John Donne Apparition

John Donne – "The Apparition"

In John Donne's poem, "The Apparition," the title tells us that the poem is about a person having an epiphany. We know this because the word "apparition," means "to become visible" or "an epiphany." In the opening lines of the poem, the speaker addresses his listener as a "murdresse." He then goes on to tell her that when she "thinkst" she is "free from all solicitation from" him, his "ghost will come to" her bed. This tells us that the speaker is a rejected lover who is addressing his ex-lover. When you put this fact with the title in mind, you can see that the rejected lover is having an epiphany about being dumped by his ex-lover. In the first line, the speaker says, "When by thy scorn, o murdresse, I
In the next line, he says, "And in false sleepe will from thee shrinke," he is saying that her new lover will pretend to be asleep, and by doing this, will avoid having to talk or have sex with her. In the next three lines, he says, "And then poore Aspen wretch, neglected thou // Bathed in a cold quicksilver sweat wilt lye // A veryer ghost than I." He refers to the girl as an "Aspen wretch," which means a quivering or trembling wretch, and he calls her this because she has been neglected by her new lover. "Quicksilver" means mercury, but in this poem, Donne seems to be referring to a quicksilver bath, which was the most common treatment for syphilis. He might be making fun of her and her new lover in a way by hinting that they have an STD. In the next line, he refers to her as a "veryer ghost" than he because of this. Then in the next line, he says, "What I will say, I will not tell