John Donne Poetry

"unpin that spangled breast-plate"- claiming women only seek attention from men and are very vain. (ELEGY **)

"Hope not for mind in women, at their besy, sweetness and wit they are, but mummy, possess'd"- do not marry a smart woman, marry a sweet woman as women are made to be mothers (LOVE'S ALCHEMY)

"Now thou hast loved me one whole day"- women do not seek long-term relationships, do not care about the harm they may cause (WOMAN'S CONSTANCY)

"Purposed change and falsehood"- women are good liars, cannot be trusted (WOMAN'S CONSTANCY)

"tells me from you that now it is bed-time"- patronising her, treating her like a child, portraying himself to be more dominant than her, suggesting men are stronger. (ELEGY **)

"how little that which thou deniest me is"- virginity of men wasn't important, men could have pre-marital se, women couldn't. Men had more freedom than women. (THE FLEA)

"will he not let us alone"- presumes that whomever breaks into his coffin will be a male as men are physically stronger than women. (THE RELIC)

she's all states and all princes I"- she is his possession, she isn't a real person, he is more important than her (THE SUN RISING)

"busy old fool, unruly sun"-  sun is metaphorically god, watching them, keeping them safe, etc. Mocks god via the sun by calling him "old" and a "fool".  (THE SUN RISING)

"O, my America, my Newfoundland"- compares the lady of the poem to America to flatter her as America was new and rich. (ELEGY **)

"Stone fountain weeping out my year"-  wishes to become this as he would have no emotions any longer. (TWICKENHAM GARDEN)

"Now thou hast loved me one whole day"- their love is over, she no longer feels a thing for him and so doesn't care whether he is hurt or not (WOMAN'S CONSTANCY)

"Blasted with sighs, and surrounded with tears"-love is portrayed to be painful, full of sadness and disappointment and no happiness(TWICKENHAM GARDEN)

"I am two fools, I know, for loving and for saying so"- is a fool for admitting his feelings to her and expecting her to feel the same way. Love is humiliating abd painful. (THE TRIPLE FOOL)

"mysterious by this love"- their lvoe was so deep and strong, it was a mystery to others how they could love so amazingly (THE CONONIZATION)

"sat we two, one another's best"- they were each others soulmate (THE ECSTASY)

"perchance might kiss"- their passion for one another never died (THE RELIC)

"three-person'd God"- god is very powerful, reference to holy bible, spirit and ??? (HOLY XIV)

"for god's sake"- god is mentioned in serious topics, showing frustration (THE CONONIZATION)

"your force"- the strength to do anything (HOLY XIV)

"batter my heart"- seeks punishment from god for his terrible crimes (HOLY XIV)

"you ravish me"- can only escape from the devil if god forces him to as he lacks motivation and strength to be better (HOLY XIV)

"vex me"- seeks more punishment, to the point of begging for his punishment (HOLY SONNET 19)

"break, blow, burn"- imagery of hell and usgae of rule of three, emphasises on his need to seek redemption after punishment (HOLY XIV)

"best days, when I shake with fear"- his fear of god keeps him in his place as he knows he'll be punished for any sins he commits (HOLY SONNET 19)

"your force to break, blow, burn"- imagery of hell used to emphasise Donne's knowledge of gods power and the afterlife that awaits him if he does anything wrong (HOLY XIV)

"inconstancy" and "riddlingly"- his faith in god is unreliable, like a riddle, sometimes he is passionate about god and religion and other times he is not  (HOLY SONNET 19)

"yet dearly I love you"- no matter what, he loves god and his religion and is loyal to him  (HOLY XIV)

"busy old fool"- uses the metaphor of the sun as to be god, disrespects good by calling him a "fool", clearly has no respect or love towards god at this stage of his life (THE SUN RISING)