Donne # 2

the 1^st thin u think of when u hear the wrd "song" is generally something rather happy, maybe Jack's Mannequin in sound. this is not the case fer John Donne apparently, judging by his poem, "Song". in "Song," Donne uses diction, use of imperatives, enjambment, and tone to show the speaker's frustration w/himself about his treatment and views of womyn.

the 1^st thin that strikes u when lookin @ this poem is his use of imperatives. the 1^st stanza has a lot of these. he uses wrds like "go," "get," "tell," "teach," and "find." these r all wrds that imply that he is lookin fer somethin 2 actually happen from the speaker's convo with the listener. this use of imperatives soon disappears as he seems 2 lose site of what he wants. in the 2^nd stanza, he begins 2 use statements like "if thou" and "wilt." these are wrds that imply that he doesn't necessarily want the answers 2 the ?'s that he asked in the beginning. this shows not only confusion as 2 what he wants, but also a kinda frustration as 2 the way he views n interacts w/womyn.

we can find a further indication of his frustration in his sudden flip in tone in the 3^rd stanza. in the 1^st n 2^nd stanzas, the speaker has a very bitter n cynical tone. he basically says that a tru, honest woman doesn't exist. he continues to say that he wants the person he's addressing to return n tell him bout this tru woman if he/she finds such a creature. in the 3^rd stanza, he says, "stanza 3 he says, "if thou findst one, let me know… yet do not, I would not go…" he continues to say that even if he found such a woman, he wouldn't deal w/her cuz she would b "false, ere I come, to two, or three." Essentially he says that the woman would b goin against her nature if she were tru, so he'd rather just have 2 or 3 womyn @ a time. this cr8s a rather cynical, bitter tone and the frustration w/this way of life is clear.

the final indication of his frustration comes from the use of enjambment. The 2 commas in the first stanza (1 aftr go in the 1^st line n one aftr tell me in the 3^rd line) cause the reader to pause and the thought is broken up in an odd way as though the speaker is havin a hard time communicatin what he wants 2 happen. In all 3 stanzas, the 7^th n 8^th lines are composed of 2 wrds n indented. this cr8s a feel of confusion and frustration cuz not only is the thought broken up, but the reader is caused to make long pauses while jumping to the beginning of the nxt line.

thus we come 2 find that the speaker in Donne's poem, "Song," is highly confused and frustrated. that effect was achieved through Donne's use of imperatives, enjambment, use of diction, and cr8ion of tone. idk, it seems unfortunate that Donne didn't actually have a song in mind when writin this, cuz the tones of Jack's Mannequin's MFEO or Holiday from Real would be far more pleasant to listen 2 than the cynical frustration xtpressed in this poem.

plog numero uno

Donne clearly a hopeless romantic, yeah, uk the ppl that r all, “OMG I’m so in luv w/my gf and we’ll neva separ8 n my life wasn’t complete til her!” yeah, those. this poem SCREAMS hopeless romanticism. in addition 2 b-in a hopeless romantic, he was a brite intellectual. we c this through the many skolastic refrences that he makes through the poem.
we’ll talk bout the geographic refrences 1st cuz we all know I flippin luv geo! just the fact that he knows about the many ideas and theories and prts of geo allows us 2 infer that he’s highy educated. geo also cr8s contradiction w/in the poem and even w/in a single line which shows that he was in luv. this may sound strange, but s’tru. luv tends to make ppl sound confused or get lost in their thoughts, and that is clearly what happens w/in the 3rd stanza. generally speakin, we don’t say “sharp N” or “declining W” cuz those rn’t thought 2 b proper terms nor r they thought of as “sensical” thins 2 say. sharp lft or declinin S maybe, but not sharp N or declinin W. furthermore, the diction indicates discovery, and that’s said 2 b what luv is about. the idea that he covers both land n c implies that his luv is spanning all elements thus proving that he’s a hopeless romantic. the fact that he’s able to talk bout all these thins in such a detailed and relatively correct way allows the reader to infer that he is highly educated, as st8ed b4.
further indication of his intellect is the scientific refrence. 1st is the theory of mixing parts and unequal prts will die. this is a theory that was only known n understood among the skolastic wrld. the same thing went fer the theory that all ppl were their own wrld. ppl in general knew this, but it was spoken bout n understood by the intellectual community. these thins show that he was clearly educated.
the next thin i noticed was that there was a lot of end rhyme. i think this helps in the mood of luv as well cuz the voice of the poem then takes on a song like quality. normally, i'd say that rhyme causes the voice to seem crazy or psycotic (maybe it's my fear of Dr.Suess? idk) but those are qualities of luv, so this fits. it also helps cr8 the meter/rhythem of the poem cuz the rhyme gives ur voice a steady, melodic quality when u say the rhymin wrds. finally, the pattrn btwn the 1st n 3rd stanzas help show that he is intellegent. it takes a lot of wrk 2 out 2gether a rhyme scheme and Donne accomplishes that quite well.
the final thing i have 2 talk bout is the massive amount of eye imagery. he not only talks bout "my face in thine eye. thine in mine appears," but bout the Seven Sleepers and seeing and fancies, and beauty, and sights, and a lot more. all of these things have something 2 do w/eyes and that is an odd quality, i think. now, the old addage of eyes bein the window 2 the soul may have somethin 2 do w/it cuz of the idea that he's talkin bout luv. these references 2 eyes may be 2 make the voice sound more sincere n believable cuz the idea that the luv is in his soul seems like it would mean that the luv was tru. on the othr hand, this could b thought of like the priest in Romeo n Juliet thought bout Romeo, luv was only in his eyes. essentially, that the luv was only cuz the chick was pretty. idk what the case is here, but the idea of eyes carries both connotations. whether it is a false luv or not, the quality of luv is proven nonetheless. the idea that he thinks bou this luvr @ all times is communicated too cuz of the fact that both waking n dreamin r included in the poem. the idea that he's an intellectual is again thought of when we consider that vision is one of the most relied on human senses. cuz of this, we may think of this as a scientific refrence. the final connotation that this motif could have is that of luv @ 1st site. this once again brings 2 mind that he's a hopeless romantic.
through these thins we can easily c that Donne was a bit of a hopeless romantic, but that he was highly educated as well. it doesn't take a rocket sci 2 fig out that only educated ppl understand the scientific and geographic refrences and could cr8 n truly follow a rhyme scheme like Donne's, but the thins he talks bout with these subjects lead us back 2 the idea of luv. through the motif of eyes n the end rhyme itself, we can see that he is a major tie to luv n can truly b considered a hopeless romantic.