The Canonization Summary | John Donne

16th & 17th Century poetry, English Hons 3rd Year
November 20, 2022
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The Canonization is a great poem by John Donne. Here, he praises and glorify love. In the following content, we are going to discuss The Canonization Summary. So, let’s enjoy the content.

Writer Intro:

John Donne (Born: January 22, 1572, London, United Kingdom Died: March 31, 1631, London, United Kingdom) was an English poet and priest in the Church of England. He is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets.

Theme:

“The Canonization” glorifies the superiority of love. As it is above all the troublesome and antagonistic desires of the ordinary world.

***The Summary of “*The Canonization**”

The first part of “The Canonization” summary

The speaker of “The Canonization” initially expresses a desire for solitude at the outset of the poem. He addresses some unnamed person. He demands that he (or she) shut their big mouth and leave him in peace—to love. The speaker offers up plenty of other stuff for this other person to make fun of, like his earthquakes, gray hair, thin wallet, or even his disease.

He switches approach and suggests that the listener concentrate on other things, such as earning money, going to school, learning about the arts, or observing those in authority, such as attorneys, bishops, or the king’s face. He tells the person to do anything he wants. Besides, he also told him just to leave him alone.

The second part of the summary The Canonization

Since the speaker keeps trying to get through to the person, it’s clear that he doesn’t listen well. He wants to find out if his romantic feelings have hurt anyone. “Life goes on, even though I’m in love,” says the speaker, pointing out that the soldiers and lawyers still have a lot of work to do. After giving this explanation, the speaker tells the person he is talking to that he can call him and his lover anything he wants.

The poet says that the person can call them flies, but they are more like candles that go out on their own. He then claims that he and his beloved are like a phoenix, which he compares to an eagle and a dove. They are very secretive, and their love makes them rise and fall together.

The last part of the summary The Canonization by Donne

If the speaker and his sweetheart die, they will meet up in poetry instead of a tomb or a funeral procession in the afterlife. Even if they aren’t in the official records, they can leave behind memorial sonnets. This is why they will last much longer than any beautiful urn or tomb. These poems, which the speaker calls “hymns,” will make the lovers as respected in the community as saints.

Now, the speaker’s thoughts are getting wilder. Both the speaker and his lover will feel better than the rest of humanity. However, be angry that they can’t love as well as the lover-saints. He imagines that folks back on Earth will pray to the lover-saints for guidance on how to love properly.

The speaker predicts that he and his lover will become saints in the poem. The speaker does, however, appear to make a light criticism of sainthood. He claims that even though they cannot live by their love, they can die by it. This is the end The Canonization summary. Thank you so much for reading this summary.