Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is;
It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee,
and in this flea our two bloods mingled be.
Thou know'st that this cannot be said
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead;
Yet this enjoys before it woo,
And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two ;
And this, alas ! Is more than we would do [9] ?
3. 4 Circle image
In the process of describing love and women, John Donne prefers to use circle image. In good morrow, circle image represent for truth and perfection:
Let us possess one world; each hath one, and is one.
My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
and true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
where can we find two better hemispheres
without sharp north, without declining west?
Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;
if our two loves be one, or thou and I
Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die [9].
Two hemispheres composed of a circle, representing for perfection and union. He thought that human’s body is like the earth, changing from time to time, not only has cold north but also has declining west, while spirit world is like the heaven, neither without sharp north, nor without declining west. Plato thought that people live in an idea world, no matter he is alive or after death. Women and men link each to another to form a single body in the world after death, however, people would feel lost when they separate, they would try their best to find out the split part on earth, Donne agreed with Plato’s view, he thought that two lover composed of a complete world, just as two separate spheres composed of a circle [10].
In the poem of The Sun Rising .He compared the whole world to a circle again; he thought his lover’s bed is the center of world. Actually, this is an unexplainable comparison. But his thinking is fantasy.
She's all states, and all princes I;
Nothing else is;
Princes do but play us; compared to this,
All honor’s mimic, all wealth alchemy.
Thou, Sun, art half as happy as we,
In that the world's contracted thus;
Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
to warm the world, that's done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;
this bed thy center is, these wall thy sphere [9].
Meanwhile, Donne used circle images to express his distrust and prejudice of women. Most of us would regard ring as witness of marriage. To our surprise, in the poem of a jet ring sent, Donne thought women were unfaith to marriage:
Marriage rings are not of this stuff;
Oh, why should ought less precious, or less tough
Figure our loves? Except in thy name thou have bid it say,
I'm cheap, and nought but fashion; fling me away."
Yet stay with me since thou art come,
Circle this finger's top, which didst her thumb;
Be justly proud, and gladly safe, that thou dost dwell with me;
She that, O! Broke her faith would soon break [9].
Donne’s circle image not only expressed his opinion of love, but also showed his thinking of death. Donne was bored in age of religion disturbance. His relatives were forced to death because of their catholic background. Special family background forced Donne to face death, except of that, he and his wife have to endure the death of their little girl, it is no surprising that Donne was always disturbed by sad of death. In his poems of love and religion, he not only described it but also try to understand it. These poems play a very important role in all of his works. Meanwhile, in the description of death, Donne used to writing in circle images. Donne was afraid of death, in order to hide his panic, but he always criticize of death proudly, in the poem of Death, be not proud, he thought that death was slaves of human. He reproaches it and never gives it any chance to answer:
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
for those, whom thou think ‘st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me [9].
He believed the existence of spirit after death, thought that people free themselves from all kinds of burdens after death. It is the necessary road to eternal world. As a result, he called for death passionately: “One short sleep past, we wake eternally, and Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” [9]
Donne optimistically described death, influenced by the mystery of death, he thought that death is not the end of life but is from rest to sleep. Death not only make body rebirth but also make spirit revitalized. From death to life to death, this formed a circle image. In his opinion, death was the only carriage of eternal life. Form life to death is just as from awareness to sleep and then to awareness.
Conclusion:
From the above analysis, we know John Donne’s life, his major works and his influence to the world; he took metaphors from all spheres of life, especially from crafts and the sciences, and made frequent use of the ‘conceit’: a surprising, ingenious, far-fetched turn of ideas. Often a whole poem is an extended ‘conceit’, and frequently a poem ends with a final ‘conceit’ in the last two lines. We know the definition of image is that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time. We know the major images used in John Donne’s poems.转贴于 酷文网-论文下载中心 http://www.coolwen.net
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