On first pass of John Donne’s “Elegy 19 To His Mistress Going to Bed” the forwardness of his writing is quite alarming. It is hard to ignore the poem’s boldness such as in line 7: “Unpin that spangled breastplate which you wear.”Donne seems to abandon genuine love for another that can be found in many of his other poems and focus principally on the physical body. He certainly focuses on sexual behavior in his other writing’s, but his language throughout Elegy 19 seems to be on another level than the others. However, when taking his Neo-Platonic views into consideration, his descriptions of the female body could very much be taken as a compliment rather than a cheeky pass at women.
Line five of “To His Mistress Going to Bed” writes, “Off with that girdle, like heaven's zone glisterin” (line 5). At first glance, Donne is making a very provocative demand; however, when you look closely at the metaphor he is comparing a woman’s body parts to an eternal Utopia. Further, in line 21 he writes, “A heaven like Mahomet's Paradise” (line 21). Mahomet refers to the prophet Muhammad further establishing the comparison to heaven.
Later in the poem Donne begins to compares the sexual exploration of the female body to colonialism. He writes, “O my America! my new-found-land,/ My kingdom, safeliest when with one man manned,/ My mine of precious stones, my empery,/ How blest am I in this discovering thee!” (line 27-30). “My kingdom” representing her body, could represent heaven directly or royalty which is believed to be closely tied to holy entities. Discovering more of her body is related to the discovering of land, and that it is better for just one man to occupy her land.
At the closing of the poem, Donne again equates the female body to holiness using very provocative language. “Themselves are mystic books, which only we/ (Whom their imputed grace will dignify)/ Must see revealed” (line 41-43). A woman’s body is as sacred as holy writings and only he should be able to see her revealed. The last line writes, “To teach thee, I am naked first; why than,/what needst thou have more covering than a man?” Her body is so beautiful that she does not need clothes, just a man to lie above her.
Donne undoubtedly voices his love for sexual exploration in a very aggressive way, but underlies the poem with many complimentary comparisons of women to an eternal goodness. This is consistent with Neo-Platonic views of an eternal good and it is interesting how he ties his love for the female body and sexual endeavors to heaven.
I like how you approached Donne's poem in this rumination. I think you provide a very positive read of the piece - noteworthy because Donne's aggressive sexual metaphors and language are more commonly seen at face value, as passes at women equivalent to a catcall on the street. I think by peeling back the layers of this piece, you succeed in showing that Donne is not just another construction worker on lunch break ogling pretty women and crudely demanding they take off their clothing. Instead, the speaker in this poem is praising women for their physical beauty, comparing them to things like royalty and heaven. I like this rumination because you changed my mind about the narrator of this piece!
ReplyDeleteGreat comment, Vick, and well done, Brenna. I appreciate how you've taken the whole poem--and even more broadly, Donne's reputation--into consideration, then made your points by citing and close reading specific lines.
ReplyDeleteThis post is great. I agree with every word, actually. I love that you took his poem piece by piece and dissected it. What I especially like is the fact that you made Donne not seem like a pervert to me anymore. When I read this poem I said "gross" and put it away. But you let me see it in a completely different way. The part about a woman's body being like heaven is beautiful, and I was too busy being grossed out to see that part. Thanks for bringing it to light!
ReplyDeleteI was also thrown off when I first read this poem. It was very straight and to the point when it came to the sexual metaphors. I tossed it in the "I don't want to Ruminate on it" pile. I am really glad that you broke it down the way you did. After taking in the way you brought to light Donne making the comparison of a woman's body to heaven, I was able to read the poem again and understand the deeper meaning of his intentions.
ReplyDeleteSince after reading the poem the first time and thinking the narrator was too forward on his sexual demands, I still have my suspicions about the narrator's intentions in the back of my head. He says "My kingdom, safeliest when with one man manned" particularly stuck with me. Does this man actually intend remain faithful to this woman or are these all lines? By saying this does he expect her to only be with him?
After my first read through of this poem I was appalled with how he wrote this piece of literature. The second time through I started to understand and read it as you've explained in your rumination. Trying to read literature through the author's point of view and knowing background information is important in understanding the full meaning of the author's work.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! You did such a great job of breaking the poem apart and analyzing the deeper meaning. After reading through this, I now can understand Donne's point of view in a more positive way. I initially found the poem to be objectifying to women, but your post has changed my mind. Although the words are bold and racy, the reader has to go back and understand where the author is coming from and his purpose. Now having reread the poem and your post, it seems as though Donne is praising this woman and her physical attributes and objectifying her.
ReplyDeletepersonally i don't think this poem is sexiest at all. it is true that Donne focuses on more corporeal imagery here and that it is a sexually charged poem, but i do not think Donne's demands are chauvinistic. take the line "off with that girdle": it is true that Donne is asking for the woman to remove her undergarments to reveal her form, but i also read the "girdle" to mean a restricting societal convention. the image of casting it off could be a metaphor for the advancement of femininity, much like the act of burning bras in the 60s.
ReplyDeletefurthermore, i think u did a good job making your point through a focus on historical context.
This is a really great post, and I totally agree. What some people may find offensive is a rather unusual way of complimenting the woman on how her body looks. Even by today's standards it causes us to raise a brow, saying "Pardon?" but although it may seem crude, it has its own brand of beauty throughout the poem.
ReplyDeleteDonne's Elegy 19 was definitely the most shocking of the readings assigned this week. I like how you sited different lines and went into greater detail about them. I touched on Donne's work during my rumination this week, but after writing your ideas I can see a new angle to it. When reading through the poem, I never really thought he was being slizzy or crude; however, I can see how on the surface that is a clear assumption. Just like the other authors compared the new land to royalty, utopias, and God, Donne compares the woman's body [which is a metaphor for the new land] to those same values.
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