Divine Love in The Canonization Essay -- Canonization Essays

Divine respect in The Canonization   Describing the complexities of mania, Pascal states that the heart has reasons which reason knows nothing of (qtd. in Bartlett 270). Similarly, in The Canonization by John Donne, the speaker argues that his crotchety love obtains reasons beyond the knowledge of the common man. The speaker relates his love to the canonization of saints. Therefore, he implies that his love is a divine love. In The Canonization, the speaker conveys a love deserving of admiration and worthy of sainthood. In the poem, the lover describes his love as incomprehensible. In the heat of discussion, the lover insults his companions intelligence with the statement, Take you a course, get you a place (5). The speaker implies that his listener does not take the adequate amount of intelligence necessary to understand his complex love. Resulting from the listeners scathing comments concerning the speakers love, the speaker implores the listener to chide him for hi s physical features or past mistakes in life. In former(a) words, he tells the listener to deride him for his tangible and lilliputian flaws, rather than attempt to disparage the inner depths of a love kinship that the listener cannot comprehend. The speaker expresses the rarity of his love by stating that his love is his profession and his sole purpose in life. In essence, his love becomes his calling, similar to a saints calling from God. Stressing his devotion to his lover, the speaker reveals an astute comparison among the professions of valet de chambre to his own occupation of love Soldiers finde warres, and Lawyers finde out still / Litigious men, which quarrels move, / though she and I do love (16-18). Similar to the profession... ...y embracing their isolation, they discover the military man through each others eyes Who did the whole world soule extract, and drove / Into the eyeglasses of your eyes (40-41). Unlike the rest of the world, the two unique lovers find their accepted identities and ideal desires through reckless abandonment of worldly views. The comparison between the artificial love of the listener and the divine love of the speaker represents other distinction in the two concepts of love. The divine love of the speaker offers consummate devotion, intensity and immortality while artificial love of the listener maintains the placid opinion of peace. In essence, the love of the speaker creates a model for all other lovers that Beg from above / A patterne of your love (44-45). The love of the speaker in The Canonization proves to be a divine love relative to the saints.