A Poem Comparison of Donne's "Anniversary" and Jennings' "One Flesh"
Read the two poems carefully, bearing in mind that they were written at different times by different writers and are open to different interpretations. Write a comparison of these two poems.
In your answer you should consider the ways in which Donne and Jennings use form, structure and language to present their thoughts and ideas. You should make relevant references to your wider reading in the poetry of love (40 marks).
John Donne’s ‘The Anniversary’ is all about the love the theoretical narrator and his object of love share. A year has passed, and everything has grown older, drawing closer to their end. In contrast, the one ageless thing is the unchanging love the poet shares with his lover. Although their bodies will be in separate graves when they die, their eternal souls will be reunited when they are resurrected. For now, the two are kings in their world of love, secure in their faithfulness, and he hopes that they will be together for 60 anniversaries.
In the three stanza poem, the poet commemorates the first anniversary of seeing his beloved. He begins by using imagery from the political world: the royal court of “All Kings”. He juxtaposes this image with the supremacy of the “sun”, the true ruler of all mankind – without which the human race would die; this encompasses the highest concepts of the world. However, the poet then goes on to comment that even the mighty sun and the all-powerful kings have aged “a year” since he and his loved one “first one another saw”. Thus stating that the only thing not susceptible to “decay”; is the narrator and his loved one’s “love”: “our love hath no decay”. Their passion has “no to-morrow hath, nor yesterday” suggesting their mutual love is timeless and beyond the reach of mortality.
This can be contrasted with Elizabeth Jennings’ poem “One Flesh”; the poet wonders about the relationship and separateness of her aged parents, now that the passion between them has ended: “lying apart now, each in a separate bed”.
In your answer you should consider the ways in which Donne and Jennings use form, structure and language to present their thoughts and ideas. You should make relevant references to your wider reading in the poetry of love (40 marks).
John Donne’s ‘The Anniversary’ is all about the love the theoretical narrator and his object of love share. A year has passed, and everything has grown older, drawing closer to their end. In contrast, the one ageless thing is the unchanging love the poet shares with his lover. Although their bodies will be in separate graves when they die, their eternal souls will be reunited when they are resurrected. For now, the two are kings in their world of love, secure in their faithfulness, and he hopes that they will be together for 60 anniversaries.
In the three stanza poem, the poet commemorates the first anniversary of seeing his beloved. He begins by using imagery from the political world: the royal court of “All Kings”. He juxtaposes this image with the supremacy of the “sun”, the true ruler of all mankind – without which the human race would die; this encompasses the highest concepts of the world. However, the poet then goes on to comment that even the mighty sun and the all-powerful kings have aged “a year” since he and his loved one “first one another saw”. Thus stating that the only thing not susceptible to “decay”; is the narrator and his loved one’s “love”: “our love hath no decay”. Their passion has “no to-morrow hath, nor yesterday” suggesting their mutual love is timeless and beyond the reach of mortality.
This can be contrasted with Elizabeth Jennings’ poem “One Flesh”; the poet wonders about the relationship and separateness of her aged parents, now that the passion between them has ended: “lying apart now, each in a separate bed”.