Comparing Love Poems

John Donne's Songs and Sonets include love poetry with very different attitudes towards the relationship between men and women. Four such poems, "The Sun Rising", "Song", "The Flea", and "The Undertaking", show very contradictory views of what love is and should be. Each of these poems give a diverse even conflicting view of love because they represent the different kinds of love a person encounters throughout their life; starting with young infatuation love, moving to bitter love, changing to physical love, and ending with content love
"The Sun Rising" offers the first relationship level, that of infatuation. In this poem, we see the author chide the sun for rising and starting a new day. The speaker gives the impression of a young man
Thus, based on her rejection, the speaker twists his argument, making that which he requests seem minor. Donne achieves this by bringing out and shaping this meaning through his collaborative use of trifling nature, rhythm, and rhyme scheme. In the beginning, Donne uses the flea as an irrelevance to represent a sexual union with his companion. For instance, in the first stanza a flea bites the speaker and woman. He responds to this incident by saying, "And in this flea our bloods mingled be." He suggests that they are already united in this flea and, as a result, are already united intimately. In addition, he states, "This flea is you and I, and this our marriage bed, and marriage temple is." The speaker persists by proposing that through the flea the two are married and their union would not be a sin against God. Once more, declaring the flea as representing marriage, union, and consummation. However, the woman crushes the flea; thus, refusing his request, and states that neither she nor he is weakened by its death thus there is no connection between themselves and the flea. Based on her reaction, the speaker twists his argument and states, "Tis true...Just so much honor, when they yield'st to me, / Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee." In other words, he argues that the woman has
Here the author explains his utter adoration for one woman and claims to be braver "than all the Worthies" because he hides his true view of this woman. He does turn slightly cynical when talking about sharing his secret view though, when he says "It were but madness now to impart / The skill of speculate stone / When he which can have learned the art / To cut it can find none." Here the author takes slight turn by saying that it is worthless to teach this to anyone because there are no other women beautiful on the inside in the world. However, we see hope spring once again when the author changes his tone in the fourth stanza and states that if some man thinks he has found this pure beauty and cares not for outward appearance than he will teach this man "From profane men you hide / Which will no faith on this bestow / Or if they do deride." This poem differs from "Song" in that the men are the ones not faithful enough for the pure hearted women. The speaker is more compassionate towards woman than that of the speaker in "Song". This man is more likely one that is in a trusting