Selected Poems by John Donne

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Structure

Donne’s stanza form here (as frequently) falls into two distinct halves. The latter section is the more regular: lines 5 – 10 are all ten syllables long and rhyme CDCDEE – a quatrain followed by a concluding witty couplet. In all the stanzas, this second section is divided from the first by both punctuation and a development in the sense of the poem. In the second and third stanzas this second section is a more measured, developed argument against the sun, though, in the first, Donne’s invective continues through until the couplet.

A much more dramatic form is used for the first four lines of each stanza, which is appropriate for the bad temper Donne is humorously portraying. Here an ABBA rhyme scheme is used; the first line is eight syllables, while the second line is a half line of four. The reader is then further disorientated by a third line of ten (which establishes the pattern for the rest of the poem). The disruptive effect here (which is effectively dramatic) is enhanced by Donne’s binding of lines two and three together by the couplet rhyme. The form perfectly mirrors the outrageously absurd anger that Donne demonstrates in the content.

Donne again uses a three stanza form, based, no doubt, on the three point argument of debate.
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John Donne
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