism because Donne, perhaps at this moment, converts from Catholicism to Anglicanism. He wishes, though, that there wasn’t such a division in the worship of God.

17

This poem was written after his wife died and he is glad that she is in heaven, but obviously he misses her. He hopes too, that now that she is there he can become completely and wholly devoted to heavenly pursuits.

18

Revelations poem and the she is the wife of the lamb.

19

Donne is upset that he is so contrary in his desires to be both a servant of God and a servant to his flesh. The end of the poem, however, submits entirely to God’s will and that because he is continually afraid he will do the right things to get into heaven because those are his best days.

The Enchanted Island – John Dryden

In Dryden’s version of The Tempest, the comedic return and coupling off is made more prominent in the addition of a sister, Dorinda, and another male child, Hippolito. Even Ariel, the spirit, is paired off in the end with Milcha. The plot follows the same sequence as The Tempest, but there are some interesting additions. The conversations between Dorinda and Miranda are interesting, and by contrast, Dorinda seems more wanton in her desire for men because Miranda’s courtship with Ferdinando is supervised by Prospero, whereas in Dorinda and Hippolito’s case, Prospero stays away.

There is less talk about Sycorax the mother because of the addition of Sycorax the sister of Caliban. I’m not sure why there’s a sister, except that it provides a female coupling for the clownish troupe of Trinculo and company.

One thing that seems like a significant change is how nature is used in the play. In Shakespeare, there’s a strong division between the natural and unnatural (meaning monsters and spirits). But in Dryden, there’s a triple division between natural, unnatural, and supernatural. Sometimes the unnatural and natural become overlapped in the case of Caliban, and sometimes the supernatural and natural become overlapped, in the case of Prospero. This type of fluidity makes for an interesting play and world. There’s also a question about knowledge and knowledge production in Dorinda and Miranda. In spite of all of Prospero’s old world knowledge and his books, Dorinda and Miranda compare everything to the natural world. Comparison is their main method of understanding, and so men are often seen as types of animals, potentially dangerous as lions and bears. Prospero enhances these thoughts, in order to work out his plots, but if we think of the text (Dryden and Shakespeare) as New World oriented and Prospero as a type of colonizer, what do we make of his teaching Caliban language etc. but in neglecting his daughter’s education? Caliban seems to know more about the outside world than Prospero’s own daughters. Is this merely a gender bias or can we think about it as something more political?

Men and women coupling off is also presented as natural, and much like other plays in the Restoration seen as a way to promote good “breeding”. How can we think about breeding in an ecocritical way? Does this change our idea of marriage? There’s definitely still a religious understanding of marriage in the play, but the concept of “peopling” an island seems more like a natural desire than a religious one.

The Tempest – William Shakespeare

In The Tempest, we see Shakespeare grappling with a number of things, including ideas of the new world and the potential end of his own career as a playwright.

To cover the plot, briefly, Prospero has been stranded on an island with his teenage daughter Miranda after a coup by Prospero’s brother Antonio. After landing on this island, Prospero took power from Sycorax and forced her son, Caliban, into his service. Prsopero has magical ability, and relies on the work of spirits to work his magic, but uses Caliban for physical tasks such as cutting wood.

The beginning of the play, however, starts with a huge storm, the tempest, that shipwrecks Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Ferdinand, and others. Prospero does this, seemingly to find a husband for his daughter because he’s afraid of her virginity being soiled by Caliban (who has already attempted to “people the land with Calibans” with her). Prospero sends Ariel, the main spirit who works for him, out to do his bidding, charming one group and getting another group drunk.

Once Prospero learns from Ferdinand that he’s the prince of Naples and that his fellow travelers include Prospero’s brother, Prospero goes a bit mad and plans his revenge, all while still putting Ferdinand and Miranda together in the hopes that they’ll fall in love.

Caliban meets up with Trinculo and Stephano, a jester and butler and thus, servants themselves, and Caliban convinces them that he’ll serve them if they’ll kill Prospero. They agree, but get very drunk on the way to Prospero’s cell.

Prospero puts on a huge show and banquet for the others and, nearly simultaneously puts on a marriage show for Ferdinand with other spirits.

Finally the truth comes out, Ferdinand and Miranda agree to marry one another, Prospero reveals himself to be the true duke of Milan, and everything is rightly restored.

This ending doesn’t really deal with Caliban though, as a “restoration” for him is not possible. His youth and life can never be restored, nor will the island remain his. Since he heads off with Stephano and Trinculo to return the luggage they found, it seems as though his service to Prospero continues, even though Prospero has buried his staff and burned his book.

Some of the issues in this play that I’d like to explore further are around the issues of natural vs. unnatural. Caliban is always a “monster” and Miranda is always the most beautiful creature. Others in the play are various types of animals, asses, dogs, etc. What can we make of the natural/unnatural dichotomy, especially when we think of the play in a New World lens? How about if we think about it ecocritically? Is there something about Prospero’s power that seems colonizing beyond his actual assumption of the island and taking Caliban’s island knowledge for himself?

What about issues of plagues, poxes, and other forms of poison and sickness?

What role does the human have in this play of monsters and creatures and magic?