FREE To His Mistress Going to Bed by John Donne Essay (original) (raw)

This essay will discuss the poem To His Mistress Going To Bed by John Donne. It will focus on the diction, figures of speech and rhetoric, tone and form that appear in the poem and how Donne used these tools to convey his intended message. To His Mistress Going To Bed was written in the late-sixteenth century, but not published until after Donne's death in 1631, like most of his work. It was considered too improper to have been included in the publishing of the first edition of his work in 1633.
In the poem, Donne writes about the experience of undressing his Mistress in different stages, how his excitement and desire grows throughout the poem until he exclaims, in an ecstasy of admiration, "full nakedness!" (33). The beginning of the poem (approximately 18 lines) focuses on the narrator instructing a woman to undress. One can assume that the female is quite young and most likely still a virgin. First he orders her to remove her "girdle", to "unpin" her "breastplate", to "unlace" herself, to remove her "busk" and orders: "Off with that wiry coronet and show The hairy diadem which on you doth grow" (15-16). Coronets and diadems are one in the same thing, both, in their literal sense, are crowns or headpieces. However, due to the erotic nature of the poem, the latter could be referring to the woman's genitalia. And lastly, "off with those shoes" (17). Even though, Donne does not reveal any information about the female in the poem it is clear that she is of a high social status, because of her rich attire ("spangled breastplate", "coronet"). .
The speaker's hands start to travel "before, behind, between, above, below" and he then shouts "O my America! my new-found-land" (26-27). Interestingly, colonial expedition was often metaphorically referred to as conquering a "female" territory during the 16th century. It was not only described as women, but new-found-lands were also referred to as virgin lands.

1. Elegy 19: On His Mistress Going to Bed and Amores

In John Donne's "Elegy 19: On His Mistress Going to Bed", Donne reveals to the audience the experience of undressing his mistress before they unite in sexual ecstasy. ... " (Elegy 19: On His Mistress Going to Bed, line 30). Both personas in Donne's "Elegy 19: On His Mistress Going to Bed" and Ovid's Amores exercise the power of self-display in their monologues. ... In Donne's "Elegy 19: On His Mistress Going to Bed", the speaker says, "O my America! ... In addition, Donne's "Elegy 19: On His Mistress Going to Bed" and...

2. The Love Poetry of John Donne

Often times when Donne is speaking about physical love he describes it in terms of a religious experience, as in To His Mistress Going to Bed, this description of physical love would seem to imply that it holds great importance to Donne. ... However, in The Ecstasy Donne says that the uniting of the souls in spiritual love can only be attained through a uniting of the bodies, this idea somewhat contradicts the points Donne makes about love in To His Mistress Going to Bed and Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. In To His Mistress Going to Bed, we see how highly Donne praises and enjoys the asp...

3. John Donne

John Donne was born in 1572 to a London merchant and his wife. ... However, one can also see that even though he makes plenty of sexual and emotional references, he also manages to combine this with intellectual and logical arguments, such as in the poem, "To His Mistress going to Bed." ... There are certainly erotic moments in Donne's writing, such as in "To His Mistress, on Going to Bed." ... John Donne is also known for his religious poetry, which he mainly wrote between 1618 and 1631. ... John Donne sadly died in 1631. ...

4. Critical Analysis comparing Donne

To His Mistress Going to Bed" with Herbert's "Prayer", in which you discuss the texts as artifacts of the Renaissance. ... The first three words of the poem display a forceful opening as is seen in Donne's poem "To His Mistress Going to Bed". ... The content of John Donne's poem "To his mistress going to bed", can be seen in contrast to that of George Herbert's "Prayer". ... Thus Moses and the speaker of "Going to Bed" are being directed to a Promised Land of "varying spiritual and sensual significance". ... Irony is another concept to consider in Renaissance texts, and...

5. Analysis of John Donne

Valediction - Use of syllogism (illogicality of argument) DONNE Life Donne had roots going deep into medieval Catholicism, born to well-to-do Roman Catholic parents. ... All in all, Donne had a wide fund of academic learning that he drew upon in the creation of his metaphors. ... Donne is a philosopher, not merely a commentator, that is Donne not only acknowledges difficult thought, he articulates it, in his own fierce desire to understand. ... Generally, Donne wrote about women in his youth, and God in his maturity, his passion is transformed. Love Songs and Sonnets: In fact Don...

6. Scent Of A Woman

John Donne's "The Flea," Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time," and Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress," all seem to have been written with one objective: to charm her into surrender. To ply her with sensual metaphors until she falls helplessly into his bed; but which poet's strategy proves most effective? ... (1-4) (This and all other references made to John Donne's "The Flea", Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time, and Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" are taken from Perrine's Sound and Sense: An Introduc...

7. Fluctuation in tones

John Donne makes his poetry easy to understand because he does not use a difficult language to get his message through his readers. ... Andrew Marvell's writing in "To His Coy Mistress" was more difficult to understand than Donne's writing. ... In "The Flea," also written by John Donne, this one is much better in such way that he does not scare her just to get her into bed. ... Moreover, Donne writes "Then shall my ghost come to thy bed" which could also mean that the woman's conscious is going to come back to her and haunt her. ... In "To His Coy Mistress," the tone seemed ...

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