邓恩奇思妙喻初探

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【Abstract】John Donne（1572-1631）， the forefather of English Metaphysical poetry， is one of the most influential poets of the Renaissance. This essay ventures into Donne’s love poems “A Valediction： Forbidding Mourning” and “The Flea” and comes out convinced that the poems abounds in conceits， taking the “compass” and “flea” as examples. The studies of his conceit help to promote understanding of John Donne from a fresh perspective and provide the readers with a larger space for the recreation.

【Key words】John donne； Conceit； A valediction： forbidding mourning； The flea

0 Introduction

Any of the modern literary critics， scholars or even students cannot turn a blind eye or ear to John Donne’s overwhelming reputation in our times. He is one of the most influential figures among Metaphysical poets. He is always capable of treating his subjects with unexpected originality and mastery. His works are best remembered for the use of “conceits”， a condensed， highly complex metaphor， which often links two seemingly unrelated objects in a surprising and compelling way. This essay ventures into Donne’s love poems “A Valediction： Forbidding Mourning” and “The Flea” and comes out convinced that the poems abounds in conceits. This study helps to promote understanding of John Donne from a fresh perspective and provide the readers with a larger space for the recreation.

1 Conceit in Donne’s Poems

Among Donne’s various poetic features， the most striking one is his use of witty conceit. “Donne’s various and shocking witty conceits incur him both the most fierce curses we have ever heard and the sweetest praise we can imagine”.[1]

1.1 Conceit in “A Valediction： Forbidding Mourning”

“A Valediction： Forbidding Mourning” is one of the most famous Metaphysical Poems in which Donne employs metaphor “compass” as the symbol of eternal love between his wife and he， which became the most striking conceit. “Isaac Walton， in his brief life of his friend， tells us that Donne composed the poem in 1611 while he was on a diplomatic mission to France and that it was addressed to his wife Anne”.[2] When reading this poem， we cannot turn our eyes away from the images employs in it. “The comparison between the significance of earthquakes and the ‘trepidation of the spheres’ and the brief simile of the beaten gold， the elaborated simile of the pair of compass， are the less likely to seem merely ingenious， or studied， or out of the way”.[3]