"The Canonization" by John Donne

“The Canonization” by John Donne.
Sophie Summergrad and Clara Fraden

Background Information:
John Donne was born into a devout Catholic family. Many of his family members were persecuted and brutally killed because of their beliefs. In the 1590s he converted to the Church of England in order to avoid persecution. Many of his poems are critical of English society. In 1601, he had a secret marriage to seventeen-year-old Anne More, niece of his superior, Sir Thomas Egerton. He was twenty-nine at the time. He was briefly imprisoned and dismissed from military service. He retired to the countryside where he lived a life of economic instability. He wrote “The Canonization” in 1633.

An eagle is a symbol of strength and vision. A dove is a symbol of mercy and mildness. A phoenix dies every 500 years and rises from its ashes as a new bird. It is a symbol of immortality and is often associated with Jesus Christ.

Words to define:
Palsy: (n). complete or partial muscle paralysis
Gout: (n). a disease of uric acid metabolism esp. occurring in males
Flout: (v). to show contempt for; to scorn
Litigious: (adj.). contentious, argumentative
Tapers: (n). a slender candle or waxed wick; a gradual decrease in thickness or width of an elongated object
Canonization: (n). the act of declaring a deceased persona Saint; the act of glorifying

Discussion questions:
Could this poem be about his marriage to Anne More? Why or why not?
Is the speaker fighting to be in a relationship with someone? Or does he believe love can last even when people are separated?
Why is the speaker’s love so frowned upon?
What is Donne trying to canonize? How does the title relate to the poem?
Do you agree with the speaker?

Summary and Analysis:
Donne starts out the poem on the defensive. The speaker is questioning another about why they are harassing him about love. The speaker raises the point that no one is injured by his love, that there are far worse things in life like wars, and that there are people dying from the plague. His love is far less damaging to the Earth as these things so he wonders why people are focusing on his love when there are more important things to be concerned with. They can only harm each other and shorten their own lives by loving each other. However, he views this in a positive light because by killing yourself through love, you are living through love and making the best out of life. In lines 19-21, he compares him and his lover to flies, a symbol of lustfulness, and tapers, candles that not only attract flies to their death but also consume them as candles do. There was a superstition that sex led to a shortened life but Donne does not care about this because he view him and his lover consuming each other as the best way to live. He argues that even after death, you can canonize love, making it sacred and therefore eternal. He expresses this belief throughout the entire second half of the poem, illustrating it with images like the phoenix, which is characterized by rising from the ashes.